How Essential Is a College Education: Debate Against
How Essential Is a College Education: Debate Against
Conversely, there are people who feel that the cost of a college education is too high and thus a waste of time and money due to low returns. Some college students are in school not because they want to “be or because they want to learn” (Bird 147).
Some are there because going to college is a trend, their parents wanted them to go, or simply because “college is a pleasant place to be; because it is the only way they can get parents or taxpayers to support them without getting a job they do not like” (Bird 146). This leads to a waste of money spent on such students by their parents and the state because they do not learn.
To them, college is a social place to meet friends and have no time for classwork. Most such students end up dropping out of college anyway. Therefore, the money invested in these institutions of learning is wasted when not used in the right way.
The cost of a college education is very high, and the high cost makes colleges inaccessible to many students. Those who stay on and finish feel that going to college was not worth as one student put it during an interview “in two years, I’ll pick up a diploma, and I can honestly say it was a waste of my father’s bread” (Bird 150).
The high cost of a college education has led universities to develop packages to attract students and keep their finances solvent. There is a debate about the quality of education offered in some colleges. Many feel that education has been reduced to and become like products to be sold in a market.
The packages developed are commercially built and promise students a wonderful life during their study while focusing less on the curriculum. Thus, a question arises about the quality of college degrees.
The other argument against college education is the high numbers of unemployed college graduates. Doing a translation from college to employment is difficult these days. This has led to high levels of unemployment among college graduates. “Somewhere between the nursery and the employment office, they become unwanted adults” (Bird 179).
In conclusion, there is no doubt that the cost of a college education is high and continues to rise, and this is problematic, especially to students who fall under the lowest income brackets. This becomes a financial burden; however, the long-term benefits to an individual and the society are numerous and far outweigh the high cost.