...An Analysis on “Are Too Many People Going to College” Charles Murray’s essay proposes that American colleges are being flooded with individuals who are either unprepared for higher education or who are simply forced into attending college and can’t succeed because of the lack of certain innate abilities. Murray’s essay goes on to take issue with the idea that the pursuit of a traditional college education is somehow strategically creating a separation of the American class system. While Murray makes many salient points with regards to America’s obsession with college education as a standard into a class of the intellectual elite, the essay fails to take into consideration the various motivators that can lead to student success, despite where that student might be on Murray’s ability ladder (Murray Paragraph 13). This essay seeks to analyze Murray’s claims about why the pursuit of a traditional, four-year college education can do more harm than good when it comes to defining success for the individual learner. Rhetorical Analysis The main thesis of Murray’s essay is that the unrealistic pursuit of a college degree, propagates to children at an early age and does more harm than good. Murray claims that many students do not have the ability needed to enjoy and complete a four-year college education (PARAGRAPH 13). Murray further supports his thesis with his reasoning that more people are going to college because they are indoctrinated, regardless of their skilled ability, to...
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...The path to college may not be for everybody. Everyone has their own career that really want to pursue. However, college is not the road for every career. Some careers require experience and or a vocational technical high school diploma where others do require University. Students should learn what they want to do with their lives before falling into the trap of going to college even though they might not need a degree. This is because of career requirements, the type of work they’ll be doing, and the financial stress that could come from college. If your career doesn’t need a college degree and you know thats your passion, dive right into the career. If you compare the requirements of a technical trade compared to an engineer, the engineer requires a B.A. in Engineering. On the other hand, the technical trade, let’s say Electrical,...
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...The number of people going to college has begun to surpass the number of people who need to go and should. By todays standards not everyone should go to college and there is nothing wrong with that. Charles Murrays’s Are Too Many People Going to College? exploits this idea by providing information on what our core foundation should be, the intellectual ability we will need to succeed, and finally, wether spending four years at a university to get a degree is right for you. Every culture has its own unique background and comes with a base knowledge of information that needs to be understood before one can fully “participate” in the society (Murray 235). Without all culture having its own individual background, all culture would look the same. Most of what we remember our America’s past comes from what we learned while we were attending anywhere from kindergarten to eighth grade. This is because children have a better tendency to memorize dates and people better than adults do. Saying this envisions the concept that the core information needs to be taught during the early stages of ones...
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...is disputed, many lessons can be appropriated from it. One such lesson is the idea that people are simply different. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, and it is important to build upon what we enjoy as well as what we are good at. In the article, “Are Too Many People Going To College?” written by Charles Murray, the popularized notion that everyone should go to college is challenged. On the one hand, society pushes the idea that anyone and everyone can be successful, and with enough practice and dedication, one can achieve his or her dreams. On a more practical note, contrary...
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...Summary Are Too Many People Going to College? A question Charles Murray asked and wrote an article about. Charles Murray is a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C. Charles Murray is an author of multiple books and has had parts of those books written in The American, the journal of the American Enterprise Institute. Why does Charles Murray argue that too many people are going to college? His argument is based off of three main supports: Hirsch’s three points, college is becoming obsolete, and what college is really used for. Let’s start with what he said about Hirsch’s three points. Hirsch’s three points are full participation in a culture requires familiarity with a body of core knowledge, core knowledge is an important part of the glue that holds the culture together, and K-8 are the right years to teach core knowledge and the effort should...
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...effectively states his opinion through his article “Are Too Many People Going to College?” in which he describes what is wrong in attending college for four consecutive years. He believes that “the internet has come to revolutionize learning in a way that makes “brick and mortar residential colleges increasingly obsolete” (Murray 3). Murray came to the conclusion that attending a four-year college or attending a residential college has become out of date through the progressing years because of the many technological advances. Murray argues that college is unnecessary for many because of their academic insufficiency and the technological advances that make residential college unnecessary, although this could be true for some it is not for all. Murray believes that to pursue professions such as journalism, accountant, software designer or even a social worker, it would be unnecessary to attend four years of college, since most of the competence would be acquired through the job. He goes on to say that many of the college courses offered can be merged into a shorter learning period because many of the required courses don’t engross students to their specialty. He says that “occupations for which “knowing enough” requires 32 courses...
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...(Desilver). In addition, business has been the most common major since 1980. Going to college will set one up for success in life because one will gain experience of living independently and pursuing a passion; however, many people think going to college is a waste of time and money, but statistics show that people who do not attend college are two times more likely to be unemployed. Being successful in life does not just happen. College is something that will help one become successful in life. Going to college will be a life changing experience for anyone. One will get the experience of living independently....
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...Are Too Many People Going to College by Charles Murray Whether people are going to college or not has been and still is a big decision to this day. College brings along time and financial commitments that you have to have. Charles Murray said “Their object is not to make skillful lawyers, or physicians, or engineers, but capable and cultivated human beings.”(Murray 222) He wants to know if there are too many people going to college just because they can afford it or do they actually want to become a more educated human being. Education has always been an important factor in life. Core knowledge, which is students learning about Apollo 11, Susan B.Anthony, Martin Luther King, Jr,Freedom Riders, and the Pilgrims, should start in kindergarten and go all the way through high school. It’s important for them to know that our country has come a long way and what we have been through has made us the Americans we are today. High school has also made a decision to go a little further with their core knowledge. They decided not to let their students expand their knowledge by having AP classes (college level classes) that they can take if they would like. Once the high school student transitions into a college freshman, they should be well prepared. Prepared to succeed in college not only because they can afford it, but they want to better their education to get a good paying career. If someone doesn’t need to go to college for their career, then they shouldn’t go. That would be a waste...
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...Cooney E4/6th 29 March 2016 Attending College Some may say college is not for them, and others believe it is. College is indeed time consuming and technical, but it is also the start of the life of some people's dreams. A person could give endless reasons as to why they do not want to attend college, such as: it is too expensive, it is time consuming, or there are not always jobs in the field they got their major in. Others will argue that. A person should attend college because it gives better jobs, more opportunities, and easier connections in the work field when looking for a job. People with only a high school diploma do not make as much money as a person with something as simple as an associate's degree. “People with a college degree make around $1,100 a week. Someone with a high school diploma makes just $638” (GreatSchools Staff). An associate's degree is only two years of college. Some people only go for two years because that is all they need for the profession they want to proceed in. Although a person that attends college for more than two years obviously has a higher degree. The higher the degree you have, the more money you make. Some parents do not want to support their children beyond high school. “A lot of high school graduates have never worked, paid a bill, or learned anything about personal finance” (Slide, Casey). College will most definitely teach a person how to finance wisely. Not only does college help a person earn more money, it helps a person...
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...Rhetorical Analysis Are too many people going to college? This question has been contemplated over for years. The increased cost of college throughout the years has caused the question to become even more relevant. Charles Murray, an author from the American Enterprise Institute, wrote the essay entitled “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Murray’s essay sought ought to explain that universities are being filled with students who are either not prepared for higher education or who are compelled into attending college and are unable to succeed because the lack of inherent abilities. While Murray makes many pertinent points about America’s infatuation with the B.A as a standard into a class of intellectual elite the essay does not take into consideration the individual influences that may lead to a student’s success. This essay will analyze and critique Murray’s view of why the pursuit of a B.A can lead to more harm than good. Murray’s main argument throughout his essay is that the perceived reward of a college degree disseminates to those seeking higher education and inevitably does more harm than good. He argues that many students do not have the ability to enjoy and finish a four year degree. This leads the student to being stigmatized and in debt due to his or her failure. Murray further establishes his argument by saying that more people continue to go to college because they are programmed into believing, regardless of their abilities, to pursue college as an essential development...
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...Is College Worth It? From the day we start school, it is drilled into our brain that college is the only way to have a good future, but that may not be the case at all. One might be tempted to point to the many successful people out there without a college degree such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, but ordinary people can also achieve success without a college degree. At least, that’s what Charles Murray, Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, and Mike Rose argue in their essays titled “Are Too Many People Going to College?”, “Should Everyone Go to College?”, and “Blue-Collar Brilliance”. These authors believe that that college promotes social inequality, that college is not a requirement for a good job, and that college is not...
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...argument about higher learning has been a long standing controversy. Some people in America question if the core curriculum taught in college prepares college students for the real world. They wonder if the main courses such as English or Science really help students develop the communicating and critical thinking skills needed to get a good job in today’s society. Another argument is the belief that only certain people should go to college, while others believe that everybody should go to college. Two prime examples of these opinions are the opinions of Sanford Ungar and Charles Murray. Ungar believes that everyone should go to college and receive some form of liberal arts degree, while Charles Murray believes that only students in to 90 percentile should go to college. Both men agree that a liberal arts degree is a great thing, but their opinions on when it should be taught and who it should be taught too are very different. While Murray’s points are somewhat accurate I believe that Ungar’s ideas are more persuasive because he recommends that everybody gets a liberal arts degree helping increase the amount of people with the critical thinking and communication skills businesses are looking for. Sanford Ungar wrote the essay 7 Major Misperceptions About the Liberal Arts. In this essay Ungar describes the benefits of getting a liberal arts degree. In misperception 2, Ungar states how even though people believe the notion of “who wants to hire someone with an irrelevant degree...
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...College Should Be Free Do you think that college should be free? What would life be like with free college. Having free college means people don’t have to worry about losing money. To go to college the cost is way too high. It’s safe to say that people basically can go broke from paying to go to a the college they want. College should be free because society provides childhood early education for k-12 so why do we have to pay for just college, no one can afford college, and people have a better chance at a better life and career. First of all elementary, middle school, and high school is free and necessary for them but why isn’t college free too. People would have a more stable life if they went to college but...
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...years I hope to be in college or maybe had finished college and created my own business. I'll like to study Economics, statistics or engineering. Where, I think that's asking too much. I'll like to be in the United States, Spain or England. I like these countries because they have the best universities in the world, are some of the most important countries in the world, have great food( except England) and a nice culture. Also, I'm Spanish and I think it would be a nice experience to study there. I have many interests right now, soccer, tennis, golf, reading, Netflix. But I don't believe all of these interests may serve for me in the future, like...
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...in three jobs require higher education” (2012 speech). College may be the stepping stone to real life but there are too many challenges against the students. If we want them to succeed why is the system so complicated and expensive? Many college students end up in financial trouble due to being unprepared. Students often don’t have the right study skills going into college and that can hurt them. Some student is often not emotionally ready for college and struggle with the transition. Whether we are ready or not college is what we must invest in so we can peruse our education. College isn’t easy and students face many challenges like financial trouble, lack of preparedness, and emotionally. One challenge student’s face is that many new of them aren’t prepared financially and struggle through their college life. According to the Learn Liberty video the cost of tuition is rising faster than inflation. “There is plenty wrong with American higher education, including the runaway costs” (Sanford Ungar. 231). There are so many other costs in college that students may think they can afford it but it ends up being too much. For instance some students don’t live at home by choice or they don’t have that option and they have to add rent and food into their financial struggle. Nowadays “graduating college with six figures’ worth of debt is becoming increasingly common” (Andrew Hacker. 179). One reason I chose to go to community college is due to the cost of higher education at a university...
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