Analysis Of Freeman Hrabowski's Article 'Colleges Prepare People For Life'

Decent Essays
In Freeman Hrabowski’s article, Colleges Prepare People for Life, he writes about the argument of whether or not college is the right option. He begins the article by stating that many opposing articles criticize colleges for being too expensive and causing students to take on debt. Colleges are also criticized for not preparing students well enough for the workforce. Hrabowski then writes about the contrasted view of many educators and economists. Many educators and economists display evidence that a college degree is the only way to get some of the high paying jobs. They also believe that college graduates are more likely to be employed than those who only passed high school. Hrabowski then proposes that people should not view colleges

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    College, Is it Right For Everyone? Linda Lee’s essay “The Case Against College”, which will be summarized here;entails an answer to the question, is college necessarily right for every high school graduate? Lee writes from the perspective of a parent trying to guide her child in the best direction. She declares that America is fixated on college, by referring to America’s college graduate rate which is the second-highest internationally. Lee expresses her opinion that a high school graduate who has no desire to get any further education will not reap the benefits of college, because they will not obligate themselves to go to classes or complete assignments.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The article “Three Reasons College Still Matters” was published on March 04, 2012 by Andrew Delbanco. Delbanco begins talking about the importance of college. He talks about how a college diploma is now slowly starting to become the minimum qualification for entry into jobs. Delbanco states there is “abundant evidence” that people with a college degree make more money in their lifetime than someone with a high school diploma. Delbanco also talks about how a family's income has shown to be affecting the chances of students receiving a quality education.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For years’ parents have told their kids that college is a must and that you have to do it, but in The Basement of the Ivory Tower has another thought about that. Which is Professor X that explain why he feels that college is not for everyone and shares his experience of teaching people that are just not ready for that level yet. So an individual might ask themselves am I that student, or is it really that necessary to go to college just too higher myself and in reality its getting me more in debt; on top of that what if I fail and I have to retake the class and pay for it what happens then? All these questions are what we need to think about because these are very important believe it or not.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Anaisha Murray Mr. King ENGL 101-029 February 3rd, 2014 Is College Worth the Cost? Many people argue that college is not worth the cost. Some individuals say that college is too expensive and when they graduate they are not able to find a job with their degrees. People also say that college is not worth the amount of money they have to pay back in loans after they graduate. Those are all points stated in Rodney K. Smith’s essay…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Years ago college in our world was not as popular as it is now. More and more young people are going to college after high school and will be the first in their family to do so. In her article “A Case Against College” Linda Lee brings up that college is not necessary. She points out all the negative aspects of college and none of the positive. She fails to grasp the reality that college is important and that its importance should not be downplayed.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hrabowski acknowledges, “Both sides have points. However the first argument treats colleges as monolithic, and the second turns individual students into averages” (690). This is most certain credible, some colleges make no changes within students. On the other hand, the other side argues that colleges can prepare students to be an ordinary college graduate. For instance, two friend may attend the same college with same expectation which is wanting to be successful.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Menand believes that today, we are incentivized to only learn that which leads to direct success, and that college “exposes future citizens to material that enlightens and empowers them, whatever careers they end up choosing”(2). He believes that college gives students a wide breadth of information that will help them in ways beyond advancing their career. There exists one final theory that explains why college is beneficial. This theory revolves around the idea that, in our current economy, colleges exist to provide a specific skill set necessary for a select few jobs. Last, but not least, Menand discusses “Professor X”, an author and professor, who believes that students come into college not prepared or particularly engaged in learning.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the beginning of the article, the argument is based around the idea that earning a career at college does not mean a job after college. The article takes a twist, and slowly brings in the idea that maybe the skepticism of college should be questioned. First mentioning the involvement of successful college graduates like Barack Obama, and then even using some logic, “…one needn’t necessarily be a liberal-arts graduate to regard as distinctly and speciously utilitarian the idea that higher education is, above all, a route to economic advancement” (Mead 434). This statement turns the argument which seemed to be before against college, towards college. The article uses different modes of persuasion to conclude this as an argumentative article, which becomes less effective when so much information is provided from both sides.…

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the passage “The Imperiled Promise of College” written by Frank Bruni has also pointed out this argument, stating that college is no longer a guarantee for the success of career. In the passage, Bruni quotes the data provided by the Associate Press, pointing that about 53.6% of college graduates under the age of…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Study after study reminds us that higher education is one of the best investments we can make...”(Owen, S., & Sawhill). In the essay, “Should Everyone go to College”, written by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, the two authors work together to form a strong argument on idea that everyone should go to college. Money, personal success, and personal well- being are the main subjects that the authors present to the readers. This paper will evaluate some of the different components of writing that the authors used to get their ideas across to the audience. In the text, the authors use a few different methods and devices to help convey their point to the reader in a more clear manner.…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The value of a college degree is a dispute that is commonly contemplated, yet rarely answered. I will attempt to express my attitude towards college education, personally defined as an Associate’s Degree for returning adult students. In an effort to explain the greater benefits of a college degree despite the common rhetoric that it is not financially worthwhile, I have considered the positive and negative effects of doing so. I have examined the following articles, “Learning by Degrees and Live Chat With the Author,” “The Major and the Job Market, the dream and the reality,” and “In the Basement of the Ivory Tower,” to support my stance. When one maintains a desire to progress academically and an open-mindedness to educational demands in the…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the article, “College is a waste of time” by Dale Stephens, Dale gives his persuasive opinions on why college is a waste of time by giving out evidences of how college isn’t fully beneficial and describing people who are successful today without a college degree. Dale describes college as “rewarding conformity, regurgitation, and theory”, instead of, “rewarding independence, learning, and application”. Providing that college is also hungry for people’s wallet, The College Board Policy Center showed that tuitions have increased 3.6 times since 30 years ago. Not everyone needs college to be successful such as Mark Zukerberg who made it big without a diploma. Summing up the article, Dale states that in the end it’s people’s choice to look for…

    • 1046 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On one hand, college helps people get better-paying jobs. From this perspective, college seems like a worthy investment; however, others such as Caplan argue that college is a waste of time because students do not learn what they need for jobs. In words of Caplan, one of his view's main proponents is that "Trying to spread success with education spreads education but not success" (para. 34). According to his view, college does not determine success. In sum, then, the issue is still whether or not students should attend college.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After graduating high school, many students start their first year of college. For most students, they enroll into college in hopes to begin their career path or to figure one out. In his essay “Colleges Prepare People for Life”, Freeman Hrabowski focuses on how people’s lives are indeed being prepared by college. Hrabowski argument is very convincing, but it only gives a few examples on how college does prepare people for life. More elaboration and detail needs to be provided in his essay.…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    A College Education

    • 1581 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A college education is very important in today’s economy and society. For some, it is nearly impossible to be successful in life without a college degree. This is the view of people in many different countries. Gary Burtless says that “The economic reward [for] attending and completing college has probably never been higher. ”(qtd Dews,F) To catch up to those countries that are superior to us in technology and economy, America has to change.…

    • 1581 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays