Ross Douthat's Argument

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Ross Douthat dives into the socioeconomic obstacles of college with a satirical analysis of what is truly asked of the modern day college student in College the Great Unequalizer. He uses the data pulled from “Paying for the Party” (“How College Maintains Inequality”) to illustrate that it is not enough to simply attend college anymore; you must attend and meet the brutal standards that come with it. Those who are born into a well off family are more equipped to come out on top than those that are born into a family with less means. Douthat labels these students as either the winners or the losers. The winners are, obviously, those who are financially advantaged. These students have no trouble meeting the social aspects that come along with college, and the extra economic burden that comes from those social aspects. It is not enough to simply attend college; you must attend and meet the “party pathway”. On top of the already exuberant fees associated with the cost of education students are also paying for the expensive Greek life, the cost of going out to the bars, affording the vacations their “cooler” peers commit to, food, transportation, and housing. Some students even switch majors so they can commit to the lifestyle that is idealized by those around them. The individuals who find themselves unable to easily obtain these goals usually end their time at the University in two ways: either in crippling debt that they will spend much of their career trying to overcome, or discovering that they can’t meet the social standards asked of them and must ultimately move to a less prestigious college to find the economic/social balance that they need. In general, college has always created an uneven playing field. However, as time has passed the scope of that field has changed into the one that Douthat discussed. No longer is this field unlevel simply between those who have or have not attended college, but it has created an uneven playing field between those who graduate with a college degree. In 1940, 4% of Americans responded to the Census Bureau saying that they had a four-year college degree, as of this year, 33.4% say that they do. If you look at an even smaller group, those 25-34 years old, 37% say that they have a bachelor’s degree (Census: More Americans have college degrees than ever before.) While the majority of citizens still are without a degree the amount that has obtained one has skyrocketed in recent decades, and it is this rush in the number of degrees that, in my opinion, is changing this playing field. Piketty’s curve best shows the disparity between those who are born into wealth versus those who are trying to build their own. If you take a look at this chart from The New Yorker’s article, Piketty’s Inequality Story in Six Charts, by John Cassidy: You can see Piketty’s theory shining through, that the rate of return on capital is greater than the rate of growth. …show more content…
Essentially meaning that those who already have money will grow their wealth more quickly than those who are trying to earn new wealth. It is this thought process that most closely aligns with Douthat’s opinions on college being an unequalizer. The students who succeed most at four-year universities are the ones who already have access to the wealth that it takes to meet the economic burden that our society places on students.
At one time college graduates were guaranteed a well paying job if they graduated from a University, now it is almost a fight to get a well paying job in your field of study. This fight is where the social aspects come into play even more. You must be well connected, well rounded, and most of the time well off to achieve the extra bump that is necessary to make your resume stand out over the hundreds of others that employers are reviewing. This is reinforced through the university itself. Douthat explains that because of the low accountability that the university places on its students you do not necessarily need exemplary grades to get the job that you want, you just need the connections. One thing

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