Case Against College

In the article "The Case Against College" by Caroline Bird, Bird writes about how in today's society college might not always be the best answer for high school graduates. Most graduates automatically assume that going to college directly out of high school is the best way to find better financial stability, but Bird says that is a misconception. Although most college graduates do end up with better jobs and make more money, not all of them are as fortunate. After spending thousands of dollars to attend school for four extra years there are still some graduates that are working minimum wage jobs and have no chance to improve their status within society. This proposes the idea that maybe college is not the correct choice for high school graduates.

When thinking about college most people automatically assume that it is a place where thousands of dollars is best spent. That by going to college the high school graduate grows and becomes a mature, intelligent and responsible adult that is well prepared for life on their own. This is not always a true statement, several college graduates were asked seven years after they finished college what they learned from their experience, the majority of the participants responded saying, "development of my abilities to think and express myself" (306). Is this the reason parents and students pay thousands of dollars a year, to develop a way to express and think for themselves? It seems that there might be a better use for that money if most of the graduates did not seem to become more intelligent. In contrast to this idea, I believe that college not only is a place for individuals to find out about themselves, but also is a place where the individual has a chance to learn about what it might be that they want to do for the rest of their lives.

Bird also writes about how many high school graduates feel that it is mandatory to pursue higher education and end up wasting money because they do not know what they want to study. This statement holds its validity because in most cases, college