Some People Do Need College

Some People Do Need College

The importance of a higher degree is not stressed in Linda Lee’s essay “Who Needs College?” In this piece, Linda Lee describes how some people are just not fit for higher educations. She believes that college is not the only option for young adults and some may be better off going into the work field with just a high school diploma. This essay is not completely accurate in its research, generalizations, and stereotypes of college students and does not give any credit to those, like her, that did receive their college degrees.

Linda Lee believes that “not everyone needs a higher education,” (51). In her essay, she claims that the United States is too “obsessed with college,” (51). This essay describes how young adults can succeed in the job force with just a high school diploma. Some people just do not belong in college because of bad habits they form by drinking and staying out late during the week instead of studying. A lot of freshmen fail their first semester of college and their parents no longer want to pay the money if he or she is just going to just throw it all away. Also, she examines how many college graduates do not get a job directly after graduation and find that there are not many opportunities in their field. Linda Lee, on the other hand, pulled her son out of college and put him to work. He has done many jobs during the years that he would have been in college and now he has a good job working for a telecommunications company.

This essay gives random statistics, oversimplifies, and gives faulty generalizations. She states that “only 27 percent of Americans have a bachelor’s degree or higher,” (Lee 51). This may be true, but this is also including a much older generation that did not have to worry as much about a college degree. The statistic also has no source to tell us where she got this information. She could have made it up to make her essay sound more reliable. Secondly, by stating that all young adults do not have to go to college to make it is an oversimplification. Yes, there have been success stories, but there are only a few and it does not sound like her son has any qualities that would make him rich quick. She also says that all electricians, make-up artists, plumbers, wilderness guides, and hair dressers do not need any type of higher education. If you ask any of them they will probably say that they went to a technical school of some kind. Cutting hair and working on peoples’ electrical wiring takes training and a license. Lastly, she claims that the college experience is based on “… drinking, reckless driving and sleeping in on class days,” (Lee 51). Not all students do that when they get to college. Many, unlike her son, actually study and work hard for what their parents are paying for.

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