Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Julia Schwartz
James Madison University
Introduction
I have done research on the topic of whether or not college should be made
cheaper. I am currently a college student who is realizing how truly
expensive college tuition, room and board, and books are. With the
presidential election coming up in the next year, the topic of possibly making
college more affordable has been front and center in the news. In order for
me to make an argument on whether or not college should be made
cheaper, I needed to do research on the topic that would give me information
of the logistics and possible plans and policies that could be put in place to
actually make college more affordable. The following sources that I will
evaluate have assisted me in the research on this topic and helped shape my
argument for my research.
but this source goes into great depth on how we can reduce the overall price
of secondary education. This source has influenced my ideas on this
argument because the options this article proposes are ethical and make
sense.
and a contributing writer for the magazine. (p.14). NPR is a well known
public radio broadcast that has experts speak on topics. The intended
audience of this article is people who are interested in the rising costs of
higher education, specifically college students and their parents, as well as
people who are interested in the political side of this topic. This article shows
no obvious bias because it is more a statement of fact rather than opinion,
but many times major newspapers tend to fall as more liberal or more
conservative, therefore the fact this comes from the NY Times makes this
article slightly more liberal. The information in this article is very relevant
because not only was the article published in 2015, but it is also a major
topic in politics right now and in the upcoming presidential elections.
I believe this source will be very useful in my research on if college
should be cheaper. This article provided me with important facts about how
the prices of higher education has increased, but in a more straight forward,
easy to understand compared to other sources. This article has showed me
how drastically the cost of education has gone up relative to median
household incomes, house prices, and car prices and is helping me to form
my decision on my argument. This has changed how I think about my topic
by providing key information that shows costs relative to average inflation.
Davis, J., & Lewin, T. (2015, January 8). Obama Plan Would Help Many Go to
Community College Free. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/us/politics/obama-proposes-freecommunity-college-education-for-some-students.html
This article from the New York times, informs us about President Obamas
plan to discuss and possibly put in place a plan that would making
community college free for two years. The main claim of this article is that
this plan would be a tough sell to the Republicans who would not be eager to
spend on this lofty plan. The plan that Obama would introduce is to cover
college costs for students who maintain about a 2.5 GPA not only at
community colleges but at four year universities as well. Obamas plan, if put
in place, would save families about $4,000 a year.
The author of this source is credible. While we do not see actual
reference to author credibility in the article, this source comes from two
authors, Julie Hirschfeld Davis reported from Washington, and Tamar Lewin
from New York. Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington (p.20).
The fact this is from two authors makes the source more credible because
this follows two peoples opinions and thoughts instead of just one. The
intended audience is people interested in public policy regarding education
as well as college students and their families. The information in this does
not appear biased but comes from the NY Times making this slightly liberal.
The information in this article is relevant because it comes from 2015 and is
still a current topic being argued in politics today.
This source is different from the other sources that Ive read in that it
discusses a new plan that would make community college free and help
lower tuition costs at four year universities. This article helps shape my
argument by giving me another possible option I can consider in the logistics
of how college would be made cheaper. The source has not dramatically
changed how I think about the topic in that it did not present a side to the
argument but rather stated facts and informed me on a new possible way to
make college cheaper.
audience of this article would be college students and their parents who are
interested in the inflation of higher education prices. I believe this article has
little bias, but because all newspapers have some form of bias I would say
this article leans more towards being liberal than conservative. This article is
relevant because it deals directly with my topic that college has become very
expensive, even cheap public universities. This article is also from 2015 so
it is up to date with its statistics and facts.
This source is much like my source from The New York times where it
highlights how expensive college has become by giving real life situational
examples. This source was easy to read and interesting so it did not confuse
me or use language that was hard to understand and comprehend. I will use
this in my project by using this real life example to prove points on how
expensive college is. This source has changed how I feel about my topic
because it used pathos and gave me a real life example that made me feel
bad for young people that have to pay for their own secondary education.
Klein, A. (2006, October 11). Democrats Hope to Seize Higher Ed. Issue;
Minority party says it would boost Pell Grants, focus on affordability.
Retrieved October 25, 2015.
In this position article, Alyson Klein writes about different acts and bills that
the federal government can put in place to help add Pell Grants that will
make college more affordable. Klein explains to us a possible measure that
could be used to help make college more affordable. This would be to set a