Do, Huy

Professor Howard
CRN 31207
Commentary - Portfolio Draft
05-02-2016
Is College a Good Investment?
Getting an education is one of the most important decisions of our
lives, but whether college is a good investment or not is a hot topic that has
become a very controversial argument over years. Which side do you think is
right? To me, I strongly believe that college is a good investment in both
intellectual growth and economy. College helps us explore our career path,
develops our critical thinking, and gives us more opportunities to get high
salary jobs.
Why is the value of college so debatable? Because many people keep
questioning whether they will gain back what they invest, or there will be a
big debt waiting for them right after they graduate. Theyre afraid that all the
effort and money they put into it will be wasted. Thats why its better if they
just find a job right after high school. Maybe they worry what they learn in
college will be outdated when they graduate. Let me prove this is wrong!
First of all, Im sure that not every one of us has a clear plan for our
career path right after we graduate high school. When you dont have
information about something, what will you do? You will look for a guidebook,
right? The same concept also applies to college. College will become your

guide book for your career path. It contains information about every field of
study or major you can think of, and you can freely explore which paths you
should take. Just like Phyllis M. Wise, a vice president of University of Illinois,
points out In college, students establish the intellectual foundations for their
careers, and it is when they have the freedom to explore paths their lives
might take. (What Is College For?) What will you do when you have access
to information about your career? You need to practice it, and I dont think
there will be a better place than college to practice not only your jobs skills
but also your knowledge for your future career. Phyllis M. Wise also mentions
that We prepare students for the jobs and the careers that will emerge and
grow and change in next 20 years (What Is College For?) As you can see,
colleges already prepared you 20 years in advance for the jobs, so you dont
have to worry that youre going to be outdated when you graduate.
Besides letting us explore our career path, college helps us with one of
the most important skills of our lives that is critical thinking. This is the
difference in intellectual growth between a person who graduates college
and a person who doesnt have a college education. Valerie Strauss, a
reporter from The Washington Post, shows that The educated graduate is an
independent learner, able to seek out answers to whatever questions arise,
and able to direct his or her own learning in accordance with the challenges
that life presents in the circumstances of his or her own life. That means
college graduates can solve not only jobs related problems but also have the
ability to deal with lifes challenges. I believe this is what people call kill two

birds with one stone. Many people have an idea that college education only
provide jobs related skills, but now we know that college also provides us life
skills through our development of critical thinking.
Now I bet youre wondering how college can teach us critical thinking.
One of the most popular ways is finding an answer to a critical thinking
question. A critical thinking question is a question that you can not give an
immediate answer right after you read it. To answer this kind of question, you
have to fully understand the material or the lecture related to it, and form
your own answer based on what you understand. You can clearly see these
kinds of questions in Maths. For example, if you dont understand what a
quadratic function is, can you really solve a problem with quadratic function?
Absolutely not. You can see the same concept in my English class. My English
professor, Megan V. Howard, often gives my class exercises that make us
read articles thoroughly. I have to understand what the article is really about,
then add my experience and my point of view to form my answers to her
questions. Even though these questions are always hard, and takes a lot of
time, but thanks to her I improve my critical thinking skill. College is the right
place you can practice this because your professors will give you feedback
on your work, and help you improve your critical thinking skill.
Does this mean as long as I go to college to get a degree, I will develop
my critical thinking? My answer is no. Even though college is where to help
you develop your critical thinking, you have to actually put your effort into it
and work hard to gain experience out of it. You cant just expect the same
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outcome as everybody else without doing any work, can you? Hunter
Rawlings from The Washington Post mentions a quote from a university
president For those of you who have come here in order to get a degree,
congratulations, I have good news for you. I am giving your degree today
and you can go home now. For those who came to get an education,
welcome to four great years of learning at this university. I can clearly feel
his motivational words that knowledge can only be gained by working hard,
and passion for learning.
Can we get back the amount of money that we invest in college? Dont
worry! A report from Pew Research Center surveys points out that Adults
who graduated from a four-year college believe that, on average, they are
earning $20,000 more a year as a result of having gotten that degree. Adults
who did not attend college believe that, on average, they are earning
$20,000 a year less as a result. (Is College Worth It?) $20,000 is a
significant difference in terms of economy. How is this possible? Well, high
salary jobs require you to have higher education, and we all know that
college prepares you with jobs skills and critical thinking. This point is clearly
pointed out by Jamie P. Merisotis, president and chief executive officer of
Lumina. He said The vast majority of new jobs require higher skills and if
you dont have a college degree, your chances of being in middle class are
visibly diminished, (The College Payoff). Nobody wants to stay in low class
forever, right? With college education, you will meet requirements for new
jobs, and those jobs will help you get into middle class.

Are these reasons enough to make college a good investment in both

intellectual growth and economy? Yes, these definitely are. College opens our
career path for our future. It even develops our critical thinking which gives
us the ability to deal with lifes challenges. It also helps us get high salary
jobs. Therefore, we should invest in the college education.

Works Cited
"Is College Worth It?" Pew Research Centers. Pew Research Center., 15 May
2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Rawlings, Hunter. "College Is Not a Commodity. Stop Treating It like One."
Washington Post. Washington Post, 9 June 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Strauss, Valerie. "Why We Are Looking at the value of College All Wrong."
Washington Post. Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
"The College Payoff." CEW Georgetown. CEW Georgetown, 5 Aug. 2011. Web.
21 Apr. 2016.
"What Is College For?" The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle of
Higher Education, 22 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.