Geist 1

Parker Geist

Mrs. Cramer

Comp pd. 5

7 December 2018

College Education: Not Necessary

What is your opinion of college education? Do you think it is necessary or unnecessary to

revive a college education? Have you gone to college? Do you want to go to college? The

necessity of college education is often debated by people. Some people want to go, some people

feel pressured to go, and others just do not want to go. The argument is that people’s lives will be

better overall with a college education. People say that students who attend college will make

more money and have job security. However, these claims are not true. Nothing is guaranteed,

even with a college degree. There are jobs available for people who do not attend college.

Sometimes these jobs are better than a job that does require a college education. College is an

option. If college were necessary for a better life, it would be a requirement. It would be

mandatory to attend, just like kindergarten through twelfth grade. There are extremely successful

people who did not go to college, or decided to drop out of college. For example, Bill Gates and

Steve Jobs. They dropped out of college and launched some of the most successful companies in

the world. Receiving a college education is unnecessary because some students cannot handle the

rigor of the education and there are other options for people to pursue.

First of all, some people cannot handle the rigor of a college education. It was found in a

study that 40% of college students say college is harder than they had expected it to be (Meyer).

This 40% of students includes people who decided to drop out. This shows that there are students

who struggle with their education. While some students find that their education is easy and
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tolerable, others do not and are unable to complete it. The students who feel they can’t complete

it often decide to drop out of college. In this percentage, some students likely found that they

could not keep up with their education. There are also other reasons that cause students to not be

able to keep up with their education. In some cases, there are students who have the expectation

of doing well in college, but end up not doing as well as they thought they would(Clark). This

leads to drop out because these students had believed that it would be easy, but got to school and

could not keep up with the rigor of their education. It could be that the curriculum was genuinely

harder than they could handle, or maybe they just did not have the work ethic for it. Either way,

most drop outs fall behind or could not keep up in the first place. Besides, if everyone chose a

career that required them to have a college education, who would fix your car1? It’s not like

that’s an important job or anything2.The rigor of education can be too much for some students to

handle.

Also, there are other options for people to pursue. Not every job requires a college

education. 63.5% of jobs require no college education (BLS). This shows that there are jobs

available for people who chose not to receive a college education. With these jobs, people can

make the decision to not attend college and pursue a career that does not require them to receive

a college education. There are also jobs that require training rather than an education that takes

years to complete. 6% of jobs require certifications without any college education (BLS). This

shows that if people want a better job without attending college, there is an option for them.

Certification jobs allow people to pursue a better career that they enjoy without receiving a

1
Rhetorical Question- A rhetorical question has an obvious answer. In this essay it is used to show that a college
education is not necessary.
2
Understatement- This is an understatement. It is used to show the importance of certain jobs.
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college education that they don’t want, or can’t receive. There are other options for people who

choose not to attend college.

It is commonly argued that people who attend college will make more money. However,

there are well paying jobs that do not require people to have a college education. A college

education does not guarantee how much money a person will make. For example, welders, who

never went to college, can make $63,000 a year (BLS). While Child Protective Services workers,

who attend college for at least four years, only make about $48,000 per year (BLS). This shows

that a college education does not guarantee that a person will make more money, but sometimes

may even make less than people who did not attend college. There are millionaires who did not

attend college, or dropped out of college. People who do not go to college can make just as

much, sometimes more, money than someone who attended college. Therefore, a college

education does not guarantee that people will make more money.

Opposing views claim that a college education will guarantee people a job. A college

degree does not guarantee people a job. There is a limit on the amount of positions for all jobs,

even if a person has a degree. For example, there are only about 15,000 jobs for exercise

physiologist majors, which requires a bachelor’s degree (BLS), while there are 749,000 jobs for

people who are mechanics. (BLS). This shows that even if a person decides to attend college

because they’re influenced by the belief that it will make it easier to find a job, they still may not

find a job because of the limited positions available in every career field. Even people who have

a college degree can be unemployed. The unemployment rate for people who are over the age of

twenty-five years old with a college degree is 5.6% (BLS). While it sounds like a small

percentage, it still shows that havingt a job is not guaranteed with a college degree. Even if a

college graduate gets a job, it is not always in the field of their major. While only 62% of college
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graduates have a job that requires a degree, the percentage that have a job in their chosen career

field is only 27.3% (U.S. Census Bereau). These statistics show that a degree is not a guarantee

for a job and that many college graduates end up working in a field that is not related to their

major. A degree does not guarantee a job.

In conclusion, a college education is unnecessary because not all students can handle the

rigor of a college education and there are other options for people who choose not to go to

college. There is a variety of reasons that a college education is unnecessary. There are jobs that

do not require a college education. Students can also have trouble keeping up with the rigor of

their education, which can lead to drop outs. A degree provides no guarantees. People with no

college education can get a better paying job, or have an easier time finding a job than people

who do attend college. People saying the opposite are not always right. Nothing is a guarantee,

even with a college degree. It is not necessary for people to revive a college education. There are

jobs that do not require a college education. There are people who do not want to attend college.

Therefore, college education is unnecessary3.

3
Syllogism- This syllogism is used to show the simple conclusion that can be drawn from two of the main points
explained in this essay.
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Works Cited

“37 Percent of May 2016 Employment in Occupations Typically Requiring Postsecondary Education.”

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 28 June 2017, www.bls.gov 21

Sept. 2018

“Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics : Occupational Outlook Handbook.” U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-

and-repair/mobile/automotive-service-technicians-and-mechanics.htm.

Clark, Burton R. “The ‘Cooling-Out’ Function in Higher Education.” American Journal of Sociology,

vol. 65, no. 6, 1960, pp. 569–576., doi:10.1086/222787. 21 Sept. 2018

“Exercise Physiologists : Occupational Outlook Handbook.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/mobile/exercise-physiologists.htm.

Meyer , Michaela D., Megan Spencer, and T. French. College Student Journal “The Identity of a

‘College Student’: Perceptions of College Academics and Acadmenic Rigor Amomg First Year

Students .” The Identity of a “College Student”: Perceptions of College Academics and

Academic Rigor in First Year Students , 2018. 21 Sept. 2018

“Social Workers : Occupational Outlook Handbook.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/mobile/social-workers.htm.

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“The Employment Situation-October 2018.” Bureau of Labor Statistics , Oct. 2018, bls.gov.

US Census Bureau. “Education.” Census Bureau QuickFacts, United States Census Bureau, 15 Aug.

2018, www.census.gov/topics/education.html.

“Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers : Occupational Outlook Handbook.” U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/ooh/production/mobile/welders-cutters-

solderers-and-brazers.htm.