Summary of Who Needs College
In her essay “Who needs College?” which appeared in Family Circle, Linda Lee states that many American parents regardless of their children performance or readiness are very obsessed with sending them to colleges or Universities.
This frenzy brings up a questioning to find out what would motivate the majority of people in America to absolutely want to send their children to college. Lee (2001) mentions that “America has the second-highest number of graduates worldwide, after (not Great Britain, not Japan, not Germany) Australia”. After all only few of them succeed in getting a degree, nevertheless there are many who get self educated and self employed or find good jobs that do not necessitate a college degree.
Lee (2001) also bring out the fact that “until the computer industry came along, all the highest-paying jobs required a college degree: doctor, lawyer, and engineer”. For her, this is not always the true because in reality, some jobs such as plumbing could be more rewarding than most jobs with degree requirements. Lee (2001) takes the example of her own son who managed to get into college because it sounded like a trend and not for what he could learn. She had to pay for that expensive pleasure for a while before finally realizing that it was useless and that many people could earn a good living without spending so much in College. That led her to stop paying for his education and encouraged him to apply for a job. According to her he could be able to gain some money and discipline while having the same fun he would have gotten in college.
Few years later, when comparing her son’s life to that of his friends who made it through college, Lee (2001) notices sadly that “those who were savvy enough to go into computers at an Ivy League school walked into $50,000-a-year jobs. But that’s not everyone”. On the other hand the majority of them did find a job but not better than about $25000 a year and the rest is still searching for something to do and they may
This frenzy brings up a questioning to find out what would motivate the majority of people in America to absolutely want to send their children to college. Lee (2001) mentions that “America has the second-highest number of graduates worldwide, after (not Great Britain, not Japan, not Germany) Australia”. After all only few of them succeed in getting a degree, nevertheless there are many who get self educated and self employed or find good jobs that do not necessitate a college degree.
Lee (2001) also bring out the fact that “until the computer industry came along, all the highest-paying jobs required a college degree: doctor, lawyer, and engineer”. For her, this is not always the true because in reality, some jobs such as plumbing could be more rewarding than most jobs with degree requirements. Lee (2001) takes the example of her own son who managed to get into college because it sounded like a trend and not for what he could learn. She had to pay for that expensive pleasure for a while before finally realizing that it was useless and that many people could earn a good living without spending so much in College. That led her to stop paying for his education and encouraged him to apply for a job. According to her he could be able to gain some money and discipline while having the same fun he would have gotten in college.
Few years later, when comparing her son’s life to that of his friends who made it through college, Lee (2001) notices sadly that “those who were savvy enough to go into computers at an Ivy League school walked into $50,000-a-year jobs. But that’s not everyone”. On the other hand the majority of them did find a job but not better than about $25000 a year and the rest is still searching for something to do and they may
References: Lee, L. (2001). Who needs college?. Family Circle.