College For Charles Murray Summary

What is College for?
Nowadays, many people would argue that going to college is not worth investing in and spending your time on unless you want to get a well-paid job afterward. Parents are willing to ensure a good position for their child after four years of dedication and hard work. Although I agree that education is getting more expensive every year, and for some folks it might be a difficult decision to make, I cannot accept the claim that college is solely for getting an employment. Not only students broaden their horizons and obtain useful knowledge; they also get a valuable life experience and make connections with new people. College helps students to be prepared for the adult life and teaches to be an independent and confident person.
More high school graduates are uncertain about whether to go to school and obtain a degree or not. They feel pressure and are not able to shape their own opinion regarding this issue.
According to Charles Murray, the W. H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a fundamental knowledge that high schools provide students with, will be totally sufficient for the graduates. The author claims that such liberal education should be pursued in college only if a student has enough will and most importantly, intelligence. Murray argues that “as long as it’s a taboo to say that college is intellectually too demanding for most young people, we will continue to create unrealistic expectations among the next generation.” In other words, the author believes that not all high school graduates are capable of challenges in college, as most of them do not have enough academic abilities to perform extremely well. Consequently, young adults might have intangible hopes about their career after school. In contrast, Gerald Graff, a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, encourages young individuals, particularly “street smarts”, to go to a higher institution
and “see their interest through academic eyes. ” Graff implies that non-academic interests are not less intellectual and undoubtedly worth studying professionally. Students should consider attending college and getting valuable skills; not only that would help to further their potential in their passion, but also college will benefit in one’s future. Graff’s point is definitely true as students’ knowledge is underestimated sometimes and teachers do not see any potential in their “hobbies”; therefore, youngsters decide to abandon their learning and render their spot in college in favor of “book smarts”. Consequently, students do not make any progress in their study and do not develop their capabilities and have little or no experience in their life.
However, everyone has a different perspective in terms of what to study in college.
Now, many might argue that college is the only way to secure a good job position and the only reason to get a degree. Jeffrey Selingo, a professor at the University of Arizona and the former editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, writes that students and their parents prefer to obtain a bachelor's degree designated to a specific area; for example, the most popular today is business. That is why “students and their families, faced with big tuition bills, want to be sure to pick a major that leads to a job after graduation. ” (Selingo) That is to say, parents and students are worried that their investment in education can be wasted and hope to get a return in the future. For that reason, job-oriented majors have an enormous demand at higher institutions, albeit Sanford J. Ungar, a journalist, author, and the former president of Goucher College, might contradict that that type of vocational education is nonsense. Ungar strongly believes that liberal arts alone lead to success and are the best choice today for the future graduates. He can reassure those who think that with liberal arts diploma it is more complicated to find a job as “a number of corporations are headed by people with liberal arts degrees”. By this statement, Ungar entails that employers would rather seek for individuals that have a well-rounded knowledge, which they will be able to use in distinct fields, than those
graduates that pursued only a specific degree. He encourages choosing liberal arts on the grounds that they are always valued in a society.
Parents should breathe out and stop being too concerned exclusively about their child’s career. Despite the fact that education price has drastically increased and it would be absolutely pleasing to make more money after graduation, I would contend that this way of narrow thinking about a purpose of college is disastrous. Not only students spend their years on studying what they, perhaps, have not wished about, but also distance themselves from opportunities that college provides. Kwame Anthony Appiah, a philosophy professor at the New York University, thinks that “college is about building your soul as much as your skills.” He implies that higher institution helps to become an intelligent and developed person. He discusses two visions of college education: Utility U. and Utopia U. A “Utility U.” party believes in “value” of college, while Utopia people aim at “values” (Appiah). Moreover, professor expresses that college is the perfect place to discover yourself and one’s potential as you “learn what you can do and what you can be”. In other words, Appiah says that students should explore their mind and abilities to be prepared to enter a real world and then strain to success.