Pharinet's Essay 'Is College For Everyone?'

Elizabeth Baddour
English 1020-056

Pharinet seems to be an informative author with the article titled, “Is College for Everyone?” The writer is trying to give out that not every high school graduate is obligated to attend college. This is basically stating that there are other ways for individuals to be successful rather than just college. The world looks at it today as you will not get anywhere without your education, college is for everyone and C’s get degrees. Firstly, the writer is trying to appeal to the students because they mostly hear the refrain that “you won’t get anywhere without your education” as referred back to the first paragraph in this article. The writer connects to the students by stating that education is important,
but there are those individuals that enroll into college and take advantage of their schooling yet not in a responsible way as a student should. Therefore other options such as trade school, construction, mail carrying and etc. that do not involve a college degree or education seem to be greater outlooks. It has been statistically estimated in the United States that fifty percent of college students who enroll in a two-year or four-year college never graduate. Referring back to the second paragraph, students are not prepared for the academic and financial challenges that college brings them. The students that can manage school, financial situations and work full-time still do exist yet they still struggle also. Secondly, the article states “college is for everyone” in the fourth paragraph of this article. The author’s sense of logical reasoning is that colleges rely on SAT scores and high school transcripts instead of having an open admissions policy because not everyone should attend college. With the reason being if an individual has reading or writing problems they would benefit better off at a literacy program. The writer is very straight forward and to the point, but yet still stating both sides of the topic on a strong detailed basis. This is also saying that students who graduate high school may not be prepared or responsible enough to be in college yet. Also stating that high school graduates who may feel obligated to attend college after high school is what created the need for this argument and as explained at the end of paragraph four, high schools that students attended may have not expected much from them academically in those four years. This also brings back the point that they may not be mature enough to dedicate themselves to the coursework in college that they have to get done. Thirdly, in the start of the fifth paragraph “C’s get degrees” is stated as the first sentence.
The evidence the writer uses to elaborate on this specific statement is that one of his students was the one that told him these three words. It is explained in this paragraph that the educators of the students really fight the toughest battle because they have to try and get students to actually want to learn and not just going through the motions to get by. It is common that students have no desire to learn the material they need and in the end our satisfied with their C degree and also hope that they get a job that pays well and they are comfortable with it. The rhetorical questions in this paragraph are in depth and have specific reasoning behind it. Most of them are explaining how students with C degrees will benefit in a workplace or if they have enough motivation in themselves or co-workers to get a job done effectively. In the start of paragraph six it has been examined that students use to go to college at a point and time to learn and enhance their education, but now college is used for the benefit of getting a good job to help out your future or there are plenty of students that attend college because their parents made them or more so of a student trying to prove something to their parent that they are most likely not ready for anyway. The writer suggests that parents should examine how their child going to college will benefit them in the long run or is it really
going to benefit your child. The writer also says people need to start distinguishing between the right to an education and the benefit of an education. However, it states in the last paragraph of the article that us as people lessen the people that do the jobs that keep the world running smoothly but those are the jobs that you do not need to have a college education or degree for. Finally, the writer structured this argument in an orderly fashion.
Each topic starting with the first speaking on individuals will not get anywhere without an education. This was explained to the core stating the factors that determine the reasons for attending college and those they vary from personal to professional. The second topic was that college is for everyone and throughout the paragraph Pharinet explains why college is for everyone and also why it is not. An individual that wants to attend college or an individual who does not want to attend college can take something from this article. This is said because there is logical reasoning to what is being explained in this paragraph as well as others. The last topic is C’s get degrees; this topic puts the icing on the cake. Pharinet explains the positives and negatives of this statement here, saying that a C will get you a degree but it will not get you to where you need to be. It will have you at a standing point where you only have a few options whereas if students tend to achieve higher they can have bigger and better opportunities than the ones that they have created. The writer is not stating that it is wrong to get a degree with C’s but there is much more than just getting a C in school when there could be something else in the work field that could do you more justice than to have a college education. The examples the writer uses in this article are quoted so the readers will have a clear understanding at what
is being explained. Pharinet also uses statistics to grasp the concept of students who choose to attend college and students who do not choose to attend college.

Works Cited
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. "Is College For Everyone?" Practical argument: A text and anthology. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2011. 635-36.