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Geist

Parker Geist

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 5

5 Oct. 2018

College Education: Unavoidable or Unnecessary

Millions of students enroll in college every year. College is something that people

consider when graduating high school. Whether they choose to go for their own reasons, or

because they feel that they are pressured or expected to, almost all students consider the

possibility of attending college after they graduate from high school. Some students decide that

they should attend college because they feel most jobs look for employees with a college degree,

while other students choose not to go to college because there are employers that do not look

for college degrees when hiring employees. The necessity of a college degree is something that is

often debated by people who consider attending college. However, there are some careers where

it is not an option to skip a college degree, such as surgeon, pharmacist, chemist, and other

careers that require an education for the safety of people. In some cases though, people wonder if

a college education is necessary. The job that someone is applying for could just be simple

enough to learn with training, or maybe a student is forced to take unnecessary classes in college.

An example of this is a student having to take a chemistry class to earn a degree in business. It is

also strongly encouraged for students to go to college, even if they want to get a job without

attending college. Another commonly wondered thing about college is how rigorous the

education that the students receive is. While people think they have the answer to that question, it

depends on the student and the abilities of that student. College education is not always
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necessary, it may be difficult for some students to continue college, and the rigor of education in

colleges is experienced differently by every student.

First off, a college education is not always important for a student to receive. While in

college, students may be forced to learn unnecessary information in order to receive their

degree. Unnecessary education is often forced in college. In a study done by Ivar Berg, it was

found that students believed some of the education they received in college was unnecessary for

their decided career choice (Rosembaugh). An example of this would be if an accounting

student had to take a human biology class, it is unnecessary for the students goal of becoming an

accountant. While careers that do require college education sometimes force unnecessary

information, there are careers that don’t require any college education. However, students are

often pushed away from these jobs, and towards a college education instead.. In 2016 it was

concluded that about twenty-eight percent of jobs required “no formal education” and thirty-five

percent of jobs required only a high school diploma. It was also shown in the data that there are

occupations for students who attended college, but did not complete all of the necessary courses

in order to receive a degree (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). This shows that these jobs are

available, but may not always be pursued by college graduate students. It is not always necessary

for a student to revive college education.

Further more, college may also be difficult for some students to continue. Academic failure

can lead to students deciding to drop out of college. The decision of these students who choose to

drop out can be because of the pressure and expectations for college students to go to college-

which may be difficult for them and lead to the decision to drop out due to failure and unmet

expectations (Clark). Students may decide to enroll in college with the idea that it will be easy,

but get there and decide that it isn’t for them. Other problems can also lead to students deciding
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to drop out of college. Some issues that can cause students to drop out of college, or give up

before they even start- could be family, personal, financial issues, etc.. Students can get stressed

with these problems and take a break from school until everything else in their life gets better.

These problems can lead to students deciding to permanently drop out of college, or just take a

temporary break from their education(Tinto 89).

Lastly, the rigor of education in colleges can be experienced differently by each student. In

some cases, a majority of students may find the rigor of their college education easy. In a study,

it was found that sixty percent of freshman in a college felt that their first year of college had

easier academics than they had expected it to have had (Meyer, Spencer, French). The dropout

rate in colleges is largely affected by how the difficulty of education in colleges is experienced

by some students. Unrealistic goals and being let down by failure academically can lead to

students deciding to drop out of college (Clark). This academic failure can be due to lack of

effort, but it could also be due to the difference in rigor between high school and college. Some

students may not be able to keep up in order to complete their college education. Some students

just may not be able to handle the academic rigor in colleges, while other students may have no

problem with it.

In conclusion, college education is not always necessary, it may be difficult for some

students to continue college, and the rigor of education in colleges is experienced differently by

every student. A college education is something that is not always necessary, but can be

necessary depending on what job a person plans on entering into when that person decides to join

the work force. There are jobs that do not require a college education, however other jobs do. In

some jobs the employees are taught unnecessary information during their years spent at a

college. Students also drop out out for a variety of reasons, and may not be able to complete their
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college education because of academic reasons. These reasons include failure or not being able

to keep up. While some students can find the rigor of college education too difficult, other

students find the academics of their college easier than they had expected it to be when they first

decided to enroll in college. College is available to everybody, but all people may not be able to

attend for a variety of reasons. The necessity of college and the rigor of education are things

that can be different for every student based on a variety of factors. In this situation, there is no

yes or no answer to the question of college necessity and whether or not college has gotten

easier. The necessity and rigor of college is something that is different for every college student.
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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

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

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

Rosembaugh , James E. “Beyond College for All: Career Paths for the Forgotten Half .” American

Sociological Assosiation , 2001. 21 Sept. 2018

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Tinto, Vincent. “Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Research.” Review

of Educational Research, vol. 45, no. 1, 1975, pp. 89–125., doi:10.3102/00346543045001089. 21

Sept. 2018