Christen Brown

EN 102

Summary Essay

16 January 2019

Are College Attendance Rates Too High?

In his essay “Are Too Many People Going to College?”, author Charles Murray,

journalist and co-author of ​The Bell Curve​, claims that​ “We should not restrict the availability of

liberal education to a rarefied intellectual elite. More people should be going to college, not

fewer” (223). Throughout Murray’s essay, he elaborates on college attendance. As stated, he

believes that people should be going to college his reasons why go more in-depth on the

importance of having a further common education. Murray maps both sides of the viewpoint of

attending college by explaining how liberal education is essential education, college life is

changing, and benefits of a Bachelor of Arts.

Although it is true that ​liberal education is highly supported and encouraged, core

education should be taught before college in order to be college ready. E.D. Hirsch Jr., author of

Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know​, shares his three points on core

knowledge: participation requires understanding of core knowledge, core knowledge is an

important to culture, and K-8 is the perfect time to teach core knowledge, and the education

should start in elementary (qtd. in Murray 223-24). ​Hirsh is insisting​ that liberal education is a

necessity for basic human connections and cultural understanding. Murray goes on to support his

claim, stating that liberal education should be taught continuously from a young age all
throughout education to make students college ready (226). The college readiness is more

prominent in those who have received a liberal education.

The number of people who attend college may not need such an intense education as

some four-year colleges require, but universities give students the residential life that makes

learning easier; the easier learning environment, however, is slowly disappearing. While there

are students who need to attend a four-year university, the traditional living environment gives

students a variety of learning opportunities. ​Murray claims that​ brick-and-mortar residential

colleges used to provide many aspects for better education and living environment. He states that

good libraries result in higher learning, colleagueship encourages scholarship, and better learning

occurs when the student and teacher have interaction (230). Among all these aspects, Murray is

conveying that the best option for excellent college learning is living on a traditional college

campus. ​However, Murray contradicts himself in this statement. On one hand, he argues that

residential colleges are the best learning environments. ​On the other hand, ​he also says

technology is taking over learning and the traditional campus experiences will be no more

(230-232). Even though the residential colleges that Murray discusses are going to extinction,

the internet revolutionizing these three aspects (libraries, social lives, and teacher interaction)

may not be detrimental to students’ college learning experience.

Although having a college degree may help earn better pay in careers, it can also be a

waste of money. ​Murray believes that ​attending college to only earn a Bachelor of Arts degree is

not a worthy degree (234). As ​Murray states​, “The more people who go to college, the more

sense it makes for employers to require a B.A.” (233). Regardless of the requirement of a B.A.

for many jobs, it is worthwhile to obtain a degree of higher meaning and more centralized focus
than a Bachelor of Arts. Murray contradicts himself later in his essay stating, “There has never

been a time in history when people with skills not taught in college have been in so much

demand at such high pay as today, nor a time when the range of such jobs has been so wide”

(236). Craftsmanship has been a trade that goes without a degree. Craftsmanship skills provide

well-paying jobs without the cost of paying off student loans. While there is a slight pay

difference in earning a B.A., the pay difference is not nearly as drastic as if a student earned a

degree specific to their career field.

Murray’s essay “Are Too Many People Going to College?” outlines both sides of college

attendance by explaining liberal education importance, how college campuses are being

reformed, and the worth of a Bachelor of Arts. Murray states at the beginning of his essay,

“More people should be going to college, not fewer”(223). Contradicting himself through the

duration of his essay, Murray portrays through many points and claims that there are too many

people going to college.

 Works Cited

Murray, Charles. "Are Too Many People Going to College?" ​They Say I Say with

Readings,​ by Gerald Graff et al., 2nd ed., New York, W.W. Norton and Company, 2012,

pp. 222-242.