Maha Alghuraibi ENGH 122_AC3 31 March 2014 Synthesis Essay The Values of Higher Education: Are they Worthwhile?

Among all of the higher education institutes around the world, there are some people who believe in the importance of them and others who do not. There are also some people who believe in the universities importance, but they disagree with the financial amount that they have to spend in term of earning education and vice versa. However, Education is a key for countries development and prosperity. Universities have been established in order to provide a convenient learning environment and to graduate educated generations to build the future of the life. According to Pew research Center, 86% of college graduates say that college has been a good investment for them personally, which assures the value of college during studying and after graduation. While there are many scholars who argue that college is not the only place to advance social and professional skills, or they encourage starting businesses rather than completing higher education, college provides valuable opportunities to earn knowledge and improve skills that cannot be enhanced otherwise which could change the way of seeing life experiences and may help getting better financial job and lower healthcare cost. Even though universities are the best place to learn and being an expert in a field, some prefer getting knowledge and have a social life outside of school. For example, people can work directly after graduating from high school, and meet colleagues and friends in that job. People may decide not to go to college because its turning into a

shop which is decreasing the value of education. Students should pay an amount of money for four years in order to receive an academic certificate without a real benefit from education. In fact, some higher education students and faculty deal with education process as a commodity to sell and buy. As Michael Potts, an associate professor of philosophy at Methodist College, states that the college is worth it if it does not have the idea of consumerism. He says: some professors sincerely believe the customer model and such a belief will inevitably have an effect on how they approach teaching their courses(p.55). That means the problem not only with students, but with professors as well. If the professors do not teach their courses as well as they should be, what is the point of attending college? That could be a reason of why people do not prefer college to learn and make a social life. Another opposing perspective of education is that some students prefer making money instead of spending years in college. As Pew Research Center, reported that 57% of students desire to work and have a job rather than studying (p.17). For instance, Dale Stephens who was a college student for a short time started his Uncollege organization, (which consider as a business) in order to break the concept that says the only route you can take to be successful in your life is higher education according to Holly Ojalvo, a writer in the New York Times. Those people may do not see the advantages of college, and even if they attend it, their attendance aim to have a job and make money. Businesses are not the key in fact because they might succeed or fail. However, there are some people who would like to give it a try and see if it works or not. But even if it works, why they prevent themselves from being higher educated and having more different

experiences in college, and later after graduation they can start their businesses with valuable knowledge. Although many believe starting a new business and making money is a better investment than studying in college, college could grant students huge opportunities of learning academic skills that help them in the rest of their lives. As Richard Cohen, an opinion writer for Washington Post, guarantees that You will get an overview of the world, not just your little area but all the rest(p.2), which means when students go to college and learn more about what they love to know (which consider as an opportunity), they are going to see the world with a larger eye and mind. They will think differently, have better social life due to the people who they are going to meet, make new friendships, getting to know scholars and experts in their fields, and being active members of their communities. All of these opportunities even if they are exist outside of campus; they will not have the quality as their existence in college. You might ask why is that? It is because the various cultures and people in college. Each semester, you are going to meet new students, new thoughts, new beliefs, and new experiences. When you practice these experiences advised by academic environment, it allows you to gain better experience than somewhere else. Even though money is required to live comfortably, the happiness cannot be found by just making money. It is something greater than that which you can find in college if you choose to. Cohen highlights that youre not poor and scratching for a good job. True enough, but you will find the truth in clich that money cannot buy happiness(p.2), which I completely agree with. It is awesome to start your own business that helps you being richer, but you might not be happy as a college graduate who chose

to have a higher education and acquire knowledge of a field to get a better understanding of the world, and then work wherever they want. Satisfaction could be achieved when a person knows what he/she should know about the world whether in science or humanity. The knowledge that helps in improving persons characteristics Larry Singell, a dean of the College of Arts and Sciences asserted, your experience moving through this life is really connected to what you understand. Knowledge makes it so much richer(p.13) according to Bruce Lilly. In that quote, the significance of knowledge has appeared. Every student is going to see the life in his/her own side, which depends on the field, and that improves critical thinking actually. This explains why there are universities and other education institutes. Because without knowledge, we will have poor recognizing of life areas, and we will live in a boring routine that does not contribute in nations development at all. In fact, the development process is based on education, and the intelligence of using it in jobs and businesses to build the future. Each person has a unique experience and story in this life, which could be strongly affected by college majors. Speaking on the effects of knowledge on the students lives, Singell mentioned an important point that says college graduates are less likely to be smokers, less likely to be overweight, and more likely to exercise, so their healthcare costs are lower(p.13). Most of college graduates have better recognizing of the dangerous effects of smoking cigarettes and junk food since they studied about health, and they see what happen to other students who are smoked and being overweight because of fast food and less exercising. That recognition leads to much lower healthcare spending. Otherwise, they will spend a lot of money to get medications and recover their bodies.

Even though high school graduates can work in different kinds of job, college graduates have better jobs opportunities because of many reasons. According to Pew Research Center, college graduates, on average, are happier and more satisfied with their jobs, their financial situation and their education than those who did not attend college(p.7). When students graduate from high school, they do not have enough knowledge to work in a specific field that requires deeper knowledge of what they are going work on. In addition, they will not have an impressive resume as college graduates since they decrease their chances of serving the community, participating in various activities, and becoming academic scholars. As we all know better job equals better comfy financial life. The importance of higher education is different from person to another. In spite of the fact that says education is the base for any civilization, there are others who argue that for financial or other reasons. Yet, there are a lot of valuable outcomes from attending college that could be summarized in earning knowledge, improving skills, experiencing unique experiences, and having efficient jobs. Singell said, If you look at the job market today, fifty percent of the jobs did not exist twenty years ago. Its impossible to prepare for those types of jobs by going and getting a trade. What you need to do is to learn how to think logically, act creatively, and live ethically all of those things that a liberal arts education, which is focusing on general knowledge rather than skills, helps you to do. College allows you to practice thinking in different types of courses, learn creativity by doing many projects, and treat people with manners. Would you still want to leave college and start your own business?

References Cohen, R. (2013, May 27). The richness of learning. The Washington Post.

Lilly, B. (2011). Is college degree worth the cost? Arts and Sciences at Indiana University, 11-13.

Ojalvo, H. E. (2011, November 4). How students can take charge of their education. The New York Times.

Potts, M. (2005). The consumerism subversion of education.

Taylor, P., Parker, K., Fry, R., Cohn, D., Wang, W., Velasco, G., Dockterman, D. (2011, May 16) Is college worth it?. Pew Research Center.