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Lisa Haynes
Ashley Marcum
English 111- Revised version
4/28/2016

The Benefits of Getting a College Education

College students who complete college have to fit a standard of knowledge, sociability and
accountability. College according to Delbanco, is one of the great innovations to come from the
United States. Delbanco points out that for many students college means the anxious pursuit of
marketable skills, under resourced institutions or even a virtual classroom.
College is an economic answer, Delbanco paints a gloomy picture with some disturbing
particulars. Flat or declining college attainment rates among minorities.
Financial means have a huge bearing on educational opportunity. Moreover, among those who
do get to college, high achieving students from affluent families are four times more likely to
attend a selective college than students from poor families with comparable grades and high
scores (110). The point of his essay is to highlight fundamental principles of a college education
that has inherited from the past, challenged in the present and indispensable in the future (110.)
In my opinion, Delbanco challenges us to think critically about whats at stake.
College is a place for young people to learn to navigate between adolescence and adulthood. A
place to gain knowledge about ones self and the world around them. College should instill
certain qualities of mind and heart requisite for reflective citizenship (Delbanco 112). These
qualities include: a healthy skepticism of the present, a scientifically and artistically informed

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understanding of the natural world, the willingness to imagine the world from another
perspective and a sense of ethical responsibility. Such qualities are not commodities, not to be
produced, then bought and sold. College should open doors to y our senses as well as your mind
to experiences that may have otherwise been closed. It enriches your capacity to read demanding
works of literature, to grasp fundamental political ideas and heightens ones alertness to color,
form, melody and harmony. I believe that this attitude for a college education can make one
grateful with a craving for contact with works of art, ones own longings and exceed what one
has been able to articulate by and for oneself. His view of what it is to be educated is often
caricatured as snobbish and narrow, but the fact is that it is neither. Sometimes called a liberal
education which is a hazardous term today, it has nothing to do with liberal politics in the
modern world. Education for democracy also implies something about what kind of education
democratic citizens need. A course of study that introduces students to the constitutive ideas of
Western culture, ideals of individual freedom and toleration. Anyone who earns a BA form a
reputable college ought to understand something about the genealogy these ideas and practices,
alternative ideas both within Wester tradition and outside of it. Its a tall order for one to satisfy,
one of the marks of an educated person is the recognition that it can be adequately done and is
worth doing it even more.
College is more hands-on and is essential for a student to be open minded to other peers.
Many of todays students show up with their own habits, ideas and behaviors already in place.
Many are deeply concerned with how they stack up against their peers. College is a very
competitive place and competition can take many forms. Delbanco makes it quite clear, that
there is more pressure to justify the cost of getting a degree, (113). Which means college
becomes less and less of an escape from the real world. College has changed little in the past

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thousand years. Delbanco points out that teaching methods have remained unchanged for some
2400 years. Students have always looked for a purpose, something to care about. In todays
America, in almost every institution, from underfunded community colleges to the wealthier Ivy
Leagues, education is at risk. I do believe that getting a good education used to be for the upper
class and wealthy but with financial aid, as well as loans, anyone wanting an education can get it.
It doesnt matter your age, financial background or anything else except a willingness to learn.
Too many colleges do too little to save them from the debilitating frenzy that make liberal
education marginal, if offered at all. This is the purpose of college, not just some place to build
social contacts. Its supposed to be a place of learning in the broad and deep meaning of the
word (114).
To be an accomplished college student, it is essential to be accountable for ones self. Now-adays, every kind of education is at risk. College used to the place where a person would go learn
more, find the right path in life, to improve ones self.
Financial situations shouldnt be a problem for a college student, being accountable for
yourself is key. I feel that many first time college students have a harder time becoming
organized, keeping up with classes and assignments. I believe this is because a lot of students are
away from home for the first time and truly on their own. For me, being a first time student
returning to school after a 25-year absence, so much has changed with technology and most
classes are on line with assignments that are downloaded to Moodle. It would seem that getting
a good education would somehow be easier than in the past, which may or may not be true.
College students have to be accountable for their own education whether they attend classes in
person or online, by forming their own ideas and not feeling like college is a competition among
your peers.

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Delbanco, Andrew. A College Education: What is its Purpose? p. 110-114