Zane M.

Torizzo-Sanders
Geist
HELA
19 February 16
Is College really all that?
There were many exams that I failed that my friend passed, now hes an engineer at Microsoft
and I am the owner. This is a great quote from Bill Gates that means you dont have to score
good grades to change the world. About 13.7 million are enrolled in a four year University this
year and that number is going to continue to grow, (Collier) Only adding to the overcrowded
white collar job industry. In society today there is a great emphasis placed on getting a college
education, however a college education is not always necessary because if a person would go
into a trade a college education is not necessary and students who do go to college are
acclimating large amounts of debt. This supports the claim that college is not for everyone.
Many people today are told there whole life get a college degree, however in many cases a
degree from a trade school or community college can provide the tools and skills to have
successful career in a given field. Many people have become very successful without a college
degree, not using Bill Gates as an examples because its unrealistic to think anyone can become
like Bill Gates. There are however many examples of people who did not go to college and went
on to make a good living. An example of this is Chris Sanders who had no college education but
now owns a glove company called Performance Safety Group. Chris holds large government
contracts and had made a great living for himself without a college education. Blue Collar
workers are in increasing demand because of so many people going to college, the working class
is shrinking even though the demand remains the same. (Collier) So many people are deciding

to go and fill this open positions instead of getting a college education. A good example of this is
Ryan Flagherty who graduated with a masters degree in economics and is now a full time
bartender.( Alana) Ryan makes about 80,000 dollars a year opposed to making less in the highly
competitive business field he wanted to enter. Ryan was quoted saying its good money.
(Alana) The fact that Ryan has a masters degree in economics and makes more money
bartending is truly astonishing.
Many college graduates have been piling up increasing amounts of debt, the average
college student accumulates about 28,950 dollars of debt before they graduate. (Collier) This
number is outrageously large and major reason as to why many kids are deciding college is not
for them. Another cause of increasing student loan debt is the rise of For-Profit Universities
which are known for over charging and rushing students through school. The article We
Pretend to Teach, They Pretend to Learn says that education has shifted from being a public
good to a private, consumer product. (Collier) This just increases evidences that college is no
longer about educating the future generations but generating profits for the Universitys.
There are many augments for college and they are good arguments. Its true that people
that go to college on average earn more than those who only go to high school. (Greenstein)
This number will change soon because of the overpopulation of the white collar workers, and a
major shortage of blue collar workers. (Collier) A good mechanic can make 100,000 dollars a
year which is really good considering they have little to no college education and debt.
(Friedman,) One of the other arguments is that the college experience teaches you a lot about
life and important social skills. It also sets the stage for the rest of your life. There is no real
argument against creating life skills but is it really worth 20,000 dollars a year?

College is not for everyone, for many people a trade school or a community college can
get them the degree they need at a cheaper cost than a normal university. Many college bound
students have accumulated a large amount of debt with the average being 28,950 dollars. There
are many great benefits to college but in some cases it is not a viable option.

Work Cited
Friedman, Rob. "Education and the Art of Minibike Maintenance." Wall Street Journal.
24 Apr. 2015: A.9. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
Semeuls, Alana. "Degree Not Needed, College Grads Find." Los Angeles Times. 20 Sep.
2013: B.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

Collier, Geoffrey L. "We Pretend to Teach, They Pretend to Learn." Wall Street Journal.
27 Dec. 2013: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
Greenstein, Dan, and Jamie Merisotis. "Education Does Reduce Inequality." Wall Street
Journal. 10 Apr. 2015: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

Clear argument about

Content

social issue
Support uses

and Ideas

10

20

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40

ethos
39 /40 Adam Good on providing

logos

pathos

details
38/40 Lauren Lamker You have lots of

4 or more credible sources

used

evidence but I would add some quotes or

statistics

Antithesis addressed and

refuted

30/40 Self grade


Organization

Effective introduction and

10

20

30

conclusion include hook, thesis, and

final statement
3 organized paragraphs

29/30 Adam Davis Use more of a

include claims, explanations, and

hook to get readers attention

transitions
Sequence is logical

28/30 Lauren Lamker I would add to

your thesis a little bit
30/30 Self grade

Diction/
Syntax/
Conventions

Writing is all in 3rd person

Quotations are embedded

10 15

and properly cited within the essay

0-3 Errors in grammatical
structure

14/15 Adam Davis- Looks good

13/15 Lauren Lamker You need quotes
12/15 Self grade

Publication/

Creative title/rough draft

Appearance

ready on editing day 2/16-17

Proper MLA formatting;

10 15

= 14

heading that includes student name,

14/15 Adam Davis Just use Geist 7

instructors name, class, and date

Works cited page is

/15 PEER 2 NAME - Good MLA

appended.

15/15 Self grade