Ball1

Zachary Ball
Lindsay Drumm
ENG 111
3 July 2014

Who Decides Whether Higher Education is Important or Not?


Whether or not to enroll in a higher education has been a controversy for
decades in the eyes of most high school students. Is college for everyone? Is it worth
the time and money to attend a university to capture a four-year degree? How about a
community college for an Associates degree or not attending at all? W.J. Reeves is an
author who wrote College Isnt for Everyone, which focuses on the illiterate students
attending college and why it can be a waste of time for some. Reeves gives advice to
parents and students to review before making a decision on furthering their education.
On the other spectrum, Paul Attewell and David E. Lavin are authors who wrote What
the Critics of College for All Say, which takes real-life statistics to show that anyone
who attempts a higher education will benefit from it. While both articles share views that
are similar regarding the habits of high school students, these authors have very
different mindsets on the importance of higher education.
Both articles portray the issue of high school students having no motivation due
to easy admission to certain universities. Reeves argues what can be done: A college
administrator could have the courage to let the word go forth that the college has
admission standards and that access does not guarantee graduation (343). He
believes that a college can still have high admission standards while having easy
Ball2

admittance. Attewell and Lavin chime in: One striking complaint about expanded
access to college is that it has undermined the work ethic of students still in high school
(350). Due to the easy access into college, they feels that high school students are
slacking off leaving no incentive to study hard. This will only create problems for
students when they actually enter a college level. High school students are very
susceptible to learning bad habits and it is very difficult to fix these habits. Although
there are a few similarities between the two articles, these authors have two different
viewpoints on high school students attending a community college.
One important difference between the two articles is that Reeves figures out
reasons why certain high school students shouldnt go to college and offers solutions for
them with little or no credibility. On the other hand, Attewell and Lavin use live statistics
from a consensus done by scientists that back their argument up of why students
should go to college. Reeves states, A more-practical solution is for parents to find a
cheap apartment some distance from the family home, deposit their son or daughter in
it, along with the considerable clutter accumulated during a brief lifetime, and secure
enrollment in a community college (344). There has been a steady growth in
community colleges and by just getting your Associates degree, you are making 10%
more income in your lifetime. He continues to go on about how community college
professors are full-time and they make their living by teaching, giving students a one-on-
one learning course.
Attewell and Lavin view community college as a burden. They said, Poorly
prepared students in community colleges dont realize that their remedial courses carry
no credit toward a degree, and that college staff members fail to alert them to this fact.
Ball3

Thus, weak students get bogged down taking multiple remedial courses that dont
advance them toward a degree, leading many to give up and drop out (350). This view
from Attewell and Lavin is contrasting Reeves view, for an example, they see
community colleges as an utter waste of time. Not everyone is prepared for college, and
not everything about college is what it is made out to be. Reeves believes that a large
portion of the population can attend community college and earn a good living.
Community College is viewed differently in younger generations, especially if it means
going to school for two-years versus four-years.
When it comes to high school students being prepared or not, college in the mind
of Reeves isnt for everyone. He begins to explain there are three types of students in
education, Students with brains who have worked hard in high school can go to the top
of the academic food chain and attend Ivy League school, Others can receive a
technical education at a local community college that will allow them to earn a good
living, however, going to college is a utter waste of time for those students who have
emerged from high school neither literate nor numerate (344-345). This is the so called,
education gap in America Reeves explains. Everyone is different and we all have a
different purpose in life and college may or may not be it. Attewell and Lavin dug deep
into a few different sources and came to a conclusion that disregards what Reeves
thinks about the education gap. They quote, college pays off for those entering college
with weak high school backgrounds in addition to those who enter with straight As; and
for recipients of associates as well as bachelors degrees. College even pays off for
students who attend but fail to graduate (350). The U.S Consensus Bureau showed
that students who even attempted college earned more over a lifetime than someone
Ball4

who just graduated high school. Many of todays CEOs have dropped out of college at
some point and now lead a luxurious life. Attewell and Lavin use strong data that helps
the case of encouraging all high school students to attend college no matter what kind
of background or how intelligent you are, the benefits clearly outweigh the costs.
Finding the drive and motivation to enroll in a higher education is a hard choice
that every high school student has to dwell on. After comparing and contrasting two very
well written articles with plenty of research put into them, Reeves as well as Attewell
and Lavin help us better decide a path to choose when figuring out our life in the long-
term sense. College isnt something that is forced upon students, but rather looked upon
as important. It can make a difference of earning double salary versus working for
minimum wage the rest of your life. A higher education is also not for everyone, and
many non-college millionaires have showed us that it is possible to succeed without
attending Harvard. Reeves views College as an utter waste of time for students that are
not literate, or ones that did poorly in high school. Attewell and Lavin believe that
everyone should enroll in higher education because statistically the benefits outweigh
the costs whether you are dumb or intelligent person. Through both of these articles,
Reeves, Attewell, and Lavin showed us that whatever one chooses to do, there are
always going to be pros and cons to enrolling in higher education or not.






Ball5




Works Cited

Reeves, W.J. College Isnt for Everyone. Exploring Relationships: Globalization and
Learning in the 21st Century. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013. 341-345. Print.

Attewell, Paul and David, Lavin What the Critics of College for All Say. Exploring
Relationships: Globalization and Learning in the 21st Century. Boston: Pearson
Learning Solutions, 2013. 348-354. Print.