Hannah

13 Writing

4/24/20

Closing Argument

The opposing team says that everyone should go to college, whether it be online or on-

campus. They state that online courses are more flexible to your schedule and are cheaper than

on-campus classes, saving students stress and money. This is not entirely true. Yes, online

courses are more flexible, but they also take strong discipline. If students are procrastinating and

not doing their work, it will put the same stress on them as it would if they went to college on-

campus.

Additionally, most online courses cost the same as on-campus learning. The opposing

team stated that schools like Harvard and Stanford offer free online college. This is true, but they

do not offer all the courses that are available if you were to attend college on-campus. This

means you would be missing out on knowledge which can devalue your degree. If you do go to

on-campus college to take these courses, it will cost you.

The opposing team also brought to light that many people who go to college will not be

able to achieve a degree, therefor there will still be essential workers and it won’t harm the

economy. I feel this helps our argument more than theirs. They stated that some people will not

stay to achieve a college degree, which contradicts their argument. Going along with the

economy, if everyone were to achieve a college degree, everyone would be fighting for the same

jobs. With so many people wanting one job, the economy could be harmed.
 The affirmative team also mentioned that 61% of people with student loans say the cost

was worth it because of the job opportunity and the knowledge they gained. As we have said

before, the number of jobs requiring a college degree is decreasing. This means that the job

opportunity these people had was not very different than the job opportunity people without

degrees had. Also, in the time we live in, there really is no sacred knowledge. Anyone can easily

research something online, finding thousands of articles and videos on the preferred topic. The

benefits of college are slowing diminishing, no longer being exclusive to people with college

degrees.

The opposing team said that scholarships are a way to avoid the cost of college.

Unfortunately, scholarships usually do not cover the whole cost of college, which could still

leave students in debt. It is also not very common for people to receive scholarships, only about

19% of students with a 3.0 grade average or higher getting a scholarship. The chances of getting

a scholarship with lower than a 3.0 average are even smaller, and the percentage of students

gaining athletic scholarships is significantly smaller. Only 0.7% of students receive athletic

scholarships. Avoiding the costs of college is not as easy as people think.

We believe that not every person needs a college degree. While college and getting a

degree are good options for some people, not everyone needs a degree to get a good job and be

successful. College is expensive, time consuming, and unnecessary for getting a well-paying

job. Going to college can also cause stress and bad habits. College is only designed for certain

people, and everyone attending college and receiving a degree is superfluous. This is why we

disagree with the statement that everyone should earn a college degree. Thank you.