1. What are three of the reasons why people are asking the question, "Is college worth it?" 1. Some college graduates are finding it difficult to get a job at all 2. Some college graduates get a job but they are underemployed 3. College debt is overwhelming and makes their life overly hard

2. According to this first article, is college worth it? How so? (Make sure to provide specific evidence from the article, such as the cost of not attending college) according to the article graduating college will double your average salary over somebody who has a high school diploma. Not going to college will cost you $500,000 in your lifetime of income you could have earned that didn't. The unemployment rate for people with a college degree is 3% far below the national average. College graduates have seen their salaries go up to 32.60 and people with a high school but, there salaries have actually gone down 5% to 16.50.

3. Why has the "pay gap" between college graduates and non-graduates been rising lately? (This comes from the paragraph that begins with "The average hourly wage..." There is a pay gap between college graduates and nongraduates because there is not enough college graduates for the spaces available in the job market. The average wages per college graduate have risen 1% while wages for noncollege graduates have actually fallen 5%.

4. What does the author argue in the the last paragraph of the first article? The author makes a pretty good case that the United States has had an educational system that requires children to have 13 years of school for very long time. Becoming a high school graduate has been enough to assure you a job of some kind in United States but this simply is not true anymore. The new standard in the US is 15 to 17 years of education. Simply stated the new standard of education is at least an Associates degree if not a bachelors degree for every American citizen. He believes that this will become the new standard in United States in the next few years.

 

For Some Graduates

5. Is college worth it for everyone? (Discuss using the data presented in the second paragraph)

No college is not worth it for everyone according to this article. Many people find when they get out of college that the position that they fill in society could easily have been filled by someone with only a high school diploma. Many people are underemployed and feel trapped by their dead-end job and their college debt.

6. What does Michelle Polyakov's current situation teach us about college? Michelle did everything right and went to college and graduated from a major university yet when she got out of school she found that she could not get a teaching job right away. Michelle also has significant college debt and she is forced to live at home because she cannot afford to live on her own. Just because you graduate from college it isn't a golden ticket that will assure you the job of your dreams you may still be underemployed are not employed at all after graduation there are no guarantees.

7. How long does it take the average college graduate to "recoup the cost" of college? In 2013 it will take someone 10 years to recoup the cost of college according to the article.

8. What does the ROI (return on investment) prediction assume? How can this be misleading? The ROI assumes that you graduate within four years. This is very misleading information because the average student takes six years to graduate therefore it is a misleading number.

9. What statistics are given in the second last paragraph (beginning with "The broader...") about college? Of the students who go to college 40% will not graduate at all and 15% of college graduates are in jobs that could have been filled without ever have going to college at all it could be filled by a high school graduate.

10. What did you find most interesting about either of these two articles? Explain...

I found the second article more interesting. I have every intention of going to college but I fully realize that it is not for everyone. I am willing to eat Ramen noodles and live at home to save money but not everyone thinks it's worth it. I think having a trade of some kind is a perfectly good way to make a living and there is a stigma attached to not going to college, especially here on Bainbridge Island. The real test is 10 years from now will your life be easier or harder if you choose not to go to college, chances are it is you have a strong family support you won't ever need it. I just want to work in a field that I don't know enough about to ever get a job in so I have to go to college.