Is college a worthwhile expenditure?[英语论文]

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本文主要探索的主题是大学是一个有价值的支出?从教育在一家庭或国家占的比例中来引出此主题,大学教育在当今社会有着非常重要的地位,进而从每个段落多方面进行阐述自己的观点进一步总结大学存在的利与弊,英语论文,也更好的表明在任何情况下,虽然现在的大学教育存在一些问题,大学教育只是保证在劳动力和实现一个人的收入潜力。通过比较高等教育的成本和收益,就明确表明大学实际上是一个有价值的投资。
1. Introduction
Education is the single largest expenditure for a family and government, accounting for 30 percent of state and local governments allotted budgets spent on it. Of that total education spending, 40 percent is spent on higher education about $386 billion per year (Jonathan Gruber, 2017).
I think that allocating such a significant portion of their budgets to college education is a worthwhile activity. Because postsecondary education is a valuable investment in human capital that has beneficial outcomes for individuals as well as for society at large. Ideally, college education should contribute to personal advance and social development.
If obtaining a higher education degree is associated with such considerable benefits, why is it that only 57 percent of adults believe a college education is a good investment (National Education Association, 1998)?
According to IHEP’s recent findings, people often perceive college affordability to be worse than it really is: “People believe that published prices are higher than they actually are and many students and families are unaware of the magnitude of the grant aid and tax credits available to them.” (Daniel Shoag, 2017). These misconceptions lead to many people overestimating the cost of obtaining a college degree.
2. First Analysis Paragraph
There are lots of reasons that people question college education now. In the case of the development of present colleges, only few are qualified to train elites. The elite-training is not accomplished overnight, but needs long term struggle of institutions of higher education. Otherwise, the over emphasis of elite education will block the development of colleges, and elite education has become a formality without achieving the standard. Therefore, some put too much emphasis on the elite-training without consideration of their own situation. Improving the level and being research universities have become a tendency that some universities run after blindly. They can’t achieve the goal with their basis and conditions in the short run, and it makes the goal of cultivating students unclear, so the undergraduates are experiencing employment difficulty: on one hand they are not qualified for highly salaried jobs, and on the other hand they are not willing to accept those lower level posts.
Some colleges place too much emphasis on professional education patterns, with the single direction of talent training. The practice that emphasizes professional education and overlooks the general education makes students have a narrow scope of knowledge. At the same time, thinking and vision is limited. The neglect of ability education and morality education often leads the colleges cultivate so-called talents with high marks but low capacity and poor quality.
Some universities excessively pay attention to vocational education and cultivate talents-blue collars and white collars that enterprises and factories need in the society. It is a behavior which deviates from the goals of college education and makes college education lose its meaning in the essence. With the rapid development of economic society and scientific technology, society demands much more than before. Though the state gradually increases investment on college education, the disjoint between education and society has become more evident (Bess, James. and Dee, Jay R, 2017). Low employment rate of undergraduates, low satisfaction rate of undergraduates and a series of problems gradually show up. The employment is facing a serious imbalance, while many college students are faced with the dilemma of unemployment when they graduate. At the same time, many enterprises are facing a shortage of staff, complaining that they can’t recruit outstanding business talents. Facing with this result, we should ponder, is it as a result of poor college education or other reasons.
3. Second Analysis Paragraph
The number of college students is increasing yearly despite the increasing tuition fees, which are clearly a burden for low-income families. This kind of investment in terms of time and money seems to have given sufficient proof to the value of college education. Yet, it is feared that education, or at least college education, is devaluating.
The claim can be justified only in a narrow sense. It is true that college graduates are experiencing trouble landing decent jobs and that the financial return of the investment in college education seems to be declining. A criticism often heard these days is that the subjects taught in schools tend to be too academic, and contribute little to preparing a young person for the real-life tasks (Charles Muscatine, 2017). It is also said that many students play truant regularly and only cram before final exams. Many researches indicate they attend a university only to get a degree or even to have a good time (Boyer, Ashley. and W. Hamil, Burnette. 2017). Yet, all these are simply the students’ own fault or that of poor education quality. A good education is always invaluable.
College is a place where one can pursue his own interests. By talking, sharing and cooperating with one’s peers and teachers, one gets inspired and acquires a different perspective. College education can bring personal improvement in ways other than scholastic achievement. Therefore, instead of losing its value, education will become essential foundation in a complicated and changeable world.
4. Third Analysis Paragraph
Colleges are now facing the problem of how to efficiently utilize their resources to serve the students who are more culturally and socially diversified. To solve the problem, colleges should be specifically aware of their main tasks. On the one hand, college should provide students with easy access to knowledge and. On the other hand, college should encourage them to make active contribution to the advancement of human knowledge (Cochran, L., & Reese, S., 2017).
Colleges should be learning communities where knowledge is not only disseminated but also advanced. As full-fledged members of this community, students should not be information recipients who learn the knowledge in a passive way. Instead, they should be challenged to achieve their potential and, indeed, to excel. Therefore, rather than focus merely on knowledge dissemination and transfer, colleges should contrive to provide learning conditions that encourage students to remain curious. It is also necessary to value diversity in opinions and perspectives, and to think critically and communicate effectively.
Furthermore, colleges will never attain their goals if they tailor all their courses or programs to meet the needs of specific employers or occupational sectors. Today’s social environment is more dynamic and turbulent than ever before. Only those graduates who possess certain personality traits and matches diversified situations can distinguish themselves from others.
In order to fulfill the main tasks of colleges, college education should contain amplifying opportunities for independent learning among students. This is requirement which get them prepared for the changing society. Students can learn to exercise their autonomy more effectively, and they may clarify their own interests while learning in an independent way.
5. Fourth Analysis Paragraph
To achieve personal growth and success, one needs to control in-depth knowledge in a certain discipline. Every branch of knowledge is worth pursuing provided that you don’t merely scratch the surface. No real interest can be fostered by just dipping into a subject. Without interest, learning becomes not a pleasure, but a burden to be endured for the sake of getting a diploma. To really develop one’s abilities, one needs to focus on his or her majors. A quantity of times and energies are required to pursue a discipline or perfect a skill. It is also essential to have a general knowledge of relevant subjects because many disciplines are interrelated.
To promote social progress, colleges need to provide moral and ethical education. The development of a society calls for genuine cooperation and harmony among its people. No society can develop well if all its citizens are engaged in a rat race for personal interests without regard for each other. With a decaying of moral and ethical standard, people start to scramble for their personal gains at all cost. Fraud, bribery and corruption become rampant. Therefore, people need to be educated morally, ethically and psychologically. College is an important period for one’s lifelong journey, its importance can be hardly exaggerated. As things stand now, there is always room for improvement. A well-balanced education will be most conducive to individual and social progress.
6. Fifth Analysis Paragraph
State officials and general public have been pondering the pros and cons of relying solely on the government for the funding of college without reaching any definite conclusion. In my opinion, we should contrive to achieve an appropriate balance of government and social funding for college education.
The cost of education should be balanced between the individual and government. Because education drives progress toward a better life both personally and collectively. One of the most important outcomes of education is learning how to learn continuously. Well-educated individuals are not only prepared for well-paying jobs, but they can also cope with changes. When a country undergoes change and growth, it relies on the existence of civilized citizens to lead the social and economic development. Without a large number of well-educated people in country, the collective capacity to grow would be severely diminished.
To sum up, the cost of college should be distributed between the government and the citizens. What is of ultimate importance is that the government should make this decision thoughtfully and ensure that the proportion is appropriate.
7. Ideas for your counterargument?
College Education caters to personal needs with a clear objective. An ideal college education should be one where students can be sharpened in the way of creativity, social and civic commitment, a global perspective. Only when they are so directed be they able to compete well in the globalization process, and be more open-minded. While they can work with a firm belief instead of isolating themselves in a confined world.
The college education should be the result of the joint effort of students and the teaching staff and the society. Only when all the resources are put into full play can college education be satisfying. It’s a collaborative affair, not merely relying on some experts. College should increase the quality of the students and make greater efforts to cultivate culture awareness. Higher education also should pay much attention to the cultivation of students’ practical operation. College can provide more opportunities and platform for the students, and give the students more encouragement and the room for creativity.
In any case, although present college education has some problems, investing in higher education is the best bet an individual can make. College education just secures one’s place in the workforce and actualize one's earning potential. By comparing the costs and benefits of higher education, it becomes explicitly clear that college is in fact a worthwhile investment.

Reference
Gruber, Jonathan. Public Finance and Public Policy. Worth Publishers. 2017. Web.
Shoag, Daniel. The Impact of Government Spending Shocks: Evidence on the Multiplier from State Pension Plan Returns. Harvard University Press. 2017. Print.
Association, National Education: Characteristics of 100 Large Public Pension Plans. Research Division. 1998. Web.
Cochran, L., and Reese, S.. “A successful induction into the teaching profession.” Techniques: Connecting Education and Careers, 82/6(2017): 25-27. Print.
Muscatine, Charles. Fixing College Education: A New Curriculum for the Twenty-first Century. University of Virginia Press. 2017. Book.
Boyer, Ashley. and W. Hamil, Burnette.. “Problems Facing American Education”. Focus on Colleges, Universities and Schools. 2/1(2017), 1-3. Print.
Bess, James. and Dee, Jay R. Understanding college and university organization: theories for effective policy and practice; Volume II: Dynamics of the System. Stylus Public. 2017. Book.
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