In ‘Should Everyone Go to College?’ by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, they make a very good statement about how beneficial college may or may not be. For some students, college can be very beneficial, but for others, high school might be all that is needed. Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill make it clear that there are many factors in deciding whether to go to college or not to go to college. The essay ‘Should Everyone Go to College?’ is effective because it shows true statistics and knowledgeable research, as well as uses ethos, pathos, and logos.
The paper ‘Should Everyone Go to College?’ shows true statistics throughout the essay to help make the essay more effective. The charts that are given with useful information help the readers to have a better understanding of the problems that arise in the text. The first chart focuses on the amount of money earned by people, as well as the people’s age. In both perspectives, middle-aged men and women make the most amount of money. The second chart is giving statistics about how competitive the pay scale is for people who attended both public and private colleges. Chart number two shows that public colleges have the best percentages of return on investment. The chart shows the amount of money made by the person based on their major. Depending on what your major is, it is a big deciding factor in how much income you will bring in once you graduate and obtain a job. Chart number three shows that majoring in engineering will give the greatest amount of work-life earnings and that majoring in education will give the least amount of work-life earnings. The fourth figure gives about the same amount of statistics as the last, except it shows the amount of money made by each job with a bachelor's degree. Chart four shows that having an architecture or engineering job will give the most amount of work-life earnings, and having a service job will give the least amount of work-life earnings. The fifth figure shows the average six-year graduation rate. Chart five shows that graduating in six years may be harder than some people think. The graphs give an ample amount of statistics pertaining to the essay to help the reader obtain a better visual perspective of the situation. The graphs could help readers choose a major by showing how much money they will make or how little money they might make. The data that Isabel Sawhill and Stephanie Owen use are effective because it is easy to understand the statistics of the graphs. Statistics play a big role in making the essay effective because the reader knows that they have read actual information.
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Knowledgeable research is given in the essay ‘Should Everyone Go to College?’ to prove that the essay is not giving out false information. The essay states: “The best studies suggest that the return to an additional year of school is around 10 percent. If we apply this 10 percent rate to the median earnings of about $30,000 for a 25- to 34-year-old high school graduate working full time in 2010, this implies that a year of college increases earnings by $3,000, and four years increases them by $12,000” (Owen and Sawhill, 209). This is explaining that people who attend a four-year college are more likely to only make 12,000 more dollars than a person working a full-time job with only a high school diploma. This shows that attending college for four years is not something that everyone must do to make a decent salary per year. Another quote from the essay is: “Hamilton Project research shows that 23- to 25-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees make $12,000 more than high school graduates but by age 50, the gap has grown to $46,500” (Owen and Sawhill, 211). This quote explains that the change in our economy over time has made going to college more beneficial for some. Although some high school graduates may get a job as soon as they graduate, they are not as likely to make as much money as someone who attends a four-year school and get a bachelor’s degree. The research in the essay ‘Should Everyone Go to College?’ is effective because it shows that even though in a gap of 50 years, a person would make 46,500 more dollars than a high school graduate, the college graduate would be in much more debt than the high school graduate.
The ethos in this essay ‘Should Everyone Go to College?’ shows credibility in more ways than one. Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill give statistical graphs, show research, and give factual evidence. All of the charts and graphs in the essay are signs of ethos. The essay talks about the Hamilton Project, which shows research and also gives facts about the way pay rates have changed over time. Since the essay shows ethos with charts and research, that helps make it effective. Pathos is shown in the essay by being appealing to others and showing that without hard work and dedication, not everyone will succeed in college. People who attend college need to understand before attending that there is a chance of failure. College can be a lot harder than one may think, and it takes time as well as effort to graduate and obtain a bachelor’s degree. The essay also shows emotion because deciding whether or not to go to college can be an emotional and very hard decision to make. The pathos in this essay is effective because it shows the many challenges that people face when deciding whether or not to go to college. The essay shows logos by being logical and portraying the information in a way that is easily understandable for the reader to follow. The charts shown in the essay ‘Should Everyone Go to College?’ help improve the reader’s perception of the issue. Not only do the charts hold an excessive amount of information, but also the charts are a quicker way to understand the information without having to read a lengthy paragraph. Logos plays a major part of the essay because of the logical information that is given. The logos shown in this essay are effective because the reader quickly understands the exact point that the authors were trying to get across.
Summing up, the essay ‘Should Everyone Go to College?’ is effective and gives countless amounts of information throughout. Between the graphs, knowledgeable research, ethos, pathos, and logos, the essay gives an ample amount of information that makes this essay effective. Without the graphs, knowledgeable research, ethos, pathos, and logos, this essay would not be as effective because they are full of useful knowledge about why you should or should not go to college.
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