Do You Really Have to Go to College?

Yesterday in class when we were asked why we attend college, most of us said to get a better job. I may have mentioned this before, but my decision to go to college wasn't really a decision of my own. I went for two reasons; one, I have a full ride scholarship and two, it was the "right" thing to do. What I mean by this is that society just expects most high school graduates to attend college as their next step in life. I wanted to know more about why people choose to go to college so I Googled that exact phrase. Instead other articles came up that list reasons why one should go to college. But then I came across this headline "Do You Really Have to Go to College?". In this article, the author's main point is that going to college should be recognized as a choice, not a requisite. I thought that was an interesting way to put it because I know a lot of people emphasize college as a necessity. I do not want to bash college because I think it's great and beneficial in many ways. A comment the author made in this article really stuck out to me. He says, ".. the curriculum doesn’t focus on being a “well-rounded student,” which is intellectual newspeak for “more classes.”
We have complained in class how much we hate GECs and the frustration of learning some Math that we will never use or apply in our specific careers. While I appreciate that college offer a grand variety of classes and studies, I think it should be an option to take things not related to your career path. Instead they make you take an extra 2 years worth of classes. I've always thought of college as a scam because of this. I like to think college education is a business just like almost anything else. (As a side note, I heard OSU is going to require students to live on campus for the first two years instead of just the first year) Why is this? To make more money off of us of course, the business of education.

I liked this article because it points out that it is possible to be successful without a costly piece of paper that says you have the knowledge. Most college students will graduate with a lot of debt and work to pay that off while maintaining their life. I think that introducing options after graduation to high school students is a great way to have individuals make the best decision for them. If students want more real world application, perhaps they can volunteer in an area that interests them and network. Maybe they are not quite sure what they want to be in life and they could shadow careers and explore the world a little more. These are just a few options among many. Again I do not hate college because it has offered me a lot but I also recognized that it's not for everybody and it is possible to succeed without it. I'd rather students asses if this is the option for them than to go because society says so or because they didn't know other possible options.