The following appeared as an editorial in a magazine concerned with educational issues: “In our country, the real earnings of men who have only a high-school degree have decreased significantly over the past 15 years, but those of male college graduates have remained about the same. Therefore, the key to improving the earnings of the next generation of workers is to send all students to college. Our country’s most important educational goal, then, should be to establish enough colleges and universities to accommodate all high school graduates.”

The following appeared as an editorial in a magazine concerned with educational issues:

“In our country, the real earnings of men who have only a high-school degree have decreased significantly over the past 15 years, but those of male college graduates have remained about the same. Therefore, the key to improving the earnings of the next generation of workers is to send all students to college. Our country’s most important educational goal, then, should be to establish enough colleges and universities to accommodate all high school graduates.”

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

The author makes an insightful observation on the disparity of income between high school graduates and college graduates. While he is right in pointing out that earnings of men with only a high school diploma have decreased, this does not necessarily hold true for women. In fact, the incomes of both men and women with only a high school degree have increased over time, albeit more for males than females. This begs the question as to why the earnings of men with only a high school degree have decreased, when women with the same level of education have fared better. While it is true that education is no guarantee of income, there does exist a correlation between education and income. So, the author’s assumption that men are declining to college may very well be correct, if men are choosing not to get a college degree. However, this is only one piece of the puzzle. If, as he suggests, men are not pursuing a college degree, the decrease in their earnings could be attributed to the decrease in the value of a high school diploma. The decline in the value of a high school diploma is due to a number of factors, including increased competition in the job market, and employers looking for workers with technical training. However, if college is to remain affordable, these new requirements must be met. Additionally, there remains the issue of which colleges are the most affordable. While the author is correct in stating that more students should attend college, he neglects to mention the elephant in the room: the high cost of tuition. If the cost of college were to be reduced or eliminated, more high school graduates would be able to afford to attend college, and the earnings of both men and women would rise. The question of whether or not high school graduates should attend college is a topic for another discussion, but in any case, it is too early to say that education is the answer to increasing income.