In the essay “We Send Too Many Students to College” author Marty Nemko examines the contradictions between the statistics colleges boast, and the real-life situations that their graduates endure. Nemko’s intended audience are the parents of prospective college students, and he examines the different types of future high school graduates. He suggests a more analytical approach for budding young adults to utilize when making decisions regarding their imminent future rather than rushing headlong into deciding on a major and college. Nemko then offers a feasible list of alternatives to pursuing college. The author primarily utilizes a logical standpoint to support his position with statistics, quotes, and examples, and appeals emotionally through …show more content…
Throughout the essay, the author adopts a factual and sensible, yet honest and upfront stance on the true price of college. Nemko (n.d.) crafts an analogy between colleges and businesses, describing students as a cost item and instructing techniques as an expense that universities often strive to obtain from low-cost resources and methods (p. 38). By revealing that colleges wish to save money through cheaper teaching techniques, the author suggests that the colleges care more about making a profit than the education and success of the student. He reiterates this point by discussing the high costs of tuition and suggests that consumers be cautious, for “price does not indicate quality” (Nemko, n.d., p. 39). Nemko pours multitudes of statistics regarding graduation from college and job acceptance rates into his essay. A recent study showed that after four or more years, only about forty percent of students graduate (Nemko, n.d., p. 37). The idea of a college education has an unappealing ring to it when coupled with a statistic where less than half of the students follow through the journey. Nemko (n.d.) follows up the statistic by adding that “high school students who are fully qualified to attend college are increasingly unlikely to derive enough benefit to justify the often six-figure cost”