Healthcare Reform in the United States
Although health reform has been proposed frequently in the United States, it has rarely been implemented. In most cases, the reforms aim to reduce waste and inefficiency in various health metrics. Furthermore, the cost of healthcare services in the country is far too high, prompting many reforms. In other words, rising medical costs affect not only American citizens but also threaten to deplete the federal budget. Other health reforms are suggested to improve the quality of care and increase the number of people in the United States who have health insurance to cover their costs. Changes are also required to reduce the financial costs of healthcare fraud while also fostering transparency.
Challenges of College Education
Through the in-depth examination of the essay, students do not attend college because of their preference but due to pressure from other parties, thus leading to huge disadvantages.
The High Expenses of College Education
The initial arguments rely on the high expenses that develop from a college education. Colleges and universities spent more than 30 billion dollars by 1970, although the student population was relatively small. However, the value could have increased to more than 47.5 billion dollars in case all the students below 22 years attained education (p.429). The argument is relational to the modern knowledge that seems financially prohibitive from the preschools to the colleges. Despite the intelligence of a child to school aspects, parents value education more than any investment. Therefore, in line with Bird’s arguments, school is expensive to both the colleges and the students.
College as a Detention
College is similarly a relaxation medium away from the home environment. According to Bird, most parents send their children to school with the view that it is for the good of the same child. However, a greater portion of students does not value the education environment with others even terming the surrounding as a detention (p.433). Besides, from the author's arguments, parental support was difficult to acquire from the home existence. Thus, students go to school to attain financial assistance for their personal needs. Therefore, instead of incurring extra expenses for education, it is relevant for parents to identify useful activities that their children would willingly perform.
The Financial Drawbacks of College Education
The author also explains that money has been the driving force towards every life activity including education. However, the college investment is the poorest and the less valuable asset. Thus, Bird gives an example of the loss made by the parents of a graduate from the Princeton-bond-high school. The parents spent $34,181 on the child's college education in four successive years without any benefit. However, in case the money existed in a savings bank at the rate of 7.5%, the son could have attained at least $1,129,200 at the age of 64 (p.432). Instead of education providing a financial benefit, the parents are the immediate victims of successive losses. Besides, after school, the same parents have to provide for their children. Therefore, instead of investing in education, the finance should apply to other profitable investments.
The Irrelevance of College Education in Career Development
Individuals argue that college education is a source of career knowledge. However, Caroline Bird contradicts the whole perception from views of employees and other students. Through the interrogation of engineers, scientists, and managers among other professionals in different companies, the great response was "very little" (p.430). The minor relationship between college education and job application thus discourages the essence of teaching. Instead of giving irrelevant knowledge to students for four years of college learning, education should thus have a better approach to career preparation.
Conclusion
Caroline Bird widely explores the irrelevance of college education mainly in the USA. The suggestions prove that a large percentage of students attends college just because of pressure from second parties (p.431). However, the whole college education seems like an expensive and non-profitable financial investment. Besides, the minor relationships between college learning and career development identify the irrelevance of higher education. Therefore, instead of having education as more of a basic need, there is a need to substitute higher education with alternative life success preparations.
References
Bird, C. (1975). College is a Waste of Time and Money. The case against college. David McKay Company.
