Aiya Almogaber

Adam Padgett
ENGL 102
February 29, 2016
Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: How beneficial are college degrees nowadays?
Proposed thesis: When weighing the potential reasons for attending college, one will see that
having a college degree is almost always beneficial.
Rawlins, V. Lane. Discrimination, Achievement, and Payoffs of a College Degree: A
Comment.
The Journal of Human Resources 9.3 (1974): 415420. Web...
This article is written by V Lane Rawlins, and is published in the Journal of Human Resources.
The article gains credibility because of its publication by the University of Wisconsin Press, which
means it was written by well educated people and has been read and edited. I chose this article
because it explains the discrimination, achievement and payoffs of having a college degree. It
states that in almost every case, there is a positive relationship between the relative earnings for
someone per year, and their level of education. It includes a chart that compares the years of
schooling of people of different races (white vs. nonwhite) and their mean annual income and
change in earnings. Based on the information in the chart, the recalculated ratios present a
considerably less favorable picture for black college students The data in the chart, however,
is somewhat old, which could mean that things have changed since then. Including different races
will be beneficial to my paper because I will be able to look at the differences in wages compared
to races and how that relates to the reasons why some may not attend college.

Sutton, W. S. et al.. The Unification of College Degrees. The School Review 8.2 (1900): 92
123. Web...
This article is published in a collection called The School Review, and was published by The
University of Chicago Press. This means that the source was written by well educated people,
read, and edited before its publication date. This article begins by differentiating between the
different degree types and how they were seen in history. It features different university
presidents and their thoughts on the B.A. degree, the B.S. degree, and the Doctors and Masters.
Apparently, the early doctorate and mastership were not considered formal degrees, but almost
licenses. The B.A. degree, then has held significance for hundreds of years and has been based
off of the ideal of ancient classics. In comparison, the bachelor of arts degree has always been a
little more than a bachelor of the classics, up until recent times. It is important to know the
different types of degrees and how they came about for my paper so I can compare the benefits
and pros/cons of having each one and how that affects the rates of people attaining them.

Eisendrath, Craig R., and Thomas J. Cottle. The Modern Family Goes to College. The Journal
of Higher Education 45.9 (1974): 706716. Web...
This article is found if the Journal of Higher Education, and was published by the Ohio State
University Press. This source has credibility based on these facts that suggest that it has been
read and edited before being published. The article is unique because it focuses on people and
colleges today, rather than providing historical context. It touches on the fact that there is evident
tension between faculty members and students, and the importance of maybe establishing
humane programs within colleges and universities. The article refers to college students as
adolescents and states that the four years at college are just a prolongation of adolescence.
The article offers a somewhat demeaning tone when discussing college, as it explains that

Comment [EK1]: This is a great source because it has

university presidents stating their opinions on college
degrees.

students that sit in a college classroom and being sealed up in a state of adolescence, and
denying themselves the need to develop into adults. This information can be used in my paper to
discuss the different reasons that one may/may not attend college. It places emphasis on the
importance of family and how that relates to whether or not the children in the house end up
attending college or not.

Dole, Arthur A.. Stability of Reasons for Going to College. The Journal of Educational
Research 63.8 (1970): 373378. Web...
This particular article focuses on the stability reasons for going to college. It was published in the
Journal of Educational Research. The source is credible because research was conducted as part
of an experiment before the results were published. Over 3 years, 78 different reasons for going
to college were examined using 520 students who completed all four years. They were initially
asked, as freshmen, why they wanted to attend college and then asked again, as seniors, if their
answers to that question changed or not. The top reasons for attending college were: the college
degree was necessary for the kind of work they wanted to pursue, wanting to prepare themselves
to be more successful in life, and self improvement. The main reason I found this article relevant
to my topic is because it shows the different reasons to attend college even if the reasons do not
include attaining a degree for any specific reason.

Mooney, W. D.. College Degrees. The School Review 7.3 (1899): 168170. Web...
This article is published in the School Review by the University of Chicago Press, which means it
has credibility. It chooses not to focus on professional degrees, such as law, medicine, dentistry,
and pharmacy. They explain that regular degrees would be equivalent to the work done in
college or universities. It discuses that the main problem with the degrees being given out today

Comment [EK2]: This source is also good because it

explains both sides of the argument.

is that they come from so many different sources. Sources can differ widely from volume and
purity of the stream. The authors include information about how every educator should be
aware of the eagerness with which honorary degrees are sought out, making it harder for
everyone that wants a college degree to be given the chance to get one.

Comment [EK3]: This source is extremely out of date, even

though it gives some good information, I would definitely
not use it.

Werth, Barry. Why Is College so Expensive?: Maybe America Wants It That Way. Change
20.2 (1988): 1225. Web...
This article is published in a newspaper titled Change by Taylor and Francis, Ltd. The source is
credible because it had to be written by well educated people and went through thorough editing
before it could be published. The article is relevant to my topic because it discusses one of the
biggest reasons people today are not attending college: cost of tuition. It included information
about how the even though the college-age population was dropping, the price of college tuition
was skyrocketing. Apparently, a colleges fortunes rise and fall depends on the quality of
students it attracts. I can include information and quotes from this article in my paper because it
can offer additional insight to why some people, even if they wanted to, would not attend
college. College tuition is constantly increasing, and we see this today when we compare the
price we pay to go to college to the price they paid to a couple hundred years ago.

I think you have a great topic and could find a lot more information on it. All your
sources gave great information, but were really out of date. Try and find more recent ones to give
more relevant statistics and graphs to support your argument. Other than those things, I think you
have a great argumentative topic.

Comment [EK4]: Cost of tuition is another great point to

add into your paper.