Entry #5 Why Arizona Needs More College Grads

After high school, there are endless opportunities when it comes to beginning your adult life. That could either be attending college, a trade school, working full time, or enlisting to serve for the country. Everyone has reasons to take the path they desire but Doug Ducey has his own opinion about this. Recently I read an article about why Doug Ducey, Arizona's former state Governor, believes that the State of Arizona needs more college graduates and here are my thoughts about it.

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As someone who is currently a college I think getting a degree is important, but I don't think we should force that upon everyone to go straight to college. According to Ducey, he states "But what we do know is a quality education remains the surest path to the American Dream". I believe furthering your education does benefit you in the future, but I'm not too sure if I agree that it'll lead you to the American Dream. To explain, Adam Barone wrote an article about what exactly is the American Dream and provided examples to justify his point. Barone claims "The American dream is believed to be achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance". As long as you work hard in what you're passionate in, you can achieve the American Dream. 

Furthermore, Ducey proceeded to discuss how an education brings you more economic opportunities. He explained that people who have furthered their education have better long-term financial stability in their household. Not only would it benefit ourselves but it would also benefit our state. "States with better-educated citizens also see economic benefits" said Doug Ducey. Sure statistics can prove this but do we really need more education to see economic benefits? I think we need to instead improve the requirements for certain jobs so it is easier for those who don't have a degree to get a job. It could possibly lower the rate of unemployment, poverty, and welfare dependency. 

Moving forward, Ducey explained his plan to increase the amount of college graduates in Arizona. His plan was to fund more towards K-12 school and universities. It doesn't sit right with me that the reason Ducey chose to give more money out to schools was to increase the number to college graduates within our state. I strongly believe if we funded every school to be the best they can be, there would be a huge difference for the future of those individuals. 

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To conclude, I believe Ducey has good intentions but I'm not a fan of his actions. Only funding to the education system to increase a number for his sake is not okay. I do agree that we should let children know the opportunities that are out there, but they don't have to further their education if they don't want to. We shouldn't rely heavily on a degree to fix problems within the state and instead look into other ways resolve it.