Is the cost of college in America to high - Research Paper Example

The system changed through these three age times, and the modern system is elementary school to high school and to college. College education is important as it marks the last step in completing the first phase of education and is relatively expensive compared to the other two. It has been of great interest in many countries, including United States. Americans feel that college education is very expensive compared to other nations. Question is, is the cost of college in America is too high? Education is probably the most important learning process, since the ancient times.

It is basically the process of giving and receiving instructions. In the ancient Greece and Rome, children were taught their responsibilities and how to honor them. Boys were usually taught how to work hard to feed their families and also how to protect their families and cities. On the other hand, girls were taught by their mothers’ household chores like cooking, cleaning and managing houses. This was informal education and was very important for the ancient people. As strings of time continued to unwind, some philosophers thought that it would be good to introduce a formal education system.

Plato, the infamous Greek philosopher, was probably the first person to propose a formal education system. According to Plato, children were to be initially taught by their guardians, the basics. At the age of seven years, the children were to join elementary school. They were to study mathematics, poetry, literature and music until they turned eighteen years. After finishing the elementary school, they were to proceed to military training for two years. Military training was to emphasize physical training.

The best students were to proceed to higher education. This was to be trained from the age of twenty years to thirty-five years. Mathematics, literature and philosophy were to be studies in higher education. Those finishing higher education were to be given minor administrative position for preparation of future governing positions. According to Plato, education was to be provided to both men and women (Dillon 1). Followers of Plato considered that formal education was a good idea and went ahead to implement the proposal.

Formal education was first trained in Greece and followed to other cities like Sparta and other nations and civilizations in the region. Education would soon be trained in China, Egypt and all other countries followed. Each country changed the education system to their preference. By the time it was coming to the medieval times, education had changed dramatically. Unlike during the ancient times when education was influenced by philosophers, education in medieval times was influenced by church leaders.

Mathematics, philosophy, rhetoric, grammar, logic, astrology and music were the main subjects taught. Bishops and monks were responsible for training the upper class people. Peasants were uneducated during these times as it was very expensive to afford books or consult teachers. Student used to sit together in a class set up and used scrawl notes, wooden blocks (Newman 1). Times turned to the modern and education system also changed. Education became affordable to many people as time passed. College education is the most considered, and it is currently the highest level in education hierarchy today.

People, who have studied to college level, easily get good jobs and are respected in the society. College educatio