Lee implies that only the children who are intellectually capable of higher thinking should be able to obtain a college level education. Lee believes that college is not a place for "the learning disabled and the fairly dumb, those who have trouble reading and writing and doing math, slackers who see college as an opportunity to major in Beers of the World, burned-out book jockeys, and the just plain average student with not much interest in anything " (670). She emphasizes that students are no longer interested in learning, and that college resources should not be wasted on these types of students. After all, do individuals need a college degree to be the "manager of a Blockbuster video store"?" (Lee 671). It is often said that the money invested in a college education is returned tenfold and that individuals with a college degree earn more, but Lee's article seeks to refute that notion. Lee quotes Caroline Bird, the author of "The Case Against College." She states that "there is no real evidence that the higher income of college graduates is due to college at all"" (Lee 671). Lee claims that "people from high-status families tend to earn more than people from low-status families, even if they had the same amount of education"" (671). She believes that some students will earn more than others regardless of the fact that they have the same education. This may be because students from higher income households may have better opportunities than others, and may be better equipped to enter the world of work at a higher level than those students from lower income homes who simply did not have the right resources, or know the right people.
Both authors have presented strong arguments to justify their points of view on whether a college degree is beneficial or not. Leonhardt believes that college is an investment that should be made by all students to ensure they are able to live happily.