“Why Is College in America So Expensive?”

Jianan Li
WRT102
9.16.2019
“Why Is College in America So Expensive?” Amanda Ripley- RA draft 1
Education is very important and its quality is of the highest importance to the majority of the Americans. In the article "Why Is College in America So Expensive?" The outrageous price of a U.S. degree is unique in the world," Ridley uses Pathos, logos, and ethos to effectively deliver the argument on the current educational system especially colleges in America. Even though Amanda presents an overall logically sound argument, there are occasions when the article might hinder the reliability of her claims to the audience. Throughout the essay, Amanda establishes credibility for herself. The main idea and the focus of the article is evaluating why colleges in the United States are expensive. The author blames decadence, fancy school apartments, and expensive meals and concludes with the idea that the government is the real perpetrator. By including evidence and statistics from educational experts, Ripley successfully argues that the government is the real perpetrator when it comes to high college costs in America.
Ethos
Ripley uses ethos to elevate the credibility that was already built from logic and evidence. The author also asserts that Staffing in the US that's not in other countries because the US is trying to get more students for money (because of budget cuts). Additionally, the author asserts that “American taxpayers and families spend about $3,370 on these services per student more than three times the average for the developed world” (Par 8).
The author starts her argument by comparing the education system of the United States and the rest of the developed countries. She cites data from credible sources to show that American universities and colleges have higher expenditures compared to other schools in other countries. Ripley asserts that "Americans spend about $30,000 per student a year nearly twice as much as the average developed country" (Par 4). Further, she states that “...campuses in Canada and Europe tend to have fewer dormitories and dining halls than campuses in the U.S. (Par 9). The use of ethos as a rhetorical tool is not directed towards the author but her sources. However, the author Amanda Ripley is in short use of ethos. She has not linked any argument from any personal experiences. The expertise of the author comes from choosing from the right sources and highlighting information from the resources. Ripley has also written a book that compares the high school education system of the U.S to that of Finland, Korea, and Poland. In this case, I do not have trust issues with the author.
Pathos
 The idea of parents paying a lot of money for their children’s school fees causes readers to think about the American education system and how they can make some improvements. The emotion brought from this statement creates the willingness of the audience to learn on possible ways of addressing the issue. To further anger the audience, Amanda Ripley states that "decadence, expensive college apartment and expensive meals are to blame". With colleges being very expensive, parents and students would be angered by the fact that students could not be getting g...