One thing that is compelling students to attend college courses is that they wish to broaden their educational horizons. By attending college, students expand their knowledge over a plethora of subjects, including classes for general education and specialized subjects for specific degrees as well. Additionally, college courses widen a student's range of abilities, such as advancing their ability to think critically and sharpen their decision making techniques. Receiving a higher education also improves a student's proficiency in writing and in speech; skills that will be necessary throughout the course of his or her life. According to Anthony DiFranco in his New York Times article, titled "Long Island Opinion; Don't Lose Sight of the Real Purpose of College," "he explains that college is a place for being "inducted into the world of books and ideas," and "initiated in the disciplines and modes of inquiry" that may one day be the guidelines of the student's life. College courses teach students how to think and make certain that they thoroughly and critically think through every aspect of a subject. This is where students are taught how to think for themselves. A student who progresses through their courses will continue to be rewarded, not only through the knowledge they have obtained, but also through the career opportunities that may be presented. .
Another prominent purpose a student may have for pursuing a college education is to prepare themselves for their future career. Robert Longwell-Grice recently interviewed four working-class male college freshmen on their perspective of the purposes of college. Their answers all focused on the idea that college is to prepare a student for their future career. One of the students in the interview stated that a college education should serve as a tool to "ensure a comfortable lifestyle " but not to "broaden their knowledge base, find a philosophy of life " or to allow a student to "become a lifelong learner"" (Grice ).