The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation.
There has been a general consensus that all high school graduates ought to go to
college because college will help them get a job, earn more money,beaome "better"
people,and learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don't go.However.
given the huge cost of attending auniversity and the shrinking job market, should we.
not re-examine the case for collge?
The reality is that college has never been magical fot everyone.Now that close to half
our high school graduates are attending college, those who don't fit the pattern are
becoming more numerous. Excess college graduates are sellong shoes and driving taxis.t
Some adventuresome educators and campus watchers have openly begun to suggest
that we reevise our attitufes and reform the system. College may not be the best, the
proper or even realistic place for every young person after the completion of high
school. Critics suggest we may have been looking at all those surveys andstatistics
upside down through the rosy glow of our own remembered college experiences.
Many studnts confirm that they feege beal compelled to go to college because of pressure
from parents and teacherrs and stay there because it seems to be an alternative to a
far worse fate. Theu quiver at the thought of the army or a dead-end job, and almost
anything is better than staying at home. Pptential college graduates say that they don't
want to work"solely for the money" and that they want to do work that matters.
Their motive is to help people and save the world, but the numbers are stacked against
them. Not only are there not suffcient jobs in the world-saving fields, but in the
current slowdown it has become evident that there never are enough promising jobs,
presumably never will br, that requirre a higher education.
Let's acknowledge the facts. The New York Times reports close to 80 percent of new
jobs can be performed by someone without a college degree. The US Department of
Education estimates that only 62 percent of those enrolled in four-year instiutions
had earned a bachelor's deree six years later!This dilemma means that 38 percent
have likely wasted time and accumulated debt! In addition, in the Us, the cost of
college has risen tenfold over the last 30 years, a ratio that is three timse as mucch as
general inflation over the same time period. It is clear, from an objective point of view,
that mamy more students should be atteneding technical schools or two-year colleges to
prepare for the jobs that will actually be avaiable to them.
Of course, for many jobs a higher education is absolutely necessary and required. So,
for some people, obtaining a bachelor's degree is but the firrst step of lifelong learning.
For them,a university degree is essential.
There is little doubt that attending college has the potential of wxposing young people
to new ideas and relationships and helps promote their critical thinging skills. It also
accords them a relatvely safe encironment for experimentation and exploration.
Nevertheless, many college graduates report that what they learned on campus was
better descibed as personal rather than academic development. Likewise, they
report that the real value of college has more to do with developing their identity and
practicing social skills than anything to do with the collefe curriculum. If you accept
that the prime reason, the decision is made easy as it becomes a question of
affordability for the individual student.
Whatever college graduates want to do,most of them are going to have to adjust.
During the upcoming years, according to the US Department of Labor, the biggest
drmand will br fot jobs that do not need auniversity degree. Those students who have
gone to college to becpme urban planners, editors, and college professors will have a
hard time to find jobs related to what they have learned. They may well find that the
only jovs available are sales agets, carpenters, mechanics or cabble installers. In fact,
having aumiversity degree may be a barrier to getting these jobs. On the other hand,
students who have graduated in specialized fielda often find that they have learned a
-lot of things in classrooms that theu will never use. One gloomy architecture student,
who had already designed and built houses, said,"I don't want to appear cynical. It's
more the degree you need, not the breadth of knowledge you learn getting it."
College is an outstanding place for that rare breed, those young adults who love
learning for its own sake,k who would literally rather read than bother to eat, and who
like nothing better than weiting research papers. But they are a minority, even at the
famius colleges which attract and recruit the intellectually oriented.
In brief, our high school graduates need to evaluate the college the college equation more closely
and critically,calculate it as a consumer product, and decide if the value proposal is
worth the very latge investment each student and family must make.