On Going to College

 

Our Debt to College

            “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” This quote by John Dewey calls to attention the foundational purpose behind universities: to learn. Over the course of the past few decades, statistical analysis and media coverage have greatly distorted the public’s perception of college.

 During my senior year, I struggled with the decision to attend a university; I had many discussions on the benefits and downfalls of attending college. In the end, I came to the conclusion that it is most important to attend a college for the sake of learning, and it is equally important to know what it is you desire to learn before enrolling.

            Most people attend college under the premise that they are seeking a higher paying job. Statistics suggest that the average graduate earns entry level wages that are about ten dollars above the minimum wage.

However, what these statistics do not account for is the amount of time it will take to pay off accrued college debt, the deceleration of these entry level wages, and the extremely competitive job market. If anything, the number of people going to university because of this ideology has rendered it obsolete. A degree has gone from an advantage into a requirement in the workforce, and if everyone owns a degree, one needs even more to set himself apart from his competitors.

            These monetary and occupational setbacks are aggravated by the fact that a lot of people enroll without knowing what they plan on studying. Many of the arguments I heard in defense of this detractor are that very few people know what they want to do at the start of their college career, that it is not important to solidify your choice until your junior year, and that many people end up changing their majors anyway.

While these are all true, I do not feel they justify the amount of money one has to spend in hopes she will “figure it out later”; in actuality, the idea that these teenagers who lack surety about the prospect of their future yet who are expected to be fiscally mature enough to make major decisions based off these uncertainties is absurd.

Even more to the point on this indecision is that the people who simply choose a major and get a degree for the sake of the job market generally are not invested in their education. They complete courses with the goal of earning credits rather than concern for the information. Their mind focuses on passing instead of learning, which in the end leads to less qualified and less knowledgeable people in the workforce.

On the other hand, someone who is confident in their chosen area of interest is more likely to excel; instead of simply focusing on the future benefits, the student’s attention is centered around studying about the topic itself. They are more likely to retain information and in the end do better in their area of occupation.

One has to realize that universities were initially only focused on learning; improving one’s self through higher levels of education was the sole goal. Therefore, it makes sense that those who have a desired area of study do better than those who go to college because they were told it is the smart thing to do; the former reflects better the initial universities, which were the foundation upon which all current universities’ atmospheres are built. This focus on passing instead of learning has led to a concerning amount of grade inflation in recent years, likely influenced by government incentives colleges get for passing students quickly within a four year program.

This is not to say we should fault those who are concerned with security for their future; however, it is to say that perhaps we should veer away from this obsession with numerical values and statistics and instead focus first most on purposefulness and whether, when it comes to high level education, function meets our needs.

In the end, this approach would benefit us all: a lower standard of requirement in the workforce, fewer unqualified people in the workforce, a more serious community of students in universities, and, most importantly, less money wasted by people who have not really considered what college is truly for.