My awesome niece & goddaughter just started college, and the other day she phoned me. “Do you have an hour or two? I need to get your opinions on higher education for this paper I’m writing.”
I’m pleased to tell you I kept my comments to 59 minutes, a record for me. She e-mailed me some follow-up and some get-the-quote-right questions, and that’s on my to-do list for today.
If you’d like to answer some or all of them at your place, I know she’d be interested in your answers. Leave the link in my combox and I’ll direct her to take a look. Or just answer in the combox here, if you aren’t a blogger yourself.
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1. What is your opinion of the value of college in today’s society?
2. Do you believe in the theory that everyone should have a college education?
3. According to Louis Menand, author of “Live and Learn”, there are three theories of why people attend college. The first theory is that college is an intelligent test meaning people go to college to prove they are smart. The second theory people go to college is for the social benefits since college should theoretically be getting people ready to enter society. The third theory is that college is job training. How does this align with you own theory of the purpose of college? Do you believe in these some values?
4. Growing up was your value of a college education influenced in any way? If so was it family? Teachers? Or some other form?
5. In recent years the availability of a college education has changed and become more accessible to more people. For example there are online Universities, certain states offer scholarships to many high school graduates, and there is government funding to minorities. Do you agree or disagree with this?
6. What will you teach your own kids about the value of a college education? What influences this?
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Since she had 6 questions and our theme is 7 takes, how about you add a 7th: What else would you like to say? FYI for those who haven’t heard, Erin at Bearing Blog has a whole series on this topic.
Thanks to our hostess, the always-inquisitive Jen Fulwiler. Pray for Allie Hathaway, then visit Jen’s site, Scorpions Are Us ConversionDiary.com to see more quick takes.
1. Depends on what degree you get.
2. No indeed; I don’t even believe all my own kids should have one.
1. Highly overrated and very skewed. Too many people have the wrong idea and find out too late how disillusioned they became. There should be more (or at least equal) emphasis on trades and highly skilled jobs to include internships and apprenticeships that actually lead somewhere and have value just like a piece of paper that says you have a college degree.
2. College, as in University? no… but I do believe more people would benefit from education that could come through legitimate on-the-job training as well as what I mentioned above with skilled labor. (A good example: http://youtu.be/0NwEFVUb-u0)
3. I don’t believe in these values but I can agree that it is spot on for the majority of people who decide to enter college.
4. Yes. My parents never went to college and felt because of that they could never have good jobs. My mother did get some additional schooling to become a certified nursing assistant. My biological father was/is a factory worker. Same for my step-Dad. My mother always said I have to go to college to become anything other than a factory worker. However she never really paved the path for me to be able to go to college. That is a long story. But in short there was no college fund for me and if there was one my biological father cashed that in after the divorce and long before I entered middle school. I did not receive scholarships from/through my local high school even though I was just as involved in my local community as the lawyer, doctor and successful and rich business people’s kids. They go the scholarships not kids like me. I joined the military and am now getting on track to higher education. But at least I have a good idea what I want to do unlike when I was a senior in high school. Several teachers pushed me to go to college as well but it always in the form of superficial compliments like “become a scientist so you can find the cure for cancer,” or “you draw really well, maybe you can work for Disney.”
5. I agree with the availability for more people. As you can tell in my answer to #4 several doors were closed to me. I currently am taking online courses because I have a career and everything I am taking is either covered by military benefits or out of my pocket. I plan to not incur heaps of education debt. It helps that I have a good idea what I want to accomplish as well as being a member of the workforce.
6. I won’t be giving my kids empty ideas about college. I will give the support and encouragement to figure out and understand what they want to do once High School is over. I hope I can answer what questions they have and if I can’t then get the information they need. I would love to be setting up a college fund for them but thus far have been unsuccessful in getting my ex to agree to set aside some of the child support for that very reason. I want my kids to have more choices than I had other than being extremely debt and get a degree or not get a degree and have society think you are below those who do.
As for #3, whether it aligns with students’ and parents’ values or not, it is economically demonstrable that employers value college as an intelligence test and filtering mechanism. Like it or not, it is a reality we have to deal with.
1. What is your opinion of the value of college in today’s society?
It’s the primary means of getting an academic education beyond the high school level.
2. Do you believe in the theory that everyone should have a college education?
No.
3. According to Louis Menand, author of “Live and Learn”, there are three theories of why people attend college. The first theory is that college is an intelligent test meaning people go to college to prove they are smart. The second theory people go to college is for the social benefits since college should theoretically be getting people ready to enter society. The third theory is that college is job training. How does this align with you own theory of the purpose of college? Do you believe in these some values?
I think all three have some validity, but that none of them are good primary reasons for going to college. I’d say the primary reason for going to college is to gain a post-secondary education which is general but also includes specialization in some particular field. I think most “job training” fields don’t require four years of intensive study to master, so while I acknowledge that some fields require a four year college degree, I generally think they shouldn’t and that job training should be separate from college.
4. Growing up was your value of a college education influenced in any way? If so was it family? Teachers? Or some other form?
My parents were both the first people in their families to go to college, and most of my aunts and uncles never went. My parents were deeply influence by their time in college and the friends they made in college remained the primary social set throughout the time that I was growing up. As such, I’d say there was a very strong emphasis on the intellectual life in general and on going to college in particular.
5. In recent years the availability of a college education has changed and become more accessible to more people. For example there are online Universities, certain states offer scholarships to many high school graduates, and there is government funding to minorities. Do you agree or disagree with this?
To the extent that it makes it possible for people who want a college education qua education to get one, I’m in favor, but when it’s a matter of trying to get people to go through the motions in the hopes of career gain I think it often costs people a lot a benefits them little.
6. What will you teach your own kids about the value of a college education? What influences this?
I would emphasize it as an intellectual experience that would be good for them if they have the willingness and eagerness to pursue it. I would be disappointed if they didn’t go, but that’s more because I would be disappointed if they were the sort of people who didn’t find that interesting.
Thanks everyone for you comments! Passing them on to my niece. You guys are awesome.
Just stuck up my answers in a second post. Interesting that as far as I can tell, none of us especially disagree with each other, though our personal experiences definitely show through in how we approach the topic.
Hey everyone! I’m the Niece 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions I really appreciate it.
I have the coolest relatives.