The US today is in the information age. For the first time, there no longer exists an oligopoly of education. People who never had the opportunity to attend college now has the opportunity to learn on a scale far broader than ever before. What once was when institutions like Harvard and Stanford were the arbiters of information has now grown into social media platforms that can now contribute to public discourse. All of this has led people to struggle to understand the value of a college experience.
Americans spend $30,000 per college student. That's almost double the average amount of other developed countries. Most of these costs are because of the fact that many young people in the US will go to college away from home. Scholarships will often need to cover and deal with transportation issues, as well as health costs that come along with living so far away from school. Compared to many other places, where students can live at home and get their college educations nearby, the costs significantly decrease.
Whats more, this doesn't even begin to tap into the additional added stress and frustration that comes with the application process itself. Economically speaking, the physical and mental fatigue that comes from the current system itself does have a toll on students. Eventually, student productivity in the workforce itself could be put at risk because of the stress of the application and college experience itself, sometimes hurting students more than helping their economic potential.
Although there is not enough conclusive evidence today on whether attending a more selective college really does substantially help your economic productivity and success, that doesn't necessarily mean we shouldn't try. College still does help your economic productivity overall, not based solely on a college's productivity. Having an education can still make you more employable and better prepared for certain jobs, especially credential-based careers like law and medicine. So, when in doubt of what career to take, go to college.
Source:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/catherine-bittar/college-investment_b_1989876.html
https://qz.com/1250652/the-nightmarish-economics-of-choosing-a-college/
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/magazine/is-college-tuition-too-high.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/09/why-is-college-so-expensive-in-america/569884/
Very interesting post! I think what's interesting to note is that college seems less necessary than ever, but a college degree is becoming more of a necessity. A larger proportion of the population than ever has a college degree, so particularly in white collar jobs, it is necessary to have a college degree to find work (obviously aside from a few notable exceptions such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg). Even with more free access to information, it is more necessary to have a degree, and it is usually an expectation of employees in certain lines of work.
ReplyDeleteGreat post on a matter we are all likely wondering about. I find it interesting how we are really paying for a degree more than anything. Lets say two people have equal education and intellect, but one has a degree to show for it while the other does not. The person without the degree will have no real chance of applying what they know, because they don't have the degree to prove it. Anyway, I should probably get back to writing my college apps...
ReplyDeleteYour post is really awesome. It's really interesting to think about why we actually go to college. I feel like most of us have just accepted it as something necessary to succeed in life. In fact, career and technical education is something that is being explored more as an alternative to college education and in some regards is preferred due to the reasons you highlighted above (costs, etc). As we move into a less rigid future, I wonder what other forms of education will become "standard" and "respectable".
ReplyDeleteGreat post Noah! I see your point about college being less and less unnecessary, and to some extent, I would agree. There are situations and certainly careers where experience is all that is needed, or the skills can be self taught. Computer programming is one example of this, and yet it seems to be one of the most popular majors for students in this area. I do, however, think that college is an important experience to have, not only academically but also socially. Many professions require extensive schooling. In addition to the two you mentioned scientists, chemical engineers, even art historians require knowledge that isn't commonly available, even through the internet. College is where they can get this education and mentorship, even perhaps some hands on experience. College is also an adjustment period, allowing high school students to learn independence and how to make and maintain relationships with adults. Overall, I agree with your point about the costs of college. I don't think college itself has become any less valuable, in fact, I'd say the reverse is happening. However, the costs of college, both explicit and implicit, make it seem less appealing to the high school student of this generation. Decreasing tuition is one way to deal with issues of increasing college costs. But I don't think that will happen for a long time, if ever. So, the debate will continue.
ReplyDeleteI think this post gives a great perspective on the economics of college. For most high school students, getting into a well known college (which are also usually very expensive) is extremely important as we view it as a determinant of how successful we would be in the future. I agree that college opens lots of doors in life at a cost of the high price tag. With the price of colleges rising, I wonder what this would mean for the future of paying for college education.
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