College Education in Terms of the Relevance of the Financial Aspect - Assignment Example

College is Worth It The United s is beset by numerous financial problems. The economy is set on a death spiral from where there does not seem to be escape. The educational system has managed to support some scholars and students using the measly income each state gets in support of its educational programs and platforms. However, not even the best financial assistance and government support will manage to make higher education more affordable for most students and their parents. This paper serves to inform the parents and the incoming college students of the pros and cons of a college education and answer any questions they might have about the advantages of having a college degree. Majority of the opinion from the analysts, authors, and interviewees, is that college is worth it. This paper will present all sides of the issue -- from yes, no, to “its complicated” in order to prove and defend the stand of the collective writers that college is definitely worth it. With most college students needing to work in order to stay in college, the financial trade off for the student and his parents does not seem to be fair. That is most likely the reason why there is a rush of articles in academic journals arguing about the validity of a college education. Is it worth going into debt for? Is there actually any value that can be set for the college education of a person? Is it truly worth the financial sacrifice to complete a college education? Or perhaps trade school would be best so that the student can immediately set out to work after graduation? These are the questions that three separate articles which were assigned reading in our class tried to answer based upon practical reasoning, historical data, and common sense. Once viewed collectively, the answer to the question being posed becomes quite clear, college is definitely worth it for those who can afford it. In the interview of Larry D. Singell, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of Indiana University, Jamsheed Chosky , professor of Central Eurasian Studies and History, and finally Richard Miller, professor of Religious Studies, the three important figures from Indiana University attempt to provide evidence as to why a college degree is worth the cost in an interview with Bruce Lilly. The main argument of the three university representatives centered around the cost of education and the difference between a completed liberal arts education as opposed to an education completed at a trade school. All three men, regardless of how they presented their opinion on the matter, agreed on one thing. That a student will benefit more from completing his liberal arts course instead of attending trade school. The reason behind this is something that the three men also agreed upon. The fact that a person with a liberal arts education will be more adaptable to the needs of his society because he had an overall intellectual development of an individual under a liberal arts degree. He was thus, able to better harness his education in terms of creating employment opportunities for himself in the future. Rather than those who went to trade who, although they knew of a skill that could help them earn immediately, would be unable to retrain themselves if and when the time came. That is because, according to Larry Singell; If you look at the job market today, fifty percent of the jobs did not exist twenty years ago. It’s impossible to prepare for those types of jobs by going and getting a trade. What you need to do is to learn how to think logically, communicate clearly, act creatively, and live ethically — all of those things that a liberal arts education helps you to do. That’s an essential part of general human capital (Lilly, B. “Is a College Degree Worth the Cost?”) It is therefore Singells opinion that a college education is necessary in order to continue to evolve with the available employment opportunities and ensure that one will be amply prepared to take on more responsibilities and tasks in the process. However, there are other authors who argue their positions as to the worth of a college education in terms of the relevance of the financial aspect of college to the classes and lessons being taught. Some of these authors, such as Michael Potts, view the value of a higher education in terms of the knowledge gained from the educational institution. It is his opinion that universities that view their students more as customers of clients rather than students that defeats the purpose of a college education and also degrades the value of the knowledge earned from the university. As he puts it: “Among some faculty and administration in higher education, the position that “students are customers” has become a form of “academic orthodoxy”, from which dissent is thought to be “irresponsible” (Potts, M. “The Consumerist Subversion of Education”).Potts effectively negates the points made by Singell in Lillys interview pertaining to the importance of education. Since students view themselves are privileged because they are paying to attend the university in Potts argument, they should pass whether they are actually learning anything or not. It is just a given because the “client” paid for the service of “education”. becomes evident when a person is in pursuit of employment and therefore, his intellectual abilities are more important than their practical abilities. While both men make excellent cases for their convictions, the truth remains that theirs is not the only opinion on the matter and neither of them can claim to be the right or wrong point of view in this case. Specially since there are other opinions to be considered. Opinions such as those of the member of the Pew Social and Demographic Trends that discovered a unique and interesting point of view based upon public opinion and surveys. An overview of the results of their surveys show that there is a discrepancy between the beliefs of those interviewed by Lilly and the opinion of Potts. It would seem that there is truly a question as to the value of a college education specially since: A majority of Americans (57%) say the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend. An even larger majority—75%—says college is too expensive for most Americans to afford. At the same time, however, an overwhelming majority of college graduates—86%—say that college has been a good investment for them personally (Pew Research Center, “Is College Worth It?”). If there aforementioned survey result were to be taken seriously, one will deduce that attending college and completing a college degree would be a waste of money because the schools will fail to provide a high quality of education even though they consider it a good investment. The result is a split decision when it comes to the an answer to the question being asked. The bottom line of the Pew survey however, seems to be that the American public is divided on the question and thus cannot give accurate and conclusive responses to the questions being posed before them in the survey. In terms of offering a supporting foundation to the prior arguments about the worth of a college education, this survey would actually put any of the reasoning the previous articles to shame. A college education was not worth the trouble of trying to get into a “good” college then coming up with the funds to pay for the college trek. Who was to know that the “worth” of a college education was not really seen in the amount of money spent on classes in a university, nor the type of college education one signed up (liberal or vocational). Rather, the “worth” of the college education one receives comes from the most unexpected place. The student himself. It was Freeman Hrabowski who, during his TED talk on the “4 Pillars of College Success in Science” that pointed out the most important factor in determining the worth of a college education. The student himself and his desire to learn. Hrabowski quoted Aristotle as saying: Excellence is never an accident. It is the result of high intention, sincere effort and intelligent execution. It represents the wisest option among many alternatives .... Choice, not chance, determines your destiny. Choice, not chance, determines your destiny, dreams and values (Hrabowski, F. “4 Pillars of College Success in Science”) . In the end, my personal opinion is having a liberal college education is definitely worth it. Liberal colleges challenge a college student to learn as much as he can and be the best that he can be. Once a liberal degree student is encouraged and inspired to learn he will ensure that he will continue to work in various fields because he is capable of keeping abreast with the times thanks to his intellectual training in liberal college as opposed to the limited learning field offered by a technical college to its students. Word Count = 1502 Sources Hrabowski, F. (2013). 4 pillars of college success in science. ted.com. ted.com. Retrieved from http://new.ted.com/talks/freeman_hrabowski_4_pillars_of_college_success_in_science Lilly, B. (2011). Is a college degree worth the cost?. The College Magazine. Fall, 2011. Pew Research Center (2011). Is college worth it?. pewsocialtrends.org. pewsocialtrends.org. Retrieved from www.pewsocialtrends.org. Potts, M. (2005). The consumerist subversion of education. Academic Questions, 2005. Read More