Is It Worth Investing in Higher Education - Research Paper Example

Is It Worth Investing in Higher Education? Introduction The world is witnessing a significant phenomenon that may alter the higher education landscape in the coming years. The past month has been marked with a wave of student demonstrations in different parts of the world, including the United Kingdom (UK), Paris, Italy and the United States (US). In the UK, “students are campaigning against plans to raise tuition fees in England to up to £9,000 per year” (Coughlan). Similar waves of protests have been witnessed in France and Bologna. In the US, where higher education institutions have been largely controlled by private institutions, tuitions fees maybe close to “exceeding ‘the once unthinkable $50,000 (£32,000) a year’” (Baker). Faced with the inevitability of increasing tuition fees, the threat of a decrease of participation in higher education in the United States, as well as in most developed and highly-industrialised countries, is looming. Higher education which has always been viewed as a source of prestige and entry towards social mobility is facing one of its greatest threat in terms of participation. As people start to question the economic viability of acquiring a degree, it is worthwhile to examine both sides of the pendulum. Is college worth or not worth the investment? Higher Education is Not Worth It Whilst education, higher education in particular, has always been considered a common good, it is interesting how historically it has developed a reputation of “unnecessary evil.” Higher education in the US has been considered the path for social mobility yet closer examination on the primary drivers of higher education since its inception has always been regarded as the bastion of the elites. Has higher education in the US increasingly adhering to the earlier notions of the “educated elite”? Faced with globalised society, will higher education still remain a viable option for the masses? There are appears two issues that stand out which give rise to questioning the importance of higher education. First comes from the high cost involved in getting a degree; second is a question of quality of the education offered by service providers. The first is closely associated with returns on investment --- whether or not the market is prepared for an influx of fresh graduates. Murphy discusses how an ageing population, due to the recession, increases duration in engagement in the work place leaving fresh graduates limited options for employment, options that higher education did not prepare them for. “As opposed to the educational systems in Europe and Japan, where students are prepared for specific careers at an early age, most US students float indecisively through school” (Murphy). There is a popular term among university graduates, that of diploma disease, where universities become a diploma mill. Statistics for underemployment is a glaring evidence of the market failures of higher education. The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that between 2008 and 2010, 117 million US graduates were underemployed, which includes a percentage of students with PhD’s working as fast-food employees (Kasparian). Consequently, a college degree bears the fate of becoming overrated; the cost is not able to justify higher education as a worthy investment. With increase in participation, expansion of higher education providers is inevitable, and it has been seen more of a market-driven industry [as opposed to a state-driven initiative]. However, higher education is still not thinking in terms of a service-oriented enterprise with students as its customers. “Faculty, especially, are often uneasy with the term customer and with the implication of ‘students as customer’...” (Ruben 12). Perhaps it is this lack of conscious and deliberate shift of concept of higher education that makes quality suffer. Without the paradigm shift, higher education continues to be a futile endeavour where it is not able to neither enrich the students nor equip the graduates with skills for employability. Higher Education is Worthwhile Despite the growing issues surrounding the value of higher education at present time, increase in participation is a strong albeit not sufficient indicator of the perceived importance of obtaining a degree. I will build my argument by addressing the two prominent issues that have been raised in the previous section. As further support of my argument, I will discuss highlight significant reports that emphasize the importance of higher education. The argument that the cost of higher education per se makes it not worthwhile to participate does not necessarily justify that higher education is unimportant. The rising cost of higher education is a function of various socio-political dimensions that a nation like United States is facing. I have outlined the role of higher education historically and the implications it had with regard to tuition fees. The neo-liberal or laissez faire attitude towards higher education may have worked well in the past years, but clearly it is also one factor that affected the state of higher education in the US. There is a need to re-examine the policies related to autonomy and decentralization so investing in higher education can become a more worthwhile endeavour. The issue on the quality of higher education can be best perceived as highlighting the importance rather than irrelevance of higher education. The issue on quality further asserts the need for higher education to restructure and reinvent itself to equip the students with skills to become a solution rather than a problem while the US is recovering from the global financial crisis. Moving towards this direction will also address the growing unemployment and underemployment rates of fresh graduates. Notwithstanding the influence of the market economy, “institutes of higher education must hold the leading role of establishing academic priorities, setting expectations, and forging new cultural, academic, and technological grounds in the society” (Saleh et al.). Only higher education can craft initiatives that will mediate both the skills of the students and the needs of a globalized world. There is perhaps no better time for higher education to be proactive and considered valuable than during this age of information and technology. In discussing issues such as globalisation and the knowledge economy, higher education is at the forefront of the debate on how nation states can best respond to the demands of technology and not lose on the opportunities that a global village can offer. “The emergence of the knowledge economy, in which economic productivity and growth is increasingly dependent on the development and application of new knowledge, creates a growing demand for a highly educated and flexible work force, leading to a further massification of higher education and to an increasing need for lifelong learning opportunities” (van der Wende 2). More than the cost, it is perhaps the resistance of universities to break away from traditional pedagogy and curriculum that is proving a hindrance in its development. Higher education is by no means becoming an unnecessary evil in the US society. Yet the zeitgeist clearly calls for re-examination of structures and practices that will have serious implications on governance, curriculum and access. Without responding aggressively to how information and technology has shaped markets and societies, it will live up to its current reputation of being a market failure. It does not however, lose its potential of redefining society nor empowering scholars to redefine higher education. References: Altbach, Philip G. Comparative Higher Education: Knowledge, the University and Development. Westport, CT: Ablex Publishing, 1998. Print. Baker, Mike. “US Students Start to Question Degree Cost.” News Education and Family. BBC Mobile. 18 Sept. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. Coughlan, Susan. “Student Tuition Fee Protest Ends with 153 Arrests.” News Education and Family. BBC Mobile, 01 December 2010. Web. 02 December 2010. Dynarski, Susan M. “Does Aid Matter? Measuring the Effect of Student Aid on College Attendance and Completion.” The American Economic Review 93.1 (2003): 279-288. Print. Eckel, Peter D. and Jacqueline E. King. “An Overview of Higher Education in the United States: Diversity, Access and the Role of the Market Place”. International Handbook of Higher Education. Eds. J. Forest and P. Altbach. Web. 02 Dec. 2010. Green, Andy. “Education and State Formation Revisited.” Historical Studies in Education (1994): 1-19. Print. Kasparian, Ana. “Is Higher Education Worth Its Cost?” Education Policies. Examiner.com. 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. Linn, Allison. “Is it Worth It to Go to College?” Personal Finance. Msnbc.com, 8 Sept. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. Longley, Robert. “Lifetime Earnings Soar with Education.” US Government Info. About.com, 13 Feb. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. Murphy, Joe. “Is Higher Education Worth the High Cost?” Yes!Weekly. 20 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. Perkin, Harold. “The Historical Perspective.” Perspectives on Higher Education: Eight Disciplinary and Comparative Reviews. Ed. Burton R. Clark. London, England: University of California Press, Ltd., 1984. 1 – 48. Print. Saleh, Amany, et al. “The Role of Higher Education in America: A Spa or Smorgasbord?” Academic Leadership: The Online Journal 4.3. 14 Sept. 2010. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. Teichler, Ulrich. “Does Higher Education Matter? Lessons from a Comparative Graduate Survey.” European Journal ofEducation 42.1 (2007): 11-35. Print. Thelin, John R., et al. “Higher Education in the United States – Historical Development, System.” Education Encyclopedia. StateUniversity.com, (no date). Web. 01 December 2010. Van der Wende, Marijk. “The Role of US Higher Education in the Global E-Learning Market.” Research and Occasional Paper Series: CSHE 1.02. (2002): 1-20. Print. Read More