What is a purpose of a college education - Essay Example

However, even the best college institutions are not providing these skills. The main purpose of the higher education institutions, colleges in particular, should be to provide the students with a wide range of skills that would help them in functioning appropriately in the workplace such as broadmindedness and problem solving skills that may not be accomplished if the institutions are underequipped. This claim is correct because the modern world has intense competition that requires an individual to be equipped with a wide range of skills since some job positions are highly competitive.

Therefore, if one position is not available, an individual can utilize other skills and work in a different position. The article, “College at Risk” by Andrew Delbanco maintains that although the original purpose of colleges had the interests of the students in mind, it has changed. In fact, in a broader sense, a college institution is a place where the students encounter ideas both from fellow peers and from instructors that help them in becoming creative. In addition, the concept of broad-mindedness was meant to be emphasized through college education.

This was meant to help the individuals in dealing with hardships that they may encounter in the workplace. Personally, I agree with these claims. The higher education sector has become a commodity that is only available to the wealthy few; therefore, secluding the unfortunate ones and diverging from the original purpose, which was not economic-oriented. I have also seen many colleges charge very high tuition fees, which was not the case in the past. For instance, my own college has been charging higher fees as compared to previous years.

This implies that only the wealthy can afford higher education. This is affecting the availability of opportunities and acquisition of skills especially in the American society, thus affecting the original purpose of colleges. The colleges have concentrated on profit