The conventional wisdom about college has been this – go to college, get a better paying job and earn more money over your lifetime. Some of that may still be true, but mounting college debt and the utopian goals of having everyone attend college need to be re-examined. An ABC News report showed many college graduates are moving back home with their parents and are crushed with thousands of dollars of student debt. While the economy plays a role, there is a larger question about the role of college that needs to be reexamined.
Why go to college? For most, it’s about getting a job. It should instead be about getting an education. College, and even many master’s degree programs, are functioning as a white collar trade school. Students are willing to take on heavy loads of debt in a maddening race to get into the best school, or worse yet, to even finish school when they are not really interested in the rigors of college.
It is not popular to say, but we need less people going to college, not more. Those who are burnt out with classes after finishing high school should be given the freedom to pursue technical training that will help them get a job. Or they may just want to, heaven forbid, just go get a job. They should not be forced to struggle through general education classes that they have little interest in. Sometimes those who are exceptionally bright or entreprenurial also find college is not for them. One need only look at Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to find examples of those who felt they needed to strike out on their own before finishing a degree.
College and graduate school were both rewarding experiences for me. But I enjoyed the challenge and camraderie of academia It is time to believe in getting an education for its own sake.
