I caught an article from The Atlantic from a couple of years ago, In the Basement of the Ivory Tower. The author taught at a few colleges and came away with a pessimistic feeling from what he saw: students who were barely capable of being coursework. A few excerpts:
America, ever-idealistic, seems wary of the vocational-education track. We are not comfortable limiting anyone?s options. Telling someone that college is not for him seems harsh and classist and British, as though we were sentencing him to a life in the coal mines. I sympathize with this stance; I subscribe to the American ideal. Unfortunately, it is with me and my red pen that that ideal crashes and burns.
For I, who teach these low-level, must-pass, no-multiple-choice-test classes, am the one who ultimately delivers the news to those unfit for college: that they lack the most-basic skills and have no sense of the volume of work required; that they are in some cases barely literate; that they are so bereft of schemata, so dispossessed of contexts in which to place newly acquired knowledge, that every bit of information simply raises more questions. They are not ready for high school, some of them, much less for college.
So does is the author on to something? Should college be off-the-table for some people? Should we really expect all people to go to college? Or is the author being a kind of anti-democratic elitist? Your thoughts...?
That's what we have entrance requirements for. If they can meet them, they get in — if they can't, they don't. College is a business like any other business. They will take your money as long as you have some to pay. They don't care whether you get your degree or not, so long as your bill is current. 🙂
That is a shame. I think one of the reasons why colleges can charge so much nowadays is because they know most students will simply take out loans, thereby putting off any worry about paying it off until 5 or 10 years down the road. Because most students are in and out in 4-5 years, and because they're too young to know any better, they won't be able to question their tuition bills in great enough numbers to have any effect. Believe me, I wonder why I have to pay $100+ per semester for a “transportation fee” when I paid separately for a campus parking permit. There's not much I can do, though, so I just pay it and go on my merry way.
In a word, no.There are many good and well paying occupations that do not require a four year degree. don't get me wrong these do require some sort of education, usually in the from of a tech certificate or AA level from a tech school or community college. Gone is the day when a HS diploma would pay the freight but four years isn't always the ticket either.I am not marking down a four year degree yet but it's getting more like the HS diploma... little more than a certificate of attendance... all the time.Sowell pointed out some time back that the system (in the name of equality and affirmative action) was pushing students into schools beyond their level and dooming them to failure. I would add that this isn't just kids of color... we push marginal kids into state colleges when they would be better served at a CC. If they have success and want to go on so much the better but get them to a place they can have success first. Same for the kids that get pushed into top drawer universities when they really are state colleg level students... far too many wash out or end up taking remediation classes at a high cost in both dollars and time.Loans are a scam too... when I started in our local state college a full load was about $85.00 a semester + books (I think I had about 125.00 in books)... I worked some and the cost was more reasonable then. No loans for me or my wife either.My two cents.
It's a racket pure and simple. However, if you put in the hours and study hard, you can actually get something out of the whole deal. Then you have to pray that the job market holds up by the time you're qualified to go to work in your field. 🙂
Dave Ramsey will tell you to never take out a student loan! LOL! (I actually will not take out loans and have been using grants and other means to pay for my school).Seriously, I agree that it should be open to all and if you cut it and put the time in, swell, you'll reap the benefits, but if you just plan on skating by that you should be prepared to fail, and they SHOULD fail you, not let you get a degree without coming away with the knowledge required.
I also agree college should be available to all who qualify, but it is not necessary for all to attend. We would be better off with more artisans who can think criticially, enjoy fine arts, and take pride in their work than uncreative academic memorizers with degrees who lack those qualities and interests and supply the worst class of people aside from rentiers and certain lawyers– middle management and humance resources personnel.
I do not believe so. Some folks just aren't made out for college and are better off doing things that they excel at. I would encourage young people to consider it for their future however.High school on the other hand I believe everybody should attempt to complete, and at bare minimum finish grade 10.
In CA the HS Exit Exam is given starting in 10th grade. The student must pass to (has several chances) to get a diploma when all other req'ts are met. It's based on 8th grade math and reading level. Three cheers for NCLB.
Consider that most of what it takes to get through the day is stuff that an 8th grade education can (or used to be able to) handle. Most of out day is pretty mundane really.It just scares me that most people think reality TV is. 😮
I do not believe so. Some folks just aren't made out for college and are better off doing things that they excel at. I would encourage young people to consider it for their future however.High school on the other hand I believe everybody should attempt to complete, and at bare minimum finish grade 10.
While I agree with you, I think everyone should have the opportunity to go to college - whether at 18/19 years old fresh out of high school, or at 45, 55, or 65. College doesn't necessarily mean the traditional 4 year private or public college - it includes community colleges and other open enrollement institutions.We shouldn't preclude anyone from attempting a college education - and there should be no stigma for those who find themselves lacking in basic skills who need remediation or who decide that they aren't willing to go through the effort to get up to doing college level work.Now, for the article, "Professor X" appears to be a bit of an elitist ass... but that's for another post.
Now, for the article, “Professor X” appears to be a bit of an elitist ***… but that's for another post.
I'm guessing you're referring to the original article I linked to. That's interesting, because I was first led to the article from some other forum where someone suggested the same thing - that he was pompous for suggesting that not everyone should go to college. When I read the article, I didn't get the impression that he was pompous/elitist, but that he was simply fed up with being in the trenches of academia and dealing with the obvious systematic failures of the high school/grade school system. I could have missed something, though. So I'm curious to hear where you think he comes off as elitist.
Here's what did it for me – his claim that adjunct professors naturally teach the worst students – inferring that if you are taking night or weekend courses (instead of during the work day) that you must be an inferior intellect. Of course, the corrollary could be the same, that if you are teaching as an adjunct that you must be amongst the worst instructors….Of course, both arguments are, in my mind, uh... bunk.