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Undergraduate Admissions and Travel Adventures from a Seattle University Admissions Counselor.

Counterpoint: College Diplomas are Overrated

So, quickly on the heels of my post regarding the value of a college education comes this rather scathing article from Marty Menko from the Chronicle of Higher Education titled, "America's Most Overrated product: The Bachelor's Degree."

Menko's main arguments? Colleges are businesses that accept unprepared students, with little to no regard for quality of education that the institution produces, or preparedness of the college graduate to enter the world.

...year after year, colleges and universities turn out millions of defective products: students who drop out or graduate with far too little benefit for the time and money spent. Not only do colleges escape punishment, but they are rewarded with taxpayer-financed student grants and loans, which allow them to raise their tuitions even more.

I would argue that, institutions like Seattle University place a high priority on teaching, real-world experience, and only admitting students (through a careful and holistic process) who are prepared for college coursework.

You can read the full article for free here. Seattle University students, I'm always curious to hear your thoughts.

Published Tuesday, May 27, 2008 9:58 AM by moyj
Filed Under: Admissions

Comments

# re: Counterpoint: College Diplomas are Overrated @ Wednesday, May 28, 2008 10:51 AM

Like most articles, it poses issues that are point worthy, but it also poses at least one which has faulty logic. I agree that very often colleges don't live up to the hype - experience is probably more valuable than study - but to say one may succeed without college because Ted Turner and John D. Rockefeller did is laughable. Both of these men were from very wealthy families. They'd have "succeeded" at any rate. Walt Disney and Bill Gates happened along at the right time and place. Their success owes much to pure luck.

I strongly agree that college isn't for everybody, and its important to note that those who chose not to go aren't inferior or less equipped, but if one opts out of college, he/she better be very, very self-directed. I also agree that a college diploma sometimes isn't worth the expense and, if you've taken out loans to pay for it, the almost lifelong burden of debt it incurs. If you've borrowed money to get a Master's degree and you wind up sweeping floors or doing call center work, you'll never pay off the debt.

There was a time when higher education not only taught the classical courses, but instructed students how to responsibly take their positions as good citizens and responsible adults. Now, college seems more an extension of high school with off-color parties and better football games. Perhaps colleges have changed their purpose in order to compete for students. Perhaps college students have gotten younger - emotionally.

Two stories from personal experience: About ten years ago I worked with a department supervisor who had graduated from a very prestigious and costly university in the South. She would post official memoranda for her employees that were chocked full of misspelled words and bad grammar. Ok, so she wasn't an English major, but how did she ever get through freshman and sophomore English? The school where I received my bachelor's degree had to institute an upper division writing assessment test several years ago because it was graduating students who couldn't compose a comprehensible letter.

Some of the Ivy League schools are lowering or even doing away with tuition now. That's a good thing, because if anything is overrated, it's an Ivy League education. A friend of mine graduated from one - and he'll always have that status symbol of being good enough on entrance exams to have gotten in - but once he was there, he told me that he was miserable. The dorm room was like a prison cell, the food was disgusting, the class instruction came from the I've-got-mine-now-you-get-your's school of teaching, and all of this was $40K a year back when $40K could almost buy you a house. On the other hand, enrolling in an international affairs class at Yale might give you the opportunity to be instructed by Tony Blair.

Bauhaus

# re: Counterpoint: College Diplomas are Overrated @ Thursday, May 29, 2008 11:01 PM

I agree that several people come out of college unprepared for the "real world." I also agree that one can be successful without a college degree. But from my experiences as an undergrad student, there are many facets of college that are extremely valuable; a student simply needs to engage themselves to experience them. Anyone is capable of getting his or her money's worth in regards to a college education, but it is all about them driving themselves and having the want to accomplish that. It's up to the the student. People can go to a great movie but spend all of their time text messaging people and not paying attention, and then come out and say the movie wasn't worth their money. That doesn't mean the film was overrated; it means that the moviegoer didn't focus on getting their money's worth.

Anonymous

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