Is Higher Education Worth the Price?

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    “American colleges are driven by the pursuit of prestige, and the way you get prestige is that you get the highest ranking, which expands your market, which allows you to charge more.” (Carnevale, 11:04) ['The Ivory Tower']. Nowadays, getting a degree has become a more stressful endeavor for students and families alike. Financial debts, the type of degree to pursue, to securing a successful future career, all of these questions and issues have to be juggled by college students alongside trying to hand in assignments on time. In the article 'Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?', the authors, Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, talk more in depth on these issues and the effects they have. The authors state "Colleges are taking on too many roles and doing none of the well... [colleges] have lost track of their basic mission to challenge the minds of young people". They go on explaining how tuition debt has sky-rocketed to six figures on average.

    Statistically,  64% of students who want a secondary education attend a vocational school instead because they provide a focus for a particular career path at an affordable price. Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus stress that students who do this are not taking up their chances at learning subjects like philosophy, literature, physical sciences, etc., which would challenge the way they think and see the world. In the article 'The New Liberal Arts' , Sanford Ungar talks about the importance of studying for a Liberal Arts degree, something that has also been a topic of debate. There is a misconception in the methodology of how to decide which type of degree to attain; that studying a particular field is best because the role of specialist is desirable and has the highest pay. Emphasis on misconception, because Sanford Ungar debates and disproves this, saying that, if anything, getting a Liberal Arts degree is just as good, if not better. The author states that workplaces “were looking for more emphasis on “the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing” [as well as urging the development of better critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills]”.

    The speech made by Dr. Laura, published by author David Foster in the article ‘Kenyon Commencement Speech’, explained especially well the importance of a Liberal Arts degree and what it is best at teaching a student. Dr. Laura uses examples of how you can choose to be aware of other people’s situations and decide that the people in grocery stores and in traffic aren’t trying to be obnoxious obstacles, but are also going through struggles, to show how Liberal Arts teaches you how to think; to think differently, having an open mind and, to a degree, practicing empathy. She acknowledges that this can be a hard thing to do on a daily basis, life is frustrating, but when you notice yourself becoming aware of this you have the option to not think in that “default mindset”. Liberal Arts teaches you about how we subconsciously and instinctively see ourselves as the center of reality because everything we experience is from our point of view.

    To wrap up these points, and give a visual representation via film and interviews, 'The Ivory Tower' documentary does an excellent job of proving what these authors are talking about. It provides a direct look at the lives and situations that students are going through. Until you get to see it for yourself, It’s easy to just read about the struggles of colleges and student life; the problems never truly set in. In conclusion, change/reform to the way secondary education systems operate is definitely needed in order for everyone to have a chance at a degree. College is not just about efficiently find their future career but a chance at what schools have done throughout history: challenging the mind and simply learning to learn to better enrich our lives.

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