A recent spate of articles in The New York Times, Newsweek and USA Today has suggested that college is simply too expensive for most Americans. The skyrocketing cost of attending college is certainly a reason for pause, since the average cost of attending a private four-year institution is now $26,000. The increases are even more disastrous at public institutions, which have seen costs double in the past 10 years and are facing budget cuts from struggling state capitals.
I share the concern of editorialists and pundits across the country, but for slightly different reasons. Most analyses of the value of a college education turn on one measure: whether or not the high cost of college actually prepares graduates to earn more than non-graduates. Ascertaining financial stability is important, but it should not be the only category on the rubric for determining a successful education.
In a New York Times Magazine article, David Leonhardt ponders whether college is an important tool or if some students are successful because of “their smarts and work ethic.” His ultimate measure of academic success is earnings after graduation. Leonhardt suggests that earnings are “the only tangible measure we have.” His analysis assumes that the primary goal of education is to create workers. In a recent opinion column in The Daily Princetonian, contributing columnist Kelsey Zimmerman noted her frustration that her parents are concerned with “employability.” Kelsey’s mother can rest assured: College graduates do earn more than those who don’t attend. But if the only measure of success is financial earnings, then we automatically disregard things like happiness, meaning and exploration, all of which a college education should at least have some effect on.
Unfortunately, the search for economic “value” in colleges has obscured this deeper discussion, which needs to occur on college campuses. The fundamental goals and structure of liberal arts education needs to be re-evaluated. In the wake of a devastating economic recession, America is finally starting the painful process of reassessing what types of schools the government and individuals should invest time and money in.
It doesn’t make sense to spend $200,000 and four years of your time at a liberal arts institution if your main goal is to start a business, and indeed, those with spectacular ideas rarely make that investment. (Bill Gates, for one, dropped out of Harvard.) There should be a serious dialogue and discussion about what individuals desire from institutions instead of just funneling children down one path because of historical momentum. There are already successful alternative models to the expensive and time-intensive four-year model.
Professional schools train students quickly and effectively in narrow topics that make them immediately employable. One only has to look at the Harvard Business School or the Yale School of Management to see that these institutions create direct paths to success. It may make sense to invest in public institutions that have a narrower focus, akin to the graduate programs that are already successful. Most European institutions, even at the undergraduate level, have shorter degrees (three years) and far more specialization than we do.
This is not to say that liberal arts institutions provide nothing. In fact, the entire American public school system is based on the belief that well-rounded civic individuals require a broad base of knowledge in history, sciences and the arts. During my brief time at Princeton, I’ve come to value that this institution provides opportunities to creatively reflect on the duties and responsibilities of a citizen. But the models for education should not be reduced to a false binary of professional schools or liberal arts.
A recent Newsweek cover by Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander, a former U.S. Secretary of Education, suggests one possible solution to rising costs: Cut college to three years. He points out that nearly half the year most colleges simply don’t have students, and maintenance costs are steady while buildings are empty. Long winter breaks and even longer summer breaks are anachronisms stemming from our pre-industrial past that need serious revision.
The fact that it has taken hundreds of years for Americans to question the need of four years at college hints at a deeper problem lurking within American educational system. Is the point of an education to prepare you for the world as it is, or work toward a better one? The strangling sense of conformity and limited room for exploration hint that the current education system is a solution to the first problem and not the second. But as the recession continues, hopefully intellectuals, politicians and the public at large will ask, “What’s the point of school anyways?”
Michael Collins is an anthropology major from Glastonbury, Conn. He can be reached at mjcollin@princeton.edu.
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