Questioning the promised benefits of higher education for students

Rethinking Education: Understanding the Real Impact of Higher Education on People's Lives

This paper explores the notion that college or higher education is something that is of real and meaningful benefit to everyone. An overview of cultural attitudes and messages regarding higher education is given, followed by the findings of research that present an understanding of why people select to go to college and receive a higher education, finding that aside from cultural pressures (which are substantial) monetary/employment benefits are highly desired. Evidence that suggests these benefits, though often cited as expectations based on cultural beliefs, are not as substantial or as consistent as might be believed, and that the costs of obtaining a college degree are quite substantial.

Introduction

A college degree is often thought of as a "golden ticket" of sorts, providing magical access to a world of respect, higher earning potential, and general success. One statistic often quoted by guidance counselors and college advertisers is that people with a bachelor's degree earn more than a million dollars more in their lifetime than those without degrees. Whether or not this is true and what other variables might potentially affect earnings and thus make the relationship between earnings and education far less direct than implied notwithstanding, the idea that a college education is of direct benefit to everyone is something that definitely needs to be critically examined. Often, the time and money spent on education can be detrimental.

There is no dispute that learning and personal development are generally advantageous, or that college/higher education provides an opportunity for both of these things. Understanding why people choose to go to college, both what they are told to expect there and when they leave, means that the real benefits of college in terms of what people are seeking can actually be objectively measured. That is, rather than simply repeating blithe and unfounded assertions that back up the cultural assumption that college is the best choice anyone can make, whether or not college actually provides people with what they are seeking can be tested once the real benefits that they expect are identified. Through research and interviews, the following pages question prevailing attitudes regarding higher education.

What People Get

According to interviews conducted by the author, expectations in terms of earning potential and employment opportunities are not frequently met -- not once in the three subjects (admittedly not a scientifically significant sample) interviewed, in fact. A bachelor's degree does not offer a competitive advantage in the job market, according to one respondent's practical experience, and thus a master's or other post-graduate degree should be sought by anyone wanting a real edge when it comes to finding ideal employment; others have similarly found that wage and job-type benefits have been disappointing or even non-existent. In other words, college has not really changed the circumstances of these three individuals for the better, and certainly has not given them a brighter financial outlook than they previously held.

A more scientific study that primarily examined how benefits were affected by other demographic data indicates that results definitely are not as positive or as consistent as many beliefs and claims would make them, though there does seem to be a general improvement in individual circumstance eight years after graduation (Perna, 2005). As this study does not compare these graduates to a population of those who did not attend college, it cannot be conclusively said that they are better off than if they had simply been working, and the fact that outcomes varied significantly based on gender and race suggest that a more critical view should be applied by many college attendees (Perna, 2005). Meanwhile, the average college debt for those graduating with bachelor's degrees in 2010 was over twenty-thousand dollars, and this is debt that most will carry for a decade or more, adding an additional ten-thousand or more to the amount they owe, not to mention the income lost during their years at school instead of in the workforce and the tuition, books, and living expenses directly paid during this period (Pope, 2011). Because of the lack of clearly evidenced substantial benefit and the high cost of attendance, seeking a higher education is something that people should consider carefully rather than simply leaping into.

Conclusion

Many choices are made by simply doing what is expected. The choice to spend half a decade and tens of thousands of dollars on higher education shouldn't be one of them. This means that attitudes towards college have to change.