10 unexpected things about how college is screwing us over
Previously, the education system served to bring together a nation’s shared culture and prepare people to assume responsibility in adulthood. The schools taught what they were supposed to teach, and they taught well how to be a good Egyptian and stay at one’s place on the pyramid.
Looking back, did high school prepare you for college? Did college prepare you for work? It should give you the practical skills to live independently. Unfortunately, most people feel the disconnection, read on to find the reasons why.
K-12 Disconnected
Why didn’t college prepare us well? We know that any person who goes from kindergarten to grade 12 will become an adult who must live independently and possibly pursue a career. Do you believe that the sole aim of the college is to lay the groundwork for what will happen?
As Neil Postman noted in “The End of Education: Redefining the Value of the School,” our current school model makes no sense. We are no longer building public space; we are giving the public a common narrative.
Instead of a narrow curriculum focused on vocational and technical training, we focus on developing practical life and work skills. This narrative is unlikely to provide a productive and sustainable rationale for public education.
College for all
Almost every high school student is told that success in life requires a four-year college degree. For many, this is terrible advice, and it is just the latest in a long line of misguided information.
In reality, it is a matter of supply and demand: graduates tend to earn more and have lower unemployment rates than those without a college degree. To say that everyone should get a degree and then enjoy all the benefits is just flawed logic.
If there are too many graduates, wages will fall, and many of them (and the associated student loans) will end up in jobs with no qualifications. This has already happened, and it is already happening to many other parts of the world.
Cost of College Education
Higher education is an investment in the future for many people and an integral part of their identity. That may or may not be the case, but we know that these investments have become more costly. The average cost of attending a public university in four years rose by $250 between 1982 and 2012, to almost $600.
It’s a mystery why tuition costs increase so rapidly if wages and employment are not rising. Many people end up spending a lot of money on degrees that would not benefit them.
Student loans
With higher rates and family incomes struggling to keep up, most families cannot save enough money to cover their expenses. People borrowed money from private banks for education. This has forced private banks out of business, although it is beneficial for consumers.
The dent in credit is causing a massive increase in student loans’ interest rates. It has also led to a few business startups, homeownership, and late marriages.
For-profit colleges
Employers do not always consider college degrees or even national accreditations credible. The rapid growth of these private entities has led to quality losses. Despite glowing promises of placement rates in some industries and high-paying jobs, students end up not qualified for industrial certifications.
While all for-profit colleges are not deceptive, anyone seeking education should exercise a lot of care before spending their time and money on one school over another. Some of the worst players have closed in recent years, and states have tightened federal funding guidelines to reduce incentives for fraud.
Technology brings a whole new dimension to cheating.
Academic dishonesty is nothing new, but according to a new report from the Center for Investigative Reporting, technology has given fraud a whole new dimension.
Cheating has always been a part of college life, whether it is homework or an exam. But the way fraud looks has evolved, and technology has made it too easy. Perhaps one of the most critical issues with university anti-fraud approaches is that students sometimes believe they haven’t done something wrong.
There is a lack of innovation in teacher training
Schools need to develop an anti-fraud strategy that includes technology. These strategies need to be updated not only consistently, but also for the benefit of students and teachers.
More specifically, it is time for teacher training to adapt to the needs of modern K-12 classes. It is clear that when students change, teachers must change. Without teachers, practical reforms that meet global needs are not possible.
Public education needs teachers whare better trained to meet the needs of specific groups of students, understand the necessary role of distance learning, and are willing to push for change in the classroom.
Most colleges use outdated teacher training methods
The modern classroom is full of “educated young people” who present themselves with a detailed view of the world shaped by life experiences. In other words, teachers do not get a clean slate. They find young minds with random information and ideas that they need to foster and remediate.
Our colleges are overcrowded.
At a time when children need more attention than ever to succeed, crowded classrooms make it difficult to learn and even harder for teachers to be effective.
There is a lack of diversity in gifted education
The terms “gifted” refers to the brightest and most advanced pupils. Although this ideology is reasonable, it is often at odds with the interests of students and their families
Colleges need to find ways to identify different types of learning talent and look beyond the typical model of “gifted students.” Gifted and talented programs that better adapt to our current, ever-evolving student body are a step in the right direction.