Notice how much I like the word "stuff". It really is a very useful word. I wonder if I did a wordle for this whole blog, would "stuff" be the biggest?
Anyway, I have been thinking about this popular Chronicle of Higher Education article Will Higher Education be the Next Bubble to Burst?. The basic argument the article makes is that higher education (especially private schools) are too expensive. It also talks about online universities such as Phoenix online and how they are becoming more popular. In all this "bursting bubble" discussion, there is an extremely important question:
What is the purpose of college?
Maybe you already suspect my answer to this question, but let me share some other common answers.
Job Training. This is a common answer for some students. The reason to go to college is training for a job. This is obviously a silly answer. Suppose you want to be an accountant. Do you really think you would actually use astronomy in your job? Some may argue "well, it improves critical thinking....etc..." and they may be correct. However, this is a course that is at least not directly related to a job in accountancy. What about history? What about art?
The example of the account major reminds me of a student. I can't remember the exact complaint, but he was unhappy with his grade in non-science major's astronomy class. His basic argument was that he should get a higher grade because he didn't need astronomy to be an accountant. I think that it is true that you don't need astronomy in everyday life, but not true that you should get a higher grade because of that. This student wanted to JUST be trained to be an accountant and only that. A colleague brought up this great quote from Heinlein:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
Social Level. Maybe this is not the correct term, but you get the idea. Graduating from college puts you in a different social status level. I don't think this is a good reason to go to college, but it is somewhat true. But, does it matter what college you go to? Maybe, but if it doesn't matter then just go to some online university, right?
This gets to another important point - will the college bubble burst? I think another question is: if what a college does can be replaced with an online course, should it be? I say "yes". This question comes up every once in a while. I like non-online courses. It seems more like a community of learners for real classes. Online seems more like busy work.
So, what do I think about the purpose of college? I think it is a lot like science in that it is a way to become more human. College is all about growth. It is a time to learn how to learn. A time to learn what your interests are. A time to become a person, not an insect. If this is what college is about, I don't think the bubble will burst. Maybe it will change, but something like this will still be here. Whatever it is, I hope it still gives me time to blog.
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If college were about education qua education there would not be diversity admissions. Contemporary higher education then has four goals: 1) defer unemployment, 2) pre-dun youth for adulthood, 3) promulgate social advocacy, 4) create technicians.
(4) is outsourced. (3) is a national disaster, especially when recursive (public education designed and administered by "degreed experts"). (2) is successful beyond process survival (tranched existence). (1) is increasingly operative - but even buffers get saturated.
If you want an education, all you need do is walk in and sit down. It's all freely available unless you want formal conferral of a license to think at the end. Or, visit the library and do it yourself.