why go to college?

As a prospective high school teacher (read: unemployed teacher…), I don’t give college education as much focus as I probably should. From my most recent bout of college life I have come to the sad conclusion that the less I have to do with these organizations the better. I used to think that my perspectives signified that I was merely a bitter old curmudgeon… But as I look over the web, I see that I am certainly not alone in my estimation of what colleges and a college education now represents.

The fact that currently a college undergraduate education’s cost has risen 400% (in real terms) since the time I originally went to college may be the biggest entry point into this community of outrage about higher education, but there are plenty of other points to bring up.

My perspective is that colleges have become monetized to the degree that this is the sole outcome which administrators are really interested in. You merely have to read through some of the attached links to see some justification for this idea.

I’ve always been interested in finding some cogent justification for the ever rising tuition costs in going to almost any college or university. Again, sadly enough, I’ve never actually found one (at least a justification presented by those who are charging the tuition!). There are plenty of other arguments and description to see (especially online, as always). The prime reason for higher costs for education directly relate to the ever increasing government system of grants and government loans to students…

But, there are plenty of other topics to discuss about getting a college education, for instance, if you have an internet connection, almost all of what an incoming freshman may take can be found online for free (save some ivy covered walls…). The only thing to distinguish these free online lectures and courses would be…accreditation. As with many other parts of the education industry, this implied control over colleges is based upon bureaucrats and education industry insiders.

Forty years ago, this wasn’t that much of a problem, but in the ensuing years the education industry and academia in general have diverged profoundly in many philosophical ways from the mainstream of the rest of our culture. In any case, I suggest reading as many of the links (see: below), that is, up to the point when real depression starts to sink in.

This will provide some semblance of background into why there are movements towards: home schooling, online schools and colleges, a move to get rid of the medieval notion of tenure, and engender some questions as to why a higher education should cost so much…

The American Spectator : Who Is College Material?

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/09/28/who-is-college-material

Op-Ed Columnist – Putting Our Brains on Hold – NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/opinion/07herbert.html?_r=2

Book says many U.S. universities are waste of money – Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100729/lf_nm_life/us_usa_books_universities

The Creativity Crisis – Newsweek

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html

Hey U, Tune In: The Library Is Now on iTunes U « Library of Congress Blog

http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2009/06/hey-u-tune-in-the-library-is-now-on-itunes-u

Hoagies’ Gifted: (Free) Online High School Courses

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htm