I have been to college twice, and then taught at several colleges for over 20 years. For a long time, I could not understand people‘s negative attitude about higher education. Why would people hate learning so much? Why would people not want someone to grow and achieve more than the level that their parents had? The problem is that there are two colleges. There is college for rich people and there’s college for poor people, and it can even be the same school.
The differences lie in who is going to school and why. For financially well-established people, going to college is a way to continue in their lifestyle, secure relationships and prove legitimacy. So, if you are a parent planning to hand over your practice or company to your offspring, it helps if they have a certificate of knowledge to prove that they also have “earned” their place. Plus, they might meet other well-connected and bright people at school.
While most schools require a level of academics in order to get in, there are also paths carved out to “legacy” individuals, the children and grandchildren of people who have previously attended or who’ve donated significant amount of money. Coming from wealth means the students can also attend to class without having to work, so they have more time to study. Even for those who don’t study, but come from money, they can buy tutoring and these days, even someone else to write their paper or take a test for them. Of course, as a former college instructor, I never allowed anyone to use a proxy test taker or knowingly accepted a purchased paper, but I can attest that focused tutoring absolutely helps.
Students from middle and lower income families have a different experience with college. For many, higher education is promoted as a ladder out of poverty and an opportunity to live a better lifestyle than the previous generations. Many parents have scrupulously saved money to help send their kids to college. Many students themselves have toiled over summers during high school working and saving in order to go to college, but prices have gone up and up.
Many state schools have been abandoned by public funding and rely more on fees and tuition from the students. Instead of making public college more inclusive, is actually become more exclusive as the schools compete for students from wealthily families, often traveling across state and international borders to find and woo them. About half of the students at the University of Oregon are actually from outside of Oregon, paying out-of-state prices to help supplement the tuition of in-state students.
For previous generations, going to college might have been something students could work and pay their way through, but this is no longer the case. Tuition and living expense have raised in faster than the pay of unskilled labor. Federal Pell grants have remained at the same level while inflation has grown over the last fifty years. So, many students, or their parents, have taken out massive loans to get their ticket to achievement and success.
The other problem is that having a diploma is not enough. Recent graduates also need to have experience, and often an “in” with someone who is higher up. My first career-related job after college was working part-time at the city newspaper. I was shocked to learn it was run by 13 cousins. The third generation was firmly entrenched in the organization started by their grandfather. I was literally told that if I wasn’t born in, I’d have to marry in, if I wanted to get ahead at that company. People often talk about how great it is to work for a family-run business, but I think they mean if you’re part of the family. Outsiders are usually dispensable.
Do I still believe in higher education, absolutely. I have seen people from the poorest circumstances turn their lives around. The key is to be really focused on where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. There are programs with high schools and community colleges that can reduce the years of school that one has to pay out-of-pocket for. There are also many scholarships, but students have to know where they are or ask for help. I have also seen students fresh from college loaded with massive debt that their certificate of learning will not pay for. There are certain professions that pay on a higher scale such as engineering or business, and other areas of study that will not provide a decent income let alone pay off enormous school loans.
Currently, I have stepped out of academia and I am using my time between parenting and writing to sell insurance. As of six months ago, I knew nothing about insurance, however there are classes you can take online to learn about it. A 40-hour online certificate can turn into a decent paycheck. The key to learning is that it never has to end.
