Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.
Graduation from an accredited four year college has been the aspiration of many high school students; although when I attended high school in the 1960s, it was rarely achieved. About 15% of my high school senior class went on to attend college. Over the years, the percentage of high school students attending college has gone up dramatically. In fact, it has become an expectation for the majority. Recently however, many people have begun to question not only the importance of college but whether the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Let’s take a look.
Historically, college was a place where students would achieve what was called a classical education. That included studying history, cultural heritage and languages, science and mathematics. Many of the early colleges were affiliated with specific religions and included religious instruction as part of the curriculum. Training for specific career skills was infrequent. Gradually the focus of colleges shifted more towards career-path learning such as medicine, engineering, and teaching. A review of common college majors today shows an overwhelming number of college majors, many of which have no specific connection to a particular career. Consequently, many college graduates do not find that they qualify for a specific career or profession when they graduate. As a result, given the increasing cost of college, are these students getting a fair return for their investment?
Nationally, the average cost of private, four-year college tuition is now over $35,000 per year. Public colleges average about $12,000 per year. Cost of room and board, fees and books can add considerably to this cost. Also, since the average student now takes six years to graduate, the actual expense can be much greater. The debt of the average graduate in 2024 was $37,000, with of course, many owing much more. The total student debt in this country is now about $1.7 trillion dollars, which is more than the total credit card debt of all Americans. Much of this debt is due to tuition increases that have risen at a rate greatly above inflation and the ease at which government student loans are made available to students encouraging borrowing.
A major concern for many parents is whether attending college is resulting in the indoctrination of their children with leftist/woke ideology. A Gallop poll showed that 48% of college professors were registered Democrats and 6% were registered Republicans. Given these percentages, it is highly likely that the overwhelming number of non-party registered professors also learn sharply to the Left.
Recently, it was revealed that 31% of the students at Harvard were from foreign countries whose values vary dramatically from traditional Americans. Other colleges may not have quite so high percentages of foreign students; however, the 1.1 million foreign students in this country are going somewhere. By the way, of the 1.1 million, Chinese students account for 400.000. The point is that our students are being exposed to influences that may not be consistent with our values and beliefs. The recent rise of anti-Semitism on college campuses shows the result.
The bottom line is that the decision to send a child to college is no longer as simple and straight forward as it once was. Unless a student is seeking a specific career path, parents and students alike should consider alternatives such as community colleges and specific skill training, which for many will produce a better outcome at less cost.