Evolving Misconceptions About Higher Education In America

Editors note: The following is a guest article submitted by Theodore Bacon.

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It only takes a small degree of casual observation to see that the quality of a university education and the students it produces has been on decline for several decades now. This is in no means unique to higher education, as k-12 seems to be suffering this same fate. To many young people, a college education is no longer given the same priority as it once was, leading to an increasing number of young people seeking experience and employment in several fields that require particular skills. This in and of itself is not negative, as our country is currently in dire need of skilled laborers and craftsmen. What should be noted however is that even though college educated employees will over a lifetime earn salaries that far exceed those without a college degree, the hesitancy remains.

There are several factors at play here, ranging from historical influences of the Cold War resulting in an emphasis on a STEM curriculum to the fact that college is just not as economically viable to Americans as it once was. This begs many to wonder if a liberal arts college education even has the return on investment.

The medical field, tech sector, and hospitality industry are among the fastest growing in the United States, with employers struggling to keep up with the demand. Many colleges and universities focus on providing students with an education and a diploma that will help them get access into lucrative careers and nothing more.

The few institutions that attempt to hold on to a liberal arts identity choose to do so by mandating students to take courses in a variety of subjects without showing them how such classes are actually an enrichment to their education. It certainly does not help matters that professors with progressive ideologies and agendas seemingly gravitate towards humanities disciplines, further disincentives students who perceive that being a humanities major at a liberal arts college is equivalent to paying tens of thousands of dollars only to be indoctrinated. Many students complain that taking core liberal arts requirements takes away time and money they could be using on more relevant aspects of their studies in business, computer science, and chemistry.

The lack of an understanding of the true meaning of a liberal arts curriculum often causes students to put in less effort and engage less with the professor and materials of the course. This cocktail of attitudes results in many people, both in college and the general public, viewing a liberal arts education with disdain. For example, this meme exemplifies current attitudes:

Like many things that one can find on the internet these days, the depiction is admittedly distasteful. With that acknowledged, the depiction does identify a real problem; that being the collapse of the American education system. Has the American education system collapsed yet? I would argue no. With that being said, how education and its outcomes are portrayed culturally should be a concern to anyone who is a member of the voting public. Humanities as a discipline has struggled to quantify its tangible outcomes to students for some time now. The issue is not only one of marketing, however.

It is my hope that most Americans would acknowledge if asked that the value of education is not only to aid in employment, but to foster intellectual curiosity and a better understanding of the self and our world. Education these days seems to have thrown out the latter while embracing the former. There is nothing intellectually elitist about understanding the world around you. In an age of technological advancement at a breakneck pace, young people have seemingly lost the ability to relate to one another and communicate ideas effectively and respectfully. It is high time for American society to stop viewing students for what they can do and start worrying about who they are. Only then can we begin to get our country out of this culture war we find ourselves increasingly embroiled in.