Higher education is incredibly underfunded by our country’s government. There is simply no excuse for it. Forcing universities to find their own ways to stay financially afloat subjects them to the complete whim of anybody with a buck. It is destroying the education, values, and creativity of generations of Americans.
There is no doubt that the perceived intent of a university has shifted within the last few decades. For nearly a millennium, universities across the world existed to give their students a very broad and thorough liberal arts education, yet slowly we have seen the goal become vocational training.
Public education was founded in the 19th century in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. It was created for the sole purpose of giving us the tools to economically succeed in a non-agrarian based economy.
A massive population of veterans was granted free tuition with the GI Bill in the 1940s and ’50s. This, in conjunction with the post-World War II economic boom, raised the expectations of white collar America; academic inflation reared its ugly head as college became a required extension of public schooling. The diploma became essential to secure your future, and higher education was forever altered.
Now that college is a function of business, those wishing to donate money to the university have an ulterior motive: advertising and, more importantly, creating the perfect future employee. Unfortunately, colleges need this money badly.
Art, literature, dance, music and language suddenly became costly and unnecessary subjects, so we’ve seen less and less of them. They are being cut because those subjects will not make a profit for your employer — the man who inevitably controls your education. Parents think they are a waste of time too, for, “You’ll never make any money doing that.”
It’s a tragedy we’ve started to agree. How often do we hear complaints about those “boring” gen-ed courses?
What we lose as a university slowly becomes a vocational school is nothing short of our humanity. Humans are naturally disposed to being inspired by music, art, literature, etc. By believing the fallacy that it’s not worth our time to enjoy all the wonders of this world we inherently stifle our growth as free-thinking, cognitive beings.
We are at this time raised to believe (and now universities enforce this belief) achieving financial success is the ultimate goal of our existence. We don’t value intelligence, thought or integrity; we value our ability to make capital.
News flash: Everything we do doesn’t have to be about money. Are we humans or are we dogs?
We are breeding selfish, materialistic zombies who have nothing to offer society outside their work because that is where we train people to find fulfillment. Fortunately for the businessmen influencing our studies, this is just how they like it.
This is the problem with viewing universities as something that should make a profit. You simply cannot apply capitalism to a college. Without gross government support you wind up with exorbitant tuition prices, generations of people in debt, donors who control the curricula, students who are there for a piece of paper and completely crush the educational drive in everyone involved. We are fashioned to be tools, not human beings.
And it’s getting worse. The Oklahoma House of Representatives recently agreed to cut higher education funding by 3.5 percent.
The ideal university is lost.
Parents also perpetuate the problem, for rarely are they really interested in their children’s education (no matter how much they disagree) but in their future employment. They are not going to send their child and give their dollars to a school that makes them amazingly intelligent if it doesn’t give them a job.
Being driven by profits, a professor is more valuable for research capacity than teaching competence, and a student is only as precious as his wallet is big. If we failed a student who didn’t have the cognitive ability or desire to achieve in a classroom we would lose his or her tuition money and his or her potential future donations. So, rather than challenging students we lower the academic standards.
We have made college easy for money. Cheat-sheets often accompany my exams — like manna from heaven. Heaven forbid we have to learn something at school! I’ve made cheat-sheets so successfully someone who had never attended the class could have aced my exams. I didn’t even have to study.
We desperately need to reassess why education is valued in this country. Yes, universities need more money. (And I’ll have none of that “we don’t have any” crap when more than 50 percent of our budget is military spending). But more importantly, we need to view education as something more than job training. Otherwise, we lose the arts, the intellectual drive and the compassion to see people as people rather than tools.
President John Adams said, “now to what higher object, to what greater character, can any mortal aspire than to be possessed of all this knowledge ... to assert and maintain liberty and virtue.”
Let our country aspire to be educated beings, not soulless hammers. Let us inspire our hearts.
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William 2 years, 2 months ago
"Humans are naturally disposed to being inspired by music, art, literature, etc. By believing the fallacy that it’s not worth our time to enjoy all the wonders of this world we inherently stifle our growth as free-thinking, cognitive beings."
This was pleasurable to read. A resounding agreement from me...
TheAntiTrevorClark 2 years, 2 months ago
This column did not have NEARLY enough zombies to keep my interest.
Chris_Robertson 2 years, 2 months ago
A few questions regarding your diagnosis:
1) If what you say were true then why is it that elite, Ivy League universities all started as private institutions and gained their status before the introduction of government assistance or subsidies?
2) Why should students feel the need to work hard when many are totally removed from the financial implications of attending college?
3) If subsidies increase certain types of behavior, then why shouldn't we expect an increase in the number of under qualified students going to college? Doesn't the university have an obligation to cater to their intellectual needs?
4) If profits are an economic signal that resources are being used efficiently (this includes human capital) then why shouldn't students factor in future earnings as a criteria when choosing a major?
5) In what world is scarcity of resources not an important issue? Why should students feel entitled to higher education at the expense of others while not internalizing the costs of their own decisions?
Regards, Chris Robertson
borenismyhomie 2 years, 2 months ago
"Art, literature, dance, music and language suddenly became costly and unnecessary subjects, so we’ve seen less and less of them. They are being cut because those subjects will not make a profit for your employer — the man who inevitably controls your education. Parents think they are a waste of time too, for, “You’ll never make any money doing that.'"
Uhhhh you're an industrial engineering major....
self-awareness FAIL.
borenismyhomie 2 years, 2 months ago
"Art, literature, dance, music and language suddenly became costly and unnecessary subjects, so we’ve seen less and less of them. They are being cut because those subjects will not make a profit for your employer — the man who inevitably controls your education. Parents think they are a waste of time too, for, “You’ll never make any money doing that.' "
Uhhh you're an industrial engineering major...
Self-awareness FAIL.