Tony Mayotte
ENG 104H
Dr. Jeffrey Bilbro
Research Argumentative
4-18-13
The Value of Higher Education: What are we actually paying for?
We live in a world where the price of a 4-year, public, in-state university for one
student in America is roughly the same price it would cost to clothe, feed, educate and
promise a new future for 375 children in impoverished African countries. (About)
(What’s) We would think that there would be less starving children in Africa; however
this statistic shows how much we value higher education in America. But is it really the
education that is so valuable? I’m not going to try to put a monetary value on what some
call an “invaluable education.” As Megan McArdle states in her Article ‘The College
Bubble’, “Questioning the value of a college education is like questioning the value of
happiness, or fun”. We can’t quite describe the value of education, and perhaps no one
ever will. But it is certain that there are several reasons why students continue to pay so
much for college. Through the college experience, one finds networking relationships,
life-long friendships and scholarly and life mentors. And at the end of their academic
journey, the student can walk away with a diploma stating all the knowledge that they
are allowed to say they have. (At least in an interview). The cost of a valuable university
education has indefinitely become a financial burden that students willingly take on in
order to acquire valuable networking relationships and an effective status rather than
the knowledge that we so eagerly yearn for.
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Let’s begin with why higher education is so expensive. According to Economics
professor Daniel Lin at American University, the rising costs of higher education are due
to two factors: 1. Better job prospects 2. Government subsidies. It is a simple
supply/demand dilemma. Over time there have been an increased amount of students
who have invested in higher education. The cause of this increase in demand is due to a
promise of better job prospects with a college degree. As the demand increases, colleges
are faced with two choices; except more students, or raise their prices. Since not many
universities can keep large amounts of students, they raise their tuition.
When colleges raise their tuition, government financial aid is then faced with a
dilemma. Rising costs for college have drastically increased the amount of government
backed student loans and tax credits that are dished out in the last several years. In
2010, the government funded over 19 million student loans adding up to a total of
roughly $850 billion dollars (Sparks). However, this shows us that not only are students
finding higher education valuable, but also that our government has confidence enough
in the return of a college investment that they are willing to stake some money in it. In
an article by Roland Sparks applying a value-added model towards higher education, we
see that the government views the cycle as an investment. The article talks about how
there are a couple of places where the university may affect the return. Yet even with
these indeterminate factors, the government still helps students pay the thousands of
dollars needed for college. We can see the confidence that the government has in our
universities.
Another cause to the rising cost of higher education is the desire to appear
desirable. In order for colleges to appear like the school to go to, they must look clean
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and prestigious. Universities will spend large amounts of money on new sports facilities,
dining commons and academic buildings all to make the campus appealing for students
to consider their services. (Lin) Unfortunately, this beautification process takes place
due to the 17 and 18 year olds placing the value of a university on a its student center
rather than its bookstore. Nonetheless, costs are raised in order to pay for this “beauty
pageant”.
So we can see that all of this money is being spent, but where is the product?
Students are receiving something of great value from higher education. Knowledge
seems to be the first thing that people say we go to college for. Although there are other
ways to obtain knowledge. If this is true, then there must be something more to the
university.
Many people say, “knowledge is power” and power is a very valuable asset.
However you don’t need to pay money to go to school and gain knowledge. Although this
is what some people believe. So if one does not need to pay large amounts of money in
order to receive knowledge, than why do students still pay the money? There are those
who say that knowledge is exactly what students are paying for. To those, let me give
you an example. Say there is a man (Let’s call him Frank) who lives near a local
university. Frank lives by himself and decides that he now wants to obtain knowledge,
because knowledge is power, and knowledge gets you jobs. So Frank asks one of his
buddies who attends the university to print him off a class list of when and where the
classes are being held. Frank finds the classes that would best accommodate the
knowledge that he hopes to obtain and decides to attend the classes. Keep in mind that
Frank is not an enrolled student at this university. Although he is not enrolled, he reads
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all of the texts, does all of the homework and aces all of the tests. In this hypothetical
situation, Frank would end his time at this university with a 4.0 GPA and know
everything that he would need to know for his future job. The unfortunate thing about
his experience here is this: although he will “graduate” with all of the necessary
knowledge, he will not walk away without a diploma declaring that he has obtained all of
the information that he’s sought after. The chances of Frank being employed by an
institution that hires employees with at least a bachelor’s degree is not very likely, even
though he has all of the necessary knowledge. Frank stands as an example that although
you may have the knowledge, if you don’t have a degree to back it up with, the
knowledge is forfeit. So there must be something more than knowledge at a university.
We continue to search for other reasons why someone would pay an arm and a
leg for higher education. One of the theories is that there are no other options if the final
goal is to have a successful career. In a survey taken by Michael Tomlinson of Cardiff
Business School, one of the students expressed his concerns to the “limited alternative
labor market options”…
“Well there was very little choice other than to come
to a university quite frankly. It seemed the only thing to do. I
also had a sense that I would probably end up stacking
shelves otherwise… so I always knew that if I wanted to do
something worthwhile I would need a degree” (Tony, male,
engineering)
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Students often feel limited by the amount of options there are in order to have a
successful career. It often seems that higher education and obtaining a degree is the only
way.
However, there may be other ways for one to work their way to the top without a
college degree. Take for instance, an apprenticeship-style relationship. A CEO decides to
take on a young apprentice who is well below the age that he would typically enter the
world of higher education. The CEO would show him the ropes, how to run the company
and the ups and downs of the business. This young apprentice would grow up to run the
company some day, and he may do it very well. However, that’s the only thing he’s been
trained to do. If he were to wish that he could become a CEO of another company in
another line of business, there would be no validity behind his know-how. He may have
the credentials, but he doesn’t have the degree.
There have also been attempts at small group settings. A group that meets and
reads and discusses present and past theories and knowledge in multiple practices. They
would teach each other how to learn effectively and share knowledge with each other.
They would discuss text-books and novels and begin to think critically. They would
cultivate a hunger for knowledge, not out of fear of the unknown, but a common sense
that it feels good to know. After their time together was done they would each have a
different skillset, their own desired skillset and would be able to effectively serve the
world’s community by putting their knowledge to the test.
This may work in some instances, but their aren’t many high schools that would
hire a philosopher from the local learning group. There is also the likely possibility of
people mistaking this small group as a cult (if not done under the right circumstances).
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We have become a society that views credentials and a degree as signs of approval.
When looking at hiring employees, employers look at the credentials not as a sign of
knowledge but because “education signals certain traits or abilities that employers find
worthwhile.” (Arkes) These are “traits and abilities” such as the eagerness to learn or
motivation to work for something. These traits may not be seen or proven in an
education from a learning group.
We can see that credentials have their significance and add to the value of higher
education. The second factor that makes a college education so desirable is the
relationships that are built while at an institution. Relationships are a significant part of
life. They change us, they hurt us, they build us up and break us down. They make us feel
like we can fly and relationships help us get jobs. Humans thrive on relationships. At
college, relationships are inevitably built. Some may be conducive to a positive business
relationship, and some may be less so. In the book The Economic Value of Higher
Education, Leslie quotes Theodore Shulz who says this about the social investment of
higher education,
“It is also true that the price that the student pays for
educational services is only remotely connected to the real
cost of producing them, and therefore private choices by
students, however efficient they are privately, are not
necessarily efficient socially.” (Leslie 69)
However, relationships built in college, whether efficient or not, have an affect on
our job search in the future. Not all students make poor private choices socially. In fact,
any relationship built could have a positive effect on your future job prospects. Leslie
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states earlier in the book that one of the aims and purposes of American higher
education is to achieve specific social objectives.
There have been several studies to show the effects that peer and social
networking relationships have not only on the job search, but also on the amount of
success that one will have in the career. Several students at Dartmouth University were
examined to see how they used networking relationships in order to get their first jobs.
Variables that effected the outcome were gender, ethnicity and strangely enough, where
their housing assignments were. The study found that students that lived on the same
floor were more likely to start up a relationship that would likely carry into their future
professions. (Marmaros) In the same study done at Dartmouth, Marmaros looked at the
difference in profession and what types of relationships were used to find jobs. He found
that in business, the main type that was utilized was the relationships built in the
fraternities and sororities. This shows how important the relationships that we build in
our time at college are (efficient or not).
“Perhaps there is no better course in academia than a
business communication course to teach positive
networking. Positive networking has practical application
regarding the job search skills taught in communication
courses.” (Addams)
With this relationships aspect in mind, how do you think that this idea would
effect a student’s decision to get their degree online? With an online degree, you would
have the name and a degree to back up the knowledge that you’ve obtained. You may
have even established somewhat of a relationship with your online instructor. The
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unfortunate thing about an online degree however, is that you the only interaction that
you have with the other students is through a computer screen. There is no presence of
the face-to-face interaction that you would get while paying for a higher education on
campus. An online education stands as an example of what it would be like to have only
the degree, and no relationships.
A degree and relationships are two very important aspects of higher education
that make it so valuable. I have made it clear that knowledge can be obtained without
paying for higher education. But it seems as though we are forced to pay for a college
education in order to obtain the credentials and networking experiences. With the value
of higher education being so great, the prices are high. With these high prices comes
reprecusions.
Every action has a reaction. All of the causes of the rising costs in higher
education have effects not only on families who have to deal with debt from student
loans, but also on the economy as a whole. People are under the misconception that
college is not so expensive because financial aid steps in and helps out. We have made
the FAFSA into a financial savior. Unfortunately, we are wrong. We may not have to pay
as much now, but with a steady increase in college tuition, government spending on
higher education also increases. The government continually has to increase
government subsidies in order to give more students financial aid. An increase in
government subsidies means that there will be more money coming out of the people’s
pocket.
Not only is more money coming out of our pockets, but students and their
families are greatly affected buy the increasing costs of college, the debt they bring and
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the pressure to pay for higher education. “Hardly anyone doubts that the amount of
money students and their parents are asked to pay for a college education is a perennial
source of American anxiety” (Casse). Over the past decade there has been an increase of
students who graduate college debt. With that increased percentage also comes an
increase in the average amount of debt. In 1996, 60% of students graduated with an
average debt of $18 thousand. In 2008 the percentage rose to 67% of graduates with an
average debt of $23 thousand (Burd-Sharps). Yet even with all of this debt, we continue
to pay universities, not for their knowledge, but for the degree and relationships.
Knowledge can be obtained without money, but the things we pay for
(credentials and networking) are what give value to higher education. However, we
should strive to learn while at college. Anne Herbert once said “Libraries will get you
through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no
libraries.” Perhaps you can’t put a dollar amount on knowledge learned or relationships
built or credentials earned. Perhaps it all comes down to the amount you’re willing to
work for your education. You could spend the money and time at a university in order to
get a degree, but if you don’t put the work in and you don’t gain the knowledge, then you
won’t end up with the degree. There is also importance in knowing what we are paying
for rather than throwing money at an education until we finally get the credentials.
There is importance in knowing altogether. Although it may be pricey, there are many
benefits to receiving a diploma. However, it seems that we have been forced to pay for
these benefits. There aren’t many other options, but college is a good place to learn. It is
a good place to meet some friends and gain relationships. It is a good place to get a
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degree. In fact, there aren’t many places better than a college. May we continue to learn
and grow and earn. May we continue to see the value in higher education.
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Works Cited
“About Us”. International Childcare Ministries. n.p., n.d. Web. 15 April 2013.
Addams, L., et al. “Teaching positive networking for life-long impact”. Contemporary
Issues in Education Research, 3(4), 37-41. (2010). Print.
Arkes, Jeremy. “What Do Educational Credentials Signal and Why Do Employers Value
Credentials?” Economics of Education Review. 18. 1 (1999): 133-141. Print.
Burd-Sharps, Sarah, et al. “Access to Knowledge.” American Human Development Project:
The Measure of America 2010-2011:Mapping Risks and Resilience. New York: New
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Casse, Daniel, and Bruno V. Manno. "The Cost and Price of College and the Value of
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Leslie, Larry L., and Paul T. Brinkman. The Economic Value of Higher Education. New
York, N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1988. N. pag. Print.
Lin, Daniel. “Why is Higher Education So Expensive?”. Video. LearnLiberty.Org. 15
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