Is college worth the cost?
This cartoon illustrates a reality that begs to be considered. There are a lot of people who make a lot of money who did not do so because of a college education. Some never attended. Some dropped out. Some (such as I) went an entirely different direction than their college degree.
So what is the real value of a college education? This page takes a brutal look at what's wrong with colleges, how they can improve, and how students can get the most out of their college experience. I am pretty hard on colleges on this page. But that is how we improve ourselves...by taking a hard look and a fearless inventory of our performance.
At the same time, I want to clearly state that I do not hold colleges solely responsible for their current situation. They have responded to society's expectations and demands. So in a very real sense, we are all in this together, and we can only improve it if we all want to do so...together.
By way of personal background , I did not come from an academic family. No one in my family pushed me to go to college. I thought college was for rich folks. We were not. We were a struggling working class family. I had to pay my own way from an early age. While my teen-age friends were given cars by their parents, I had to buy my own, and learn how to keep it running. That turned out to be a valuable experience as I would find out later in life. While my friends played in after-school intramurals, I had to work. That too, would later prove to be valuable.
I became an electrician as a teen-ager, and that is what I was going to do when I graduated from high school. But the Vietnam war was in full swing, and so I went to college to avoid the draft. That is not an academic motivation. It was based on fear. I took a Physical Education major because, well, it would be the easiest course to take for someone who wasn't particularly academic.
During the first two years of college, I came to the realization that I enjoyed teaching, and that is what I became. I taught Physical Education and Religion for 6 years, then got a Masters in Counseling and Guidance, and taught another couple of years before becoming a self-employed businessman. You can read about that transition on my "Ideal Job Description" page. The point for this discussion is that, as I entered college I did not understand what I have come to know now. If I had understood the marketplace better, I would have approached college much differently, as I will discuss farther down this page.
Facts and Opinions about College
Some of the following are facts. Some are opinions. Most of it is a combination of the two. These observations are a result of my own college and graduate programs, the college and post-graduate experience of my two children and three step children that have produced two teachers, a physician, an attorney, and an engineering manager, and my personal observations over the years. I admit to a great deal of bias, fueled in part by my conservative political views. So proceed with that knowledge, and see if you find some of these observations worth considering.
- The cost of college is increasing faster than inflation. I wasn't a math major, but that formula cannot possibly be sustained.
- Liberal arts college curricula is driven more by academia than the marketplace.
- Most liberal arts college degrees are no longer designed to graduate a person into a job in their degree field.
- Many degrees are "preparatory" for higher education.
- College used to give people a unique and distinctive advantage over the majority. It has evolved to become "grade 13, 14, 15, and 16"...just an extension of high school.
- Society looks down on people who don't go to college. That reduces the demand on colleges to compete for their primary product--education. In other words, there is a significant portion of the population who will attend college because of societal pressure. A degree...any degree, removes society's scorn. There is no other industry that is able to sell such an expensive product to people who buy it because they are embarrassed if they don't.
- Colleges are not governed by the marketplace or a higher non-educational authority, but by committees of their own peers. This has resulted in mutual acceptance of too many useless courses, expensive and unnecessary academic thesis research, and teaching loads that are equivalent to semi-retirement with full salaries that are set by peer collusion.
- There is a fast-growing trend to exchange teachers with colleges from other countries. This is seen as "culturally advanced." But it often results in teachers whose English cannot be understood by American students.
- The populace accepts the carte blanche view that college is necessary, so they don't challenge the shortcomings. In fact, many people vote for politicians who want the government to pay for more and more of the cost which further inflates the rates and reduces the real market pressure to produce.
- An interesting inverse reality is happening. While more and more people are accessing higher and higher levels of education, they can't change their own light bulbs, fix their leaky faucets, or work on their own cars. The "trades" are creating contractors who earn $100,000 to $500,000 per year with no limits in sight.
- College shortcomings are the result of a combined acceptance of the status quo by students, parents, society, industry, administration, politicians, and professors. Therefore, the responsibility to improve it rests upon all of us.
In my 25+ years of global business, no college has EVER asked me for my recommendations as to what they should teach their students to better equip them to work in my industry. That is not how it is done. Colleges are self-governing clubs that exist within an environment that does not demand that it compete against real market forces. If it did, it would be producing graduates who could walk into jobs in current demand. Instead, "educational inflation" exerts a steady down-force on the value of undergraduate degrees. There was a day when a high school diploma was a distinct advantage over the masses. Then it was a college degree. Then a masters. Then a PHD or two. Who is driving this demand? Who decides the value of degrees? These questions need to be considered.
Social Embarrassment
I have a friend who did not go to college. He got married right out of high school, and went to work for a custom commercial cabinet maker (Formica cabinets, counters, and displays for commerical customers). He learned the business, and was soon bringing in new customers. Over a period of time, he became the President and eventually purchased the business as his own. By all measures, he is very successful with millions of dollars of volume and lots of profit.
At the age of nearly 50, when people ask, "Where did you go to college?" he feels an instant embarrassment. The person asking might very well have a college degree or two, gotten several advanced degrees, and failed at several jobs and companies, but it is my friend who feels embarrassed.
That is how thoroughly the social pressure to attend college has permeated the population.
This helps to illustrate that society has more influence than real marketplace success. And that has made it possible for colleges to sell a product to people who purchase it, at least in part, to avoid the social embarrassment of not attending.
Because of the collective acceptance of the status quo by society, students, administrators, and professors, the students and their parents are not valued as customers, but as role players that must yield to whatever the colleges declare as valuable. That is the opposite of how the market works where the consumer is the king.
In addition to the runaway tuition costs, the investment of time is also inflating. Four years no longer produces the advantages of the past. It takes another 2, 3, or 4 years to get more education. These years are among the most productive and highest potential during one's lifetime. They are very expensive.
How can we fix this? How can we get the most out of college?
I don't think that colleges are going to correct these problems on their own. As long as consumers accept the product, there will be little motivation to change it. So I encourage students and parents to demand more of their colleges. Society at large also needs to get involved and become more vocal and less accepting of the status quo. That's how things change, from the Boston Tea Party to marches down main street, to active lobbying.
If no outside force demands change, it will eventually devalue under its own weight. Just as surely as the rise and fall of civilizations, with the above bullet-points left to their own evolution, alternative sources of education will rise in value. Apprentice training will produce wealthy self-employed businesses. Companies like Microsoft will offer more and more of their own courses with the guarantee that its graduates will have a high-paying job waiting for them. Wouldn't it be great if colleges did that? If not that, what is their product?
Guaranteed $100,000 per year income...
When I have had the privilege of speaking at colleges, I ask the students if they would like to attend a college that would GUARANTEE they could graduate and enter right into a job that would pay them $100,000 per year.
Since no college will do that, I suggest that, rather than paying $50,000 to $100,000 and 4 to 6 years for a college education, they can come work for me. Rather than charging them tuition, I will pay them for their time.
At the end of the four years, I guarantee that they will be earning $100,000 or more dollars per year in a business of their own.
Furthermore, I suggest that they could put that $50,000 to $100,000 they would have spent on college into a retirement account that compounds interest free, and it would be worth over $1,000,000 when they retire (early).
They always assume I am kidding with them. But the truth is that I could do that, including the guarantee. Shadowing me (or any successful business person) for 4 years can't help but teach them a career. We wouldn't even have to talk. They could just listen and watch! Of course, they would learn a lot more by the "lab work"...by experiencing business.
And they would have a 4 to 6-year head start in the marketplace over their peers who spent those years learning...well, that is the question, learning what?
Please understand that I am not saying that all college courses fit the above descriptions. But I am saying that too many do.
To be sure, I am not advocating that young men and women should not go to college. (I made that red so it cannot be missed!)
Rather, I am advocating that we can do better if we will acknowledge the shortcomings, and demand marketplace competition. It is my sincere wish that colleges would take the lead in reforming the educational experience. I am afraid that most will be vested in defending the status quo. Therefore, I greatly admire those within colleges who are pushing for reform.
At its very core, colleges should be more like a business. It produces a product that people purchase. Colleges need to be more focused on the marketplace, and students need to be more demanding customers.
In the midst of these realities, there are still many companies that will not even interview people without a college degree. So if you are pursuing those career fields, a college degree is a critical necessity.
I recommend that students take more responsibility for those years. You can make college far more valuable than if you merely follow along.
- Don't approach college as an extension of high school.
- Don't choose a default major. Take your time and work hard at investigating the options.
- Shadow people in your prospective career field. Start doing that in high school.
- Ask tough questions of those in your prospective fields. (See Marketplace Realities for suggested questions.)
- Create a plan that includes extracurricular education. Many companies look more at what you do "between" classes than during.
- Don't limit yourself to what is assigned. Study "around" your assignments too.
- Sit in the front. You will learn more and your professors will treat you differently.
- Don't settle for inferior education. Demand excellence.
College Disclosures
If colleges were market driven, they would have a third-party audited disclosure document published on their website that included:
- The cost of attending the college, including books and other real expenses
- The number of graduates each year
- Their course majors
- The job they got after graduation
- How long after graduation it took to get that job
- Their rate of pay and benefits
The disclusure document would track that for at least 20 years after graduation. It would include the opportunity for graduates to enter a "report card" about their education, and edit it as they gain experience and a perspective on the value of their education.
You are probably thinking, "There is no way a college would ever do that." I agree. But that is the problem.
But what if they did? I can guarantee that if they did this, they would approach their curriculum differently. They would spend a lot of time interviewing businesses and employers. They would know that their future is based on producing better results than other colleges. The competition would make a huge difference in the outcomes. It would allow prospective students to be able to choose a college based on its product.
That is how I operate my business. I publish the results and testimonies from my customers. All industries have to do that. Colleges should not be exempt from these market forces.
We are in a global competition for productivity. Whoever knows the most, has the best chance of competing, domestically and globally.
Colleges need to produce highly educated, critical thinkers in a vast array of fields.
Consumers are just as responsible to make that happen as college professors. All college personnel should be able to understand the realities that have brought us to this point, and be highly motivated to invite marketplace input.
That, my friends, would SIGNIFICANTLY improve the value of higher education.
The ideal job description: You can write your own.
Political Realities: Who is right and who is left.
Is God in Control? Can I really choose?
Marketplace Realities: How to always be AHEAD of the marketplace.
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