Education: Quantity vs. Quality

It is now expected of graduating high school students to continue their education at the university level. This was not the case just a few decades ago. Is the change a good one?

During one of my classes today, I overheard two of my senior students discussing attending college the next year. Given the performance of these students at school, I had felt they would struggle getting accepted into a college. However, the tone of their conversation gave me the impression that being accepted was not an issue, especially since they have been receiving mail from various colleges. It made me realize that anyone can get into college, because as long as you are willing to pay for it there is a school willing to take your money.

We have created a system where we expect our students to get a college education and they expect to be given one. There is as much supply as there is demand. Furthermore, the educational institutions are more businesses than schools, so in this capitalistic model, the students are customers. Thus, it is the universities top priority to satisfy their customers needs, i.e. completion of a degree. In this way the curriculum is made easier and the grading system generous to make sure the customer continues to be enrolled.

This method produces more and more college graduates, but less well educated then they would have been if their merit was more important then their money. Is it a surprise the educated citizens of foreign countries are smarter and more qualified than ours? The education in most other countries is free or inexpensive, but highly competitive. Is quantity better than quality? This would appear to be the US's philosophy when it comes to educating its citizens.

Are our students better off with the college degree that they just paid thousands of dollars for? How many people use their degrees? Also, what careers really need a degree, because it seems like this is a precursor to even menial jobs? I do not have the answers to these questions, but if I had to venture a guess, there are a lot of college degrees granted that serve mostly as an expensive wall hanging.

I believe a model of education that revolved more around skill training would suit the needs of our students better. I love the idea of the liberal arts degree, but it does not fit the needs of everyone and they should not feel societal pressure to receive one.