I owe my position in life to my college studies. I made it through 5 semesters of calculus, 3 semesters of physics, 7 semesters of chemistry, and eventually an entire buffet of technical courses applying to my major of chemical engineering. I learned about statics and dynamics. I learned about electrical engineering principles. I had fundamental computer skills which were taxed in later years as my profession underwent computerization. With a diploma in hand, I was able to take out my books and learn all about statistics when my job required that knowledge. Would I have learned these skills if I bypassed college and went directly into the workforce? Probably not.
I had a smattering of non-technical courses. Always I had a performing vocal course, as it served as a way for me to keep my sanity and help to balance out the sexual imbalance present in my technical courses – virtually no women in those classes. Even there, in my electives, I chose difficult classes. How many folks would take Music Theory for Non-majors as an easy class? Likewise, how many folks would take Biochemistry for the fun of it? Face it, I had an unusual thirst for knowledge, and college was the place for me to expand my knowledge and provide me the skills I would need for my entire career. Which is one reason why I have difficulty in understanding the bad-mouthing being given to college by so many in today’s world. Yes, I do understand that relatively few have the thirst for knowledge I possess. I also understand that relatively few have the tenacity to put themselves out and finish classes requiring such explicit technical knowledge.
I am not able to make a judgement about whether we are graduating too many lawyers, when we have so many problems where lawyers slow down implementing solutions, instead of facilitating them. I cannot say that “soft” skills are inferior to the hard sciences I was exposed to. I have good reason to understand that “soft” skills have great value in this world. I married a woman who was motivated enough to survive a double major in college (in 2 “soft” skill subjects), and then put herself through 2 master’s programs. I have to refer to her as master, master, in recognition that her creditable skills are greater than my own pile of BS. But somehow, over the nearly 50 years since I completed my field of study, it has been decreed that college is “not worth it’.
How did that happen? In part, because colleges and universities began a competition. They were participants in the huge meritocracy experiment we conducted upon ourselves. Annual surveys were made of the “best’ schools, and much of the inflation of costs for college came about as college administrators fought to keep themselves relevant in this age of competition. These fights even reached down to state schools, where not only were amenities deemed essential, but support from states diminished over the decades. Now you had to determine whether the NROI of a college was worth it. Whereas I was able to attend at a cost of $16 per credit hour, those costs now are in the hundreds of dollars per credit hour at state schools, and literally thousands of dollars per credit hour at the peak of the school meritocracy list.
I know my college had a huge NROI for my expenditures. Yes, I could work a minimum wage job on a very part-time basis, and end up paying for my expenses and leaving enough for pizza and beer. On the college campus, we only had those in fraternities and sororities who were able to lord it over the poor students living in un-air-conditioned dorms. Somehow, I didn’t encounter very many of those folks in my science and engineering classes. The class distinction existing outside of college was perpetuated by these Greek houses.
Now, looking back, it is obvious to me that my choice of majors greatly influenced my earning power. Employers did want those who had technical skills (and if you were literate and could string sentences together coherently, so much the better). I was a beneficiary of the value society placed upon technical skills. What is abundantly clear is that too many of today’s graduates are not valued adequately for the benefits they provide to society. First among the list of the undervalued are teachers. It takes a special set of skills to enable someone to convey their own love of learning to a new generation who actively disdains schooling. And if we want a new generation to continue the path to prosperity we find ourselves on, then it is obvious teaching is a vital skill for society. Yet too many teachers find themselves locked out of living in the districts they teach in due to their own paltry pay. Somehow we must find a solution which enables teachers (and other civic servants) to live in the neighborhoods they serve.
How do we get out of this endless treadmill of escalating costs but insufficient remuneration for jobs unlocked by education? It does require a revisionist approach to the issue of what should college do? First, it must keep the supply of technically-educated people alive and growing. We bask in the fruits of technology (food supply security, incredible technology for communication, medical miracles in imaging and pharmaceuticals), but we do not provide enough recompense for those who study in the fields which make it possible to grow new fruits. Second, we believe in the moral superiority of those who create jobs. Thus it would seem a greater emphasis on economics and entrepreneurism would benefit all of society. But even more, we need a renewed emphasis on those who can maintain the infrastructure we have created for ourselves.
Back when I was growing up, you could find shade tree mechanics who could diagnose and fix problems in cars. Now? It is nigh unto impossible to even begin to understand the highly computerized systems making up today’s cars. I remember needing to stay current on things like oil levels in a car, since you could anticipate problems by just understanding baseline performance. The other day I had to pop the hood on a car we’ve had for seven years. It took forever to figure out how to raise the hood. We just do not need to look there as much as we used to. We’ve been spoiled by the improved reliability from auto manufacturers. But as we have seen, it takes much more technical knowledge to enable someone to understand cars and fix their inevitable problems. There should be a place where these skills are taught, serving the public by improving the human infrastructure. A combination of community college and college/university courses can give someone the knowledge and skills not only to directly fix problems, but to eventually build their own business in auto repair. We do see some of that driven by businesses, trying to generate the knowledgeable employees businesses need. There is a need for people to learn these skills, and it keeps growing as our systems we depend upon grow ever more complex.
Unfortunately, that is not what our college and universities seem to want to provide. At some point, we need to move beyond ivy-covered walls and do a deep dive on how to use college to meet all of our needs as a society, without creating massive debt as a primary product.
Even A Broken Clock 