GOING TO COLLEGE ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE

GOING TO COLLEGE ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE

(Sergio Rivas, U.S. Department of Education)

(State of Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board)

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, National Center for Education Statistics)

(United States Department of Education, Valerie Strauss, Frazer Chronicle)

 

College costs are running uncontrolled across the fruited plains, and in the long run, everybody is going to suffer the short sighted approach that is being taken by educators, the U.S. government, and to a degree, students themselves. The difference between public institutions, around $14,500, for private schools, not for profit, $37,300, and $24,500 at private for profit schools shows, financially speaking the stark difference between the four basic schools where young people go to get educated.

 

Spread over the four years that it usually takes to gain a degree, the costs can become staggering, and in many cases, the costs, the burden and the responsibility to pay these loans is a student’s first association with the real world, and also their first real nightmare.

 

There is an encouragement to apply for governmental financial assistance, or some sort of scholarship, and there are high school counselors, fee based education consultants, and college admission departments all there to help in the further education of little Johnny.

 

Some potential college students apply to as many as four, five or six different schools, with the average application fee cost between $40 and $50, little Johnny’s parents grow whether weary by the fourth or fifth application and the accompanying fee. Many a parent learns early on in the process of getting little Johnny into a school that fits Johnny’s unique abilities is immediately costly.

 

In many cases obtaining a college education for little Johnny is a family’s first experience with the cathedrals’ of higher education, and they can be overwhelming on many levels. There is a misnomer with the middle class here in the United States that almost dictates that parents want their little Johnny to have the opportunity to have it better than they did.

 

However during the process of the attempt to get little Johnny into the proper school situation, there is usually stress to parents with regards to exposing their vanities, social ambitions, class distinction and their insecurities.

 

I’m not going to get in an online debate about the merits of a higher education, suffice it to say that college isn’t for everybody. Some young people just want to hang out for a few years before they start their life’s journey, I can relate, that was my attitude.

 

Now in my 69^th year, I see the value and the advantage of a college degree, and what it can mean over the long haul! The opportunities that are available to degreed graduates are worth the effort and to an extent, the money involved.

 

However in many instances a prospective employer demands experience, and the only way that a graduating college senior is going to get that experience, is to work in his chosen field. It’s the old catch 22, (a college degree opens doors, but experience always trumps a piece of paper on the wall.)

 

 

 

 

 

FAST FACTS OF A COLLEGE DEGREE

Actually the value of a college diploma is incalculable with regards to a person’s earning power during his active years, about 30 to 65. A good solid college degree…..one that little Johnny will use upon graduation is of paramount importance. Way too many graduates can find themselves in much worse shape than they were in four years ago…..when they entered their chosen college, and began the path to obtain their diploma.

 

By far the worst thing that a young person can do is to become disillusioned during his college career, and change course in the middle of the stream. So by far…..if it’s possible a young person needs to do something that is really hard to do…..make a responsible decision that will probably effect the next 50 years of his life, chose a career, and then go ahead and work his butt off to reach that goal.

 

There’s college tuition, residential housing, amount that will be needed for board, which does not include alcohol or condoms, and activity fees. Without doubt, the social atmosphere of a college needs to be examined for its moral fiber, constancy in the enforcement of campus rules, and the availability of career councilors.

 

Obtaining assistance for a lifelong career is the normal and accepted way to obtain that piece of paper encased in glass that is proudly displayed behind the desk. Make absolutely no mistake, the hardest thing that little Johnny will do….thus far in the history of his life will be to obtain that piece of paper destined to be placed on his wall.

 

HOWEVER…..THAT SAID

I still come back to a nagging feeling that has bothered me for years…..the actual value of a college education. I know many people, some that I count as friends who have college degrees coming out of the wazoo, and are sales people, or construction workers, or work for city departments, not as supervisors, but as rank and file employees.

 

A higher education isn’t for everybody, although I include trade schools, and junior college education a form of a higher education. Gaining a skill or a service that can be used in the work world can be a valuable acquision.

 

The bottom line in how a young person approaches his/her work life is all that a college, or a trade school is supposed to mean. A higher education is nothing more than a tool that is used to demand a higher rate of pay. Oh sure, there are some graduating people that have done so because they have a higher calling, but the average people…..like you and me need every tool that we can get.

 

IT RANKLES ME NO END

Education is such an important part of a society, I wonder how we have left the it in the hands of capitalists. I can remember reading a piece in a right wing newsletter years ago that talked about the possibilities of financial gain through different programs in the college business structure. Loans, financial aid, sports programs, graduate schools, and research grants from the government.

 

We now face another defining moment in our history…..it’s not a big moment, maybe it could be called a mid-sized moment. The interest rates on college loans needs to be monitored by the Federal Government in a heightened fashion, or taken over all-together…..to me the issue is that important.

 

 

College educators need to be paid for their services, there is maintenance on a college campus, there is insurance(s) that are necessary, and there is an operating budget that includes many services, opportunities, and unique aid. But for a university to make money…..like it was some sort of a living breathing entity, uh uh…..no way.

 

In the public sector of institutions of higher education, a muzzle needs to be clamped down on excess spending, excess charges, and excess salaries. It’s the old excess…..excess…..excess, excess breed’s greed, and God knows we have enough of that, let’s take that excess out of our public colleges. It part of the reason that we are headed in the wrong direction…..backwards!

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!