Rethinking Education: Understanding the Real Impact of White Paper

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Rethinking Education: Understanding the Real Impact of Higher Education on People's Lives

This paper explores the notion that college or higher education is something that is of real and meaningful benefit to everyone. An overview of cultural attitudes and messages regarding higher education is given, followed by the findings of research that present an understanding of why people select to go to college and receive a higher education, finding that aside from cultural pressures (which are substantial) monetary/employment benefits are highly desired. Evidence that suggests these benefits, though often cited as expectations based on cultural beliefs, are not as substantial or as consistent as might be believed, and that the costs of obtaining a college degree are quite substantial.

Introduction

A college degree is often thought of as a "golden ticket" of sorts, providing magical access to a world of respect, higher earning potential, and general success. One statistic often quoted by guidance counselors and college advertisers is that people with a bachelor's degree earn more than a million dollars more in their lifetime than those without degrees. Whether or not this is true and what other variables might potentially affect earnings and thus make the relationship between earnings and education far less direct than implied notwithstanding, the idea that a college education is of direct benefit to everyone is something that definitely needs to be critically examined. Often, the time and money spent on education can be detrimental.

There is no dispute that learning and personal development are generally advantageous, or that college/higher education provides an opportunity for both of these things. Understanding why people choose to go to college, both what they are told to expect there and when they leave, means that the real benefits of college in terms of what people are seeking can actually be objectively measured.

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That is, rather than simply repeating blithe and unfounded assertions that back up the cultural assumption that college is the best choice anyone can make, whether or not college actually provides people with what they are seeking can be tested once the real benefits that they expect are identified. Through research and interviews, the following pages question prevailing attitudes regarding higher education.

What People Want

A study that examined several aspects of freshman college experiences, including the factors that led them to decide to go to college in the first place, found several consistent themes across all types of college student (Bui, 2002). The most common and consistent reasons given for college attendance in this study al had to do with various social and cultural pressures: familial pressure to attend, friends were going, teachers and others recommended going, etc. (Bui, 2002). These were not the top-ranked reasons, but they were consistently ranked by respondents at moderate or high levels regardless of other demographics, suggesting that a large part of the college attendance decision is not actually objective or evidence-based at all, but built on the simple presumption that everyone ought to go to college (Bui, 2002).

The most highly-ranked reasons found for college attendance outside of social and cultural (including familial) pressures were practical and financial incentives -- getting a better job, earning more, and helping one's family financially (Bui, 2002). The….....

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