Is college now just transactional?

[Anonymous]

Is it just me or is college now more transactional than it was 20-30 years ago? It seems like students and parents are overwhelmingly focused on ROI, career earnings, next-step professional schools, etc. Extracurriculars and internships are all about landing a great job. Classes outside of one’s career path are a “waste of time,” and kids seek classes that are “easy” and “fit their lifestyle schedule.” I don’t hear kids talk with any excitement about a philosophy, religion, anthropology, fine arts, or history class. I don’t hear about kids working on research papers. I don’t hear kids grappling with social and political issues. Is it just me or has college become just another hurdle to adulthood that many feel they must jump, but really have no genuine interest in?

[Anonymous]

I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or is college now more transactional than it was 20-30 years ago? It seems like students and parents are overwhelmingly focused on ROI, career earnings, next-step professional schools, etc. Extracurriculars and internships are all about landing a great job. Classes outside of one’s career path are a “waste of time,” and kids seek classes that are “easy” and “fit their lifestyle schedule.” I don’t hear kids talk with any excitement about a philosophy, religion, anthropology, fine arts, or history class. I don’t hear about kids working on research papers. I don’t hear kids grappling with social and political issues. Is it just me or has college become just another hurdle to adulthood that many feel they must jump, but really have no genuine interest in?

What?! I feel like way more undergrads are doing research with professors now than they were 30 years ago when I was in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.

OP here. I figured this would be the first response. But, for $80k, don’t you want your kid to be more interesting than just technically capable?

[Anonymous]

It’s largely due to the overcredentialization of jobs that provide a middle-class lifestyle or better. Many jobs that require a bachelors degree don’t actually need that much education to perform.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.

OP here. I figured this would be the first response. But, for $80k, don’t you want your kid to be more interesting than just technically capable?

For $80k a year I want them to be interesting AND technically capable.

[Anonymous]

When my Dad graduated from high school in 1954, students could enter pharmacy school with just a high school diploma. Times have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.

OP here. I figured this would be the first response. But, for $80k, don’t you want your kid to be more interesting than just technically capable?

Why are the two mutually exclusive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.

OP here. I figured this would be the first response. But, for $80k, don’t you want your kid to be more interesting than just technically capable?

NP here. But even the people I know sending their kids to state schools and/or having their kid go to college somewhere with a significant amount of merit aid are very transactional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.

OP here. I figured this would be the first response. But, for $80k, don’t you want your kid to be more interesting than just technically capable?

For $80k a year I want them to be interesting AND technically capable.

OP here. Me too, but that wasn't the poster's comment. Everyone wants kids to have technical/career-relevant skills, but kids now seem to pursue them almost exclusively.

[Anonymous]

“I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.”
^
Administrators are multiplying and getting payed more than they were, adjunct faculty are treated like Uber delivery bike riders and there’s often no track to tenure, flagship state universities reject in-state students who pay lower tuition, the cost to attend college increases up at a higher rate than inflation, it’s expected that parents mortgage their homes to keep up - And yes education is no longer considered a noble profession - And yes, it’s become more transactional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think at 80K a year for a private school, it’s changed what people expect.

OP here. I figured this would be the first response. But, for $80k, don’t you want your kid to be more interesting than just technically capable?

NP here. But even the people I know sending their kids to state schools and/or having their kid go to college somewhere with a significant amount of merit aid are very transactional.

OP here. Right! Right! But, I would have expected it more from those worried about finances. However, even those paying full freight to more expensive schools seem a bit the same. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that college costs and career readiness are not important. What I'm saying is that there seems a greatly diminished interest in anything but these issues. That is, no one seems to care anything about a liberal education - even at many selective schools.

[Anonymous]

It’s because everyone can see that our society is all about money and getting a high earning job.

[Anonymous]

All society cares about now is money.

Someone in the jobs forum asked about what constitutes a prestige profession, and the first answer (and I believe a good one) was "a successful entrepreneur."

The country elected Trump, perhaps because they thought he was a good businessman. People swoon over Musk, yet he can be as careless as Trump. Both these men love to sneer at our government and society, yet we adulate them.

The Right has worked hard to denigrate experts and higher educational institutions.

Parents and kids don't pursue the liberal arts because the Right has taught them not to respect them.