Reply to Is getting a college degree just a huge scam?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Education isn't just a vocational undertaking. [b]We want plumbers, sure. But we also want citizens. We want people who know how to live life with a sense of purpose and meaning.
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Paying $30k/year to learn how to make widgets isn't really the best investment. But if you find a place that helps you land a higher paying job and teaches you what you need to know to be a more complete person, then it's a good investment. [/quote]

This is a disgusting and demeaning point of view.  Why would plumbers be less than "citizens" and why wouldn't someone who chose a trade like plumbing "know how to live life with a sense of purpose and meaning?"  [/quote]

Yeah....that PP thought they were making a good point, but really only revealed some seriously problematic views.[/quote]

I am not that PP, but the fact is, there are a lot of un/under-educated people who believe COVID is a hoax, that horse paste will fix it, and that everyone in the medical profession is trying to scam them. No, they aren't plumbers, but[b] we have a major lack of critical thinking skills in our populace[/b].[/quote]
NP here. I'm about as over-educated as it gets, and I agree with the bolded. I think a good question, though, is whether college is solving for this problem...and also whether it should. At this point, at least partially due to cost, most people seem to think of college in terms of ROI on career outcomes. I don't think we will readily change that point-of-view anytime soon. And it's impossible to do so given the cost of college these days. If a MC person has to save from practically the day their kid is born to send their kid to college, you can't really say that it's a pre-requisite to being an informed civic participant.

I think that our K-12 public education is shockingly bad in many places. The curriculum isn't, but the execution is. There is no reason that a K-12 system can't teach critical thinking and all of the basics for living in modern society (e.g. 18th Century math, using a computer, basic biology, informative writing, reading comprehension, etc)...we just don't emphasize it enough. It's one of the reasons I am fairly ambivalent on the student loan forgiveness and free college platforms. I understand why they would increase equity in the world as currently structured, but the structure is inherently flawed. We need much better K-12 education. And we need higher education that is better tailored to a variety of career/professional outcomes. But college education should not be a pre-requisite to understanding and participating in civic life. (Not to mention, it's not like college is doing a great job with critical thinking either.)

I don't think college is a huge scam. The American higher education system is one of our nation's greatest assets. But that doesn't mean it's a panacea...and we need to recognize what it is and isn't good for.[/quote]

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