Consumerism Taking Over Our Universities

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In contemporary society, the average person is coddled and raised to be sensitive about everything whether it be good or bad. This translates over to universities, which causes them to be less academic and more consumer- based. As the years progress, the trend is becoming more prevailing which poses the question, do universities truly care about the education that they are providing, or is it turning more into a business? Although some consumerism in education is good and is a driving force to better institutions, too much like we have in it now is beginning to deteriorate the quality of the education provided and in turn weakening American society. Consumerism is becoming more widespread in universities due to the rising number of prospective students to the large number of possible colleges. This large difference in the amount of students to the number of available universities is causing the students to be more selective in their choice of university. This selectiveness is beginning to sway from the academics to what amenities universities can offer. This is causing colleges to switch their focuses from academia to the products and services they could provide. Some of these aspects are addressed by Mark Edmundson’s article, “Over the past few years, the physical layout of my university has been changing[…] our funds go to construction, into new dorms, into renovating the student union[….]turning of his university into a sports-and-fitness emporium”(Edmundson 327-328). With the colleges switching their focuses so that they can retain the same number of students, they unintentionally detract from the education aspect of college. Because universities are undergoing massive amounts of construction to accommodate the growing numbe... ... middle of paper ... ...000 Grades." Web log post. The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 May 2010. Web. 04 Oct. 2013. Rojastaczer, Stuart. "Grade Inflation Gone Wild." From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. By Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 68-69. Print. Tucker, Jan, and Bari Courts. "Grade Inflation in the College Classroom." Foresight : the Journal of Futures Studies, Strategic Thinking and Policy 12.1 (2010): 45-53. ProQuest. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. Zimmerman, Jonathan. "The Answer to College Binge drinking." New York Post The Answer to College Bingedrinking Comments. N.p., 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 04 Oct. 2013. Ziomek, Robert L., and Joesph C. Svec. "High School Grades and Achievement: Evidence of Grade Inflation." National Association of Secondary School Principals.NASSP Bulletin 81.587 (1997): 105-13. ProQuest. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.

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