Analysis Of College Consumerism Run Amok

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In the essay, “College Consumerism Run Amok” authored by Kevin Carey describe how colleges are careless with their money. Throughout the essay, Kevin Carey explains why normal people think the average price of college tuition has risen across the United States. People believe college tuition is rising because students demand colleges to have “creature comforts”, such as luxury dorms, a fully operational gym, and a climbing wall. Also, that the creation for “creature comforts” in colleges has caused academic standards to decline. Yet, colleges market to students with these amenities instead of showing students comparable statistics: the quality of teaching, scholarships, and academic environment. Kevin Carey, in the end, sums up his idea with …show more content…

On the other hand, I believe that parents and the students are the one that will create the new standards for colleges to be chosen. Why do I think this way and disagree with Kevin Carey? I disagree with him because business, whether for profit or non-profit, will not change a marketing strategy if they see it is working. Colleges will only change if they see that consumers are changing. Yes, colleges will try to distract consumers with amenities. But, if consumers look for the information they need colleges will give it to them. The reason this works is because students will go to a college that will supply them with their demands, the law of supply and …show more content…

Secondary education rises faster in price than auto insurance. Yet, secondary education is almost required in the United States to succeed. Yes, there are hundreds of people in the United States that have been successful without a college degree, but they are outliers. Students should choose not to go to college based on outliers, but go to college based on the fact thousands have succeeded because of their college degrees. It is more important then ever to know what makes a college great if students are going to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over four

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