A troubling issue in today’s Higher Education sector is not overly motivated parents to have their children attend college or how the ranking of a school affects the education provide. Instead how the parents and children are selecting a college without sufficient information on the college and if it’s truly a good fit for the student’s best interests. This trickles down to how the whole admission office operates at the college, since they have to take in consideration of the bottom line of generating an arbitrary revenue each semester and ensure that the students will not drop out based on an application (Hoover). Every student that attends college wants to know that the education they will receive is of superior quality and worth the cost …show more content…
While the For-Profit sector of higher education has been in the shadows and being able to remain lucrative in their actions. The issue with for-profit colleges is their stance shift of increasingly encroaching on the territory normally left of traditional higher education systems by providing a degree in a field upon completion (Wilson). Wilson is a senior writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education with 25 years’ experience covering a wide variety of topics related to higher education. Thus allowing for Wilson being a credible source for commentary on Higher Education and the admissions process. In this article, Wilson explains the growth trends related to For-Profit colleges in the past 30 years, in comparison to traditional institutions and four year universities. Wilson points out that the majority of the market is earned by 13 large companies that have total control over the market. Originally For-Profit colleges were established to offer certificates and diplomas in very specialized areas where traditional colleges did not provide to the attendees. Along with trending to enroll “people that traditional higher education tended to ignore: working-class adults with children of their own who needed more skills to get better-paying jobs but couldn’t take time out to attend a traditional campus”, while continuing to produce students who are only well versed in one specific area instead of the whole field (Wilson). Robin continues to state that for-profit colleges are different than traditional colleges by spending nearly 20% of their total net revenue of $1.3 Billion on “selling and promotional” expenses per quarter in 2009, due to their increased charges of on average $14,174 compared to the $2,544 and $7,020 at public two-year institutions and in-state tuition at public four-year
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
What stands out about American universities today? Is it the academic opportunities offered to students, experienced faculty, or strong sense of community? Or...perhaps they have lost their focus. It is not uncommon for universities to focus their efforts and budgets elsewhere; by building state of the art gyms, for example, remodeling luxury dorms, grooming campuses, or creating more management positions. College students and professors alike are subject to the nationally occurring changes in higher level education. Colleges are becoming commercialized and tuition is rising, but is the quality of education improving? In “Why We Should Fear University, Inc.”, Fredrik DeBoer is able to provide a personal take on the issue of corporate domination
The article, The Value of Higher Education Made Literal by scholar Stanley Fish focuses on sharing his opinion of higher education and what it has become in recent years. Mr. Fish’s argument is essentially over the “logic of privatization” where students are pictured as “investors” or “consumers” in courses of study that maximize successful employment outcomes. He also believes arts, humanities, and social sciences are overlooked while study courses in science, technology, and clinical medicine are prioritized. Fish also strongly believes the value of higher education has changed due to the desires of students over time, desires of becoming extremely financially secure enough to buy more than needed to justify years of money and hard work applied when in school.
College is marketed towards students as an essential part of building a successful future. The United States “sells college” to those who are willing to buy into the business (Lee 671). With the massive amounts of student debts acquired every year, and the rising costs of
The advertisements are everywhere -- on local television stations it is Everest Institute, or Brown Mackie College. On South Florida highway billboards, it is the University of Phoenix. All are selling a quick, convenient college education, and the dream of a better life. In this economy, people are buying, and in the process the schools -- built to make a profit -- are thriving. What is less clear, though, is how much students actually benefit. For-profit colleges, many with night classes and entire degree programs available online, are built to fit seamlessly into the busy life of a working adult.
Imagine the perfect college. You are in your senior year of high school looking at universities, but it is no longer a month after month long process. You just know what college is right for you. President Obama wants to do just that for students, or so he thinks. The Obama plan for college education is to rank colleges and universities by their number of students who finish school and the earning of their graduates (the Monitor’s Editorial Board). Federal aid will then be given to higher ranked schools which will make these schools seem more appealing to future students (the Monitor’s Editorial Board). The ranking of schools will give potential students a better knowledge of the school when it comes to financial stability and their likeliness of graduating from that school (the Monitor’s Editorial Board). That would have been great to have as a high school senior. But I have to agree with the Monitor’s Editorial Board, college is more than just a graduation percent and money. My ideal college education is not based off how much money a school can give me or if I can graduate from there: No, my ideal college experience is about loving what I am learning through a hands-on experience, and I just do not believe President Obama and the government can help students find their ideal college experience through this ranking system.
In a letter to columnist Ann Landers, a college professor wrote about his views of the education system. He feels that universities have turned into businesses where teachers are just looking for money and students are just looking for a piece of paper with a title on it. He says that the students of today think they are automatically entitled to a degree because they pay tuition (Depressed Old Prof. 3-B). Adding to the profit motive for schools is the government which, for the p...
Since America’s college system began, someone has had the responsibility of deciding who gets into a college and who does not. Colleges and universities must draw the line somewhere as to who has the opportunity to become more educated and who gets a full-time job at McDonald’s. This decision-making process has always been a difficult job and has become even more difficult in recent years as competition in higher education gets tougher. College admissions departments have come up with a system which combines indicators such as standardized test scores, high school class rank, grade point average, and essays. Different schools put different amounts of emphasis on these gauges but most use some mixture of them.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college tuition and relevant fees have increased by 893 percent (“College costs and the CPI”). 893 percent is a very daunting percentage considering that it has surpassed the rise in the costs of Medicare, food, and housing. As America is trying to pull out of a recession, many students are looking for higher education so they can attain a gratified job. However, their vision is being stained by the dreadful rise in college costs. College tuition is rising beyond inflation. Such an immense rise in tuition has many serious implications for students; for example, fewer students are attending private colleges, fewer students are staying enrolled in college, and fewer students are working in the fields in which they majored in.
Education has always been a current issue due to the fact that it is seen as an economic cure-all. However, the perception of college is ill-conceived and there are multiple debates on how to improve it. College universities believe that having open admissions will increase the amount of matriculations, but the fact is the amount of students being enrolled into a four-year university has no relationship to the amount of students with academic aspirations. W.J. Reeves, an English professor at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, gives a few examples of how open admissions has changed education methods and student abilities. Reeves wrote this opinion piece to convince everyone, especially parents, that schools are in need of reform
Owen and Sawhill maintain that college can positively affect one’s life by “affecting things like job satisfaction, health, marriage, parenting, trust, and social interaction. Additionally, there are social benefits to education, such as reduced crime rates and higher political participation” (Owen and Sawhill 640). By expressing this, Owen and Sawhill are trying to bring to mind the idea that by going to college, you will be an all around better citizen, which definitely plays with emotions because who doesn’t want to be a good citizen. Furthermore, Owen and Sawhill remark on the college decision process. Here, thier general claim is that when choosing a college, it is better to choose a college that will benefit you financially, not just the one you
When people like Clifford examine education, it is not the worth and value they see, but the opportunity for profit. With nearly $5-billion provided from the federal government, for-profits are able to advertise 24/7 availability, along with quick and easy degrees. As stated in the article, “a quarter of all federal aid goes to for-profits, while they enroll only 10 percent of students” (216). Yet, the cost of tuition at for-profit institutions continues to be significantly higher than colleges and universities—leaving many graduates with a lifetime of debt—while maintaining they do not “have any responsibility whatsoever for how much students borrow and whether they can pay it back” (218). What Carey presents as a measure of success proves to show exactly what damages for-profits cause.
Throughout the years, America has always debated whether education is needed- if it helps people succeed or not. The argument in the past was always over high school education, which is now mandatory. That decision has helped the US rise economically and industrially. Today, the US is in the middle of the same debate- this time, over college. Some, like David Leonhardt, a columnist for the business section of The New York Times, think a college education creates success in any job. Others, such as Christopher Beha, an author and assistant editor of Harper’s Magazine, believe that some college “education” (like that of for-profit schools) is a waste of time, and can even be harmful to students. Each stance on this argument has truth to it, and there is no simple answer to this rising issue in an ever changing nation full of unique people. Any final decision would affect the United States in all factions- especially economically and socially. However, despite the many arguments against college, there is overwhelming proof that college is good for all students, academically or not.
In today’s time, colleges have slowly turned education into a commodity and made a market. People are continually informed that going to college is the essential difference in our competitive job market. The numbers are often neglected, and people are misled to believe that everyone is meant to go to college. Although not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer, and some majors don’t pay in the long run college, it is still a great opportunity for those who can properly prepare for the time and money it requires. College is not the difference between success and failure if you don’t attend.
It seems as though the majority of college students these days aren’t looking to further their education because it’s what they really want, they do it to please their parents, to be accepted by society, or because there’s nothing else for them to do (Bird, 372). These expectations have led to students being unhappy and stressed, and have pushed them into a school or a job that they don’t particularly care for.