I submitted an article to our local newspaper, the Buffalo News. They published my article yesterday and you can read it here or cast your eyes below.
THE FUTURE OF COLLEGE
By George Kelley
Freshman college students and their parents will experience sticker shock when the costs of a college education arrive in the form of tuition bills and dormitory fees.
Parents might wonder why college has become so expensive. Some students will graduate with student loans in the $100,000 range. Around 1989, most of the states started to cut their funding to higher education. While college costs increased, the states paid less and less of their share. State funding of colleges and universities has been cut by half since 1989. And who got stuck making up the difference? The students and their parents.
College used to be affordable a generation ago. Now, many students will be paying tuition equivalent to buying a new car every year for four years. And that’s assuming the student graduates in four years. An increasing number of students find graduating in four years impossible because of funding issues and the unavailability of required courses.
Although most new students look forward to entering college, the sad truth is that over 40 percent of the students who begin their education this fall semester will still be struggling to graduate six years from now. That’s a statistic that won’t be mentioned at college orientation.
There are many reasons why students don’t graduate on time. But the reason I see time and again is that some students are not academically prepared for college, but they go anyway.
Colleges and universities offer extensive remedial courses to provide the learning students didn’t acquire in high school. Many students spend their first year at college grappling with algebra and basic reading and writing courses to learn the reading, writing and math skills required to do college-level work. That delays graduation, since remedial courses don’t satisfy college graduation course requirements.
So the college experience for many students will mean struggling in remedial courses and coping with the grind of retaking required courses until they finally pass them. Meanwhile, college costs will increase (Erie Community College is raising its tuition $300) and graduation may prove elusive for many students.
Higher education is facing the same diminishment of quality that the K-12 grades experience. The educational bureaucracy proliferates while fewer and fewer resources reach the students in the classroom. Art and music programs are eliminated, but more administrators are hired.
Affordable quality education needs to be a priority if we want a growing, vibrant economy. Too many children face a jobless future because their dumbed-down “education” is bogus and access to higher education costs too much.
George Kelley, of North Tonawanda, is a professor of business administration at Erie Community College’s City Campus.
I read that on the Crider blog yesterday. I don’t think the powers that be are likely to pay attention, though they should.
Jeff, the Powers That Be are going to discover that their College structure is breaking down. Costs are too high and the results are iffy.
I can only repeat what I posted on Bill’s blog after I read this yesterday: You’re telling it like it is, George! My oldest daughter has $30,000 of college loan debt hanging over her head and I don’t see her being in a position to pay that back any time soon. Meanwhile, as someone who works in a public high school, I can tell you that we have students who do not know basic math facts (addition/subtraction/multiplication) or the eight parts of speech but are still confident that they will get into (and succeed at) college!
Keep crying out in the wilderness, George!
Deb, thanks for the encouragement! My message is simple: the College system is broken and needs to be fixed…fast! Costs are out of control and real education is suffering by excessive testing and bureaucratic meddling. My daughter graduated from SUNY at Geneseo with zero debt. But then she went to Boston College for a Master’s Degree and the student loan debt mounted up. If Katie continues to work for the hospice in Boston, her student loan debt will be forgiven after 10 years of service. You might investigate that option for your daughter.
That’s great, George. When we went to college at CUNY it was basically an excellent, virtually FREE, education. Around 1970 they started the disastrous (IMHO) “open admissions” policy and started letting in anyone who wanted to go, even if they were a. totally unprepared, or b. not college material. Instead of going to a trade or vocational school, too many found themselves in remedial classes doing work they didn’t do in high school.
It’s sad but look where it has led.
Jeff, Exactly! College isn’t for everyone. The marketing around Admissions projects an image that every student is headed for Success. Nothing could be further from the Truth. Many College graduates are still looking for work a year after graduation. Many “settle” for any job instead of a position in the area they went to school for. Many of Katie’s friends got Education degrees but can’t find any teaching jobs around here. They either have to leave NY State or find any job in order to pay their Student Loan debts.
I also read it yesterday and made my comment on Bill’s blog, so no point in repeating here, but it’s a well-written piece that should be heeded. I think there will be a day when post high school education will be a niche experience, mostly aimed at business and trades, but we’re not there yet.
Rick, the K-12 education needs to be upgraded…dramatically! Thank you for your kind words!
Glad I grew up when I did. I couldn’t afford college – much less grad school – today.
Higher education is a worthwhile experience but I don’t think it’s worth the current price.
I applaud the Buffalo News for printing the article. Hope the right people read it.
Beth, I feel the same way! I paid my tuition at Marquette University by working at a Goodyear plant during the summer. I could make enough money back then to pay my College expenses. No way could I do that today.
This sounds terrible!
From far, far away Europe I can’t but wonder how the US education system is going to provide enough qualified young people for the jobs of tomorrow.
Of course, if you (or your parents …) have enough money?
Will we return to the old times when only the children of well-off people go to universitY? That would be a colossal waste of talent!
PS and a bit OT:
We were just visited here in Hungary by my wife’s family – her nephew and his wife who went to the USA many years ago – and their son. The young boy who doesn’t speak Hungarian was so happy to be able to speak to me in English (because his Hungarian is non existent ) – it’s not easy being an adolescent in the USA right now, it seems.
I don’t understand this – the young ones are our future!
Wolf, like most of American Life there’s the Good and the Inferior. Good schools and colleges cater to the rich. If you’re poor over here, you’ll probably end up in a crappy school.