Louis Menand thinks colleges and universities are in trouble. I agree with him. In The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University Menand presents an insightful history of American higher education. Then he identifies areas where colleges and universities face a crisis: the problem of a general education curriculum (no one can agree on one) and the super-specialization of many departments. I would add to Menard’s list one more problem: the lack of preparation by most high school students to do college-level work. As the states are forced to cut school budgets and state college budgets, tough choices are going to have to be made. Costs will go up as well as tuition. The “open admissions” policies of the past need to be debated. Federal funding of student aid needs to be questioned. College education will go through a revolution in the next decade as more and more students opt for on-line classes. But what will they be learning? Menand’s book is a good place to start the conversation. GRADE: B+
Our students are less prepared than ever. The graduation rate for African American students is twenty some percent. It feels like we’re just signing them up to get state aid for them until they wash out. The typical Detroit student has an eighth grade education at best on graduation. If they graduate.
That’s about the situation here in Western New York, too, Patti. There’s no screening of potential students. If they have a check (or financial aid) and a pulse, they’re in. But they lack reading skills, writing skills, and math skills to do College work. After a semester or two, they’re gone and we get a fresh group of under-prepared students.
Is our students learning? Sadly, not so much.
Many of my students come to my classes without much knowledge of history, Art, classical music, or geography, Jeff. And I’m mystified why so many students don’t know how to type! I learned how to type when I was in Fifth Grade!
I blame the home values in which education is behind nearly everything else. Our culture no longer values education, parents no longer make it part of the basic goals and values of the family, school performance, original thinking and good grades aren’t as important as soccer practice and smart phone apps. Bah.
You’re right about the lack of support by parents, Rick. But many kids come from “blended” families where their parents have divorced and remarried and have lost interest in their children.
I just wrote a lengthy response, but was too depressed to send it.
We’re all interested in your thoughts, Jerry.
Mail it, Jerry.
We took typing in seventh grade, George.
I can’t believe the number of students who come to College without typing skills, Jeff. You would think in this computer age, they would have been taught keyboarding skills in Middle School or High School. When I tell my students the most commonly asked job interview question (if the job involves a computer) is: “Do you know how to type?” And, if the answer is “No” they’re not going to get that job.
I never learned to touch type. it wasn’t offered until high school where I lived. One problem I see with colleges is they admit way too many kids with a GPA below 3.0. Their thinking apparently is that these underachievers are non-whites and deserve special consideration.
College education is a business, Bob. No one with a tuition check or financial aid gets turned away. Grade inflation is also a problem. The bell curve is hopeless ignored. Some of my colleagues give all the students an “A” to avoid grading hassles. I take some heat because I’m Old School and give C’s, D’s, and F’s when they’re deserved.
I didn’t learn to touch type either. It was first year of high school, and the typewriters didn’t have the blank keys, and speed was valued over skill acquisition, so those of us who cheated and peeked did the best and got the best grade. I got an “A” in typing class, and I use two or three fingers and thumbs to this day.
Not that I HAVE three thumbs, you understand.
Rick, we had a strict typing teacher. Anyone who got caught peeking (like my friend Roy) got a blank sheet threaded in over the keyboard so you couldn’t peek.
I managed not to get caught.
On a good day when my arthritis isn’t acting up, I can type 100 words a minute, Rick. I probably could do better if I had three thumbs like some people.
The UW admissions are clear. 18% of new students are chosen with a GPA between 3.3 and 3.7. 19% must be in the 2.5 to 3.0 range (I may be misremembering a bit, but the idea is right). They even have to admit some in the 2.0 range. So my kid busts her ass for 12 years and sees lazy, stupid people get the same or better consideration. That’s criminal.
As all the States try to deal with budget problems, you’ll see the public colleges and universities cut admissions (or increase tuition) as their budgets get cut, too, Bob.
I’m wondering if killing open admissions is really an answer, given how awful the schools before college can be…though community colleges/junior colleges can sometimes be at least a partial cure. Hell, I’ve dropped out of college, twice, at the undergrad and grad levels, both times because I was overextended in various ways…but I returned. I’m not typical, but some openings for atypical students need to be available.
My atypical students are my best students, Todd. The average age of our students is 26. Many have lost their jobs and are coming back to college for retraining.
And these days, a whole lot of typing is done with thumbs…I hate cell telephone/similar device keyboards, but then I have a miner’s fingers (short, spatulate). And a pianist’s wrists and similar ankles (so I don’t skate well–runs, doesn’t skate, in the family).
When voice recognition software like DRAGON allows texting on smart phones, you’ll see the disappearance of phone keyboards.