Comparing Of Liberal Arts Education And Colleges

Many college graduates in America struggle to breathe even the slightest sign of relief. Increasingly, students complete their post-secondary education only to find themselves astounded by how hard it is to find a job, much less a good paying one. With all the debt that college students face, it is hard to imagine them not being able to earn more money for the time and effort they gave away to get their degrees. I say, there is no greater waste of time and money than obtaining a degree that will not enhance one’s resume, qualify them for a job they could not otherwise obtain, and/or allow them to make more money than they would presumably make otherwise.

First of all, colleges exist to serve one purpose and one purpose only, provide a certain portion of the population with the training and education required to enter the workforce smoothly and effectively. Instead of fulfilling this essential requirement, colleges and universities often value a liberal arts education over a traditional one. This mission goal only helps to solidify the false idea that “post secondary education should help students…to develop the ability to continue learning so that they can become the agents of change…” (Source A). This mission statement is inaccurate because post secondary education serves a means of educating the next generation of specialized, critically thinking workers. Increasingly, it has been demonstrated that “the imperative..to round up every warm body and send it off to college” is ineffective (Source A). If every citizen in the United States went to college and obtained degrees then wages would depress over time. It is simple supply and demand. The more abundant the supply, the cheaper the product. College degrees are meant to be an incentive, not a necessity. However, the end result of most Americans getting college degrees remains the same, depressed wages and the eventual expectation, if not plain out requirement, for everyone to obtain a college degree. This is not something that will never happen or take a long time to come about. This is already happening! Even now it is becoming more and more frowned upon to not acquire a college degree. When combined with the increasing pressure to procure a college education, it is no wonder why many Americans feel obligated to do it, even if their future career does not require a degree. Astoundingly, a national survey found that ninety-four percent of parents expect their children to attend college. This same survey noted that “…college enrollments have reached record levels…” (Source F). On top of all the push for students to attend college, the cost plays a key factor too. With many students going to college and giving away thousands of dollars to universities, one might expect prices to lower to accommodate for the increase in students. On the contrary, tuition prices have never been higher. This is why many college students fall into debt, even when they work a part-time job. Taking out student loans seems like a convenient way for most students to pay for college. However, little do they know that by taking the loans and throwing themselves into debt, they could be making “…a mistake that’s hard to undo…” (Source E). This is why a college education has become a risky investment that, if not handled properly, can be a penultimate mistake.

One may argue that Colleges are well worth the time, effort, cost, and pressure they impose. The most widely used argument for colleges and their liberal arts education is that they create “disciplined yet creative habits of mind” (Source B). While this may be true, not every student needs the exposure to the arts, sciences, philosophies, and histories that a liberal arts education demands. Traditional education systems yield very intelligent and critically thinking graduates too, but at a substantially lower cost to them. It is widely known that many of the degrees that students pursue tend to contain more general and liberal arts classes outside their field of interest than classes relating to their major. An electrician, for instance, may be required to take psychology and history courses in order to obtain their degree in a liberal arts education system. A traditional education system would only place them in the classes related to their field of interest designated by their major. Because a liberal arts education is widely used and favored by colleges and universities, the amount of time, effort, and money that one trades off is drastically increased. Although some would disagree and argue that “given the pace of technological…change, it no longer makes sense to devote…higher education entirely to specific skills” (Source B). The appeal of this argument is the idea that older skills will become irrelevant someday as technology becomes more and more innovative and advanced. However, this is not the case. The idea that humanity will one day live in a world where technology can do the job of a mechanic, engineer, plumber, or any other occupation with physical labor of any kind is irrelevant. Unfortunately, “…you can’t hammer a nail over the internet” like most people think (Source A). These careers will always be available, perhaps not in the ways they are now, but nonetheless, they will still be an option. One may also argue that, when it comes to high school graduates, “not sending them to college would be a disaster” because college graduates make an “annual return of more than 15 percent” on their salaries when compared to their peers with just a high school diploma (Source D). While one cannot deny that the fifteen percent increase in their salary because of their college education is certainly an achievement, they must view the big picture. Sure, a fifteen percent increase in salary pay sounds great until one considers that all fifteen percent or more will most likely be used to pay off student loans and/or other debts they incurred, while in college, for a certain period of time. Furthermore, this fifteen percent wage gap only exists because not all employees have a college degree. If the percent of people obtaining college degrees continues to increase, like recent trends have shown, then the percent of increased income will continue to drop until those with college degrees bring in an income equivalent to what those without college degrees bring in currently. This is because if everyone in America had a college degree, then we would all make the same amount of money because with increased supply, comes lower prices across the board. Students with college degrees, in this way, are commodities and, like all other commodities, an oversupply of them can lead to a substantial decrease in value.

When deciding whether one plans to attend college, it is important to consider the trade offs of obtaining a degree. The idea that the cost of college is always worth it should not be a debate, and it is not a debate any longer. The answer has already been made clear. Between the additional costs a liberal arts education imposes, the minor pay gap between those with college degrees and those without, and the deflating wages, it has become abundantly clear that a college education is not always a wise investment.