College Education- Who Benefits?
I continue to be disappointed by the quality of questions the national media is asking around the issue of education. Latest case in point? The cover of Newsweek’s September 10 edition, which blares, Is College a Lousy Investment? Such a question assumes that the purpose of a college education is simply to provide an income. A college education is reduced to being a very personal choice (in that it is a choice that affects only the potential attendee of college) and a very utilitarian, economic choice. College serves to financially benefit the student. That is all. It simply becomes vocational training on steroids.
If we look a little bit deeper into the purpose of an education, we find that we end up with a different question in regards to college financing.
For the sake of my argument, let’s assume two things about a college education’s purpose.
1. A quality education allows one to come closer to living what has historically