Why does one go to college?
JS: The authors...gave 2500 students a collegiate learning assessment which is a national test of critical thinking skills. They found that a third of the students had no gains on this test between their freshman year and senior year. They also found that students who took courses that didnt require a lot of reading or writing did worse on these tests. Students in certain majors, particularly education, business and social work did more poorly on these tests than other students did."
I don't think that this is more true now than it was in the past. We make a mistake when we position young people to believe that the real objective of college is a job or career. Most young people don't know enough about the world to make a lifetime commitment to a career at the age of 18. The purpose of college is to provide a strong foundation from which the young person can build after graduation. If a student takes courses that are too career-oriented, she might discover some years after graduation that the career path she has taken is not really what she wants to do for the rest of her work life. What happens, then, to all of that education that was geared only toward one goal?
I was pleased to see that students who took courses that required reading and writing did better on the exam. Learning to read for comprehension is a great way to engage one's critical thinking skills, as knowledge is processed through reading and understanding (and possibly disagreeing with) what one reads. Writing demands an engagement of a student's critical thinking skills, as students must learn to organize their thoughts and present a coherent and cohesive argument when they write.
The deadliest aspect of higher education is its cost, and I really do fail to see why higher education must be so expensive. My college education cost me very little 40 years ago, but I watched the costs sky-rocket in the '80s (and I have some very cynical opinions as to why that happened). If higher education (in whatever form it is presented) is to survive, thrive, and attract young people, there must be realistic expectations as to what students invest in it when compared with the rewards it brings throughout the rest of their lives.
