In discussing Thomas
Hobbes, and more specifically his piece, Leviathan, we discovered some of his
ideals when it comes to human nature. We learned his belief that
humans are more selfish than altruistic in nature, as most of the class
agreed. I personally agree with this
statement, and believe that it can be attributed to many aspects of our society
today. More specifically, this idea that
humans are selfish individuals shows through in the higher education system as
a selfish institution.
While many would like to
believe that colleges and universities today are focused on producing an
educated citizenry, a more realistic response is that colleges are in it for
the money. Universities technically do not HAVE to charge tuition, and the book, "DIY
U" by Anya Kamenetz states, "Free tuition was a tradition in public
colleges and universities from California to New York in the 1970s." (page 77) Tuition is just a ploy to make money through the institution of higher
education, but I don't blame them, why not make the money if you can?
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However,
I believe that the education system is taking advantage of students. The
institution of education is ever growing, as it is almost mandatory to have at
least a bachelor’s degree to attain a sufficient career. Universities know
this, and are taking advantage of it, as tuition has frequently been on the
rise. Kamenetz goes on to say that
“College tuition and fees leaped 439 percent from 1982 2007, after
inflation.” (page 50) This rise of tuition is absurd
and the students are taking the hit for it, increasingly having to take out student loans. Andre Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, in their article, “The Debt Crisis in
American Colleges” explain this as they exclaim that, “Students are now morethan $1 trillion in debt to their college educations.” The universities are acting as businesses,
acting in economics on a simple supply and demand schedule, and trying to
maximize profits. However, I beg to
question, is this really more profitable? What if there is a bigger profit
involved? By this I mean societal
profit, an essential positive externality to education. The rise of college education is limiting
individuals’ chances to attain a college education, individuals who may go on
to be who knows what. With this being
said, the universities are not acting on the basis of societal benefit; they
are serving to Hobbes’s notion that humans are generally greedy, as they are
only looking to maximize profits.
Moreover,
I would like to add that we, as students, also tend to this venal ideal. Really
the only reason we come to college is for the money. We aren't here to gain a
better education and be a better, more well rounded citizenry, we are doing it
to attain a better, higher paying job. If students could all get the same jobs
without going to college, no one would care about a higher education, as they
are only here for the furtherance of themselves.
What is your stance on the situation? Should universities keep tending to the Hobbesian notion of selfishness? Or should universities lower tuition and try to benefit society?
Image sources: Greedy universities, Student loans
Jonathan, I completely disagree with your comment, "Really the only reason we come to college is for the money. We aren't here to gain a better education, and a better, more rounded citizenry, we are doing it to attain a better, higher paying job." I think this is an incredibly generalized statement and cannot apply to the masses. Don't get me wrong. I'm all about money, and want to be successful when I graduate. Future employment absolutely has an impact on my decision to attend college, but it is by no means the ONLY reason, as you claim. Personally, I came to college to get a well-rounded education as well. Becoming a citizen of the world will not only benefit me in regards to my overall knowledge as a human being, but to my happiness as well. This is the reason we have to supplement our majors with "requirements." This is even why we see a broad range of majors; different people want to study different things, not just for the sake of making money. In regards to your question of whether universities should lower tuition to benefit society, I think that yes, they should. However, I do think there is a point to the high tuitions, and that they certainly benefit society currently. The high tuitions help facilitate research that certainly benefits society as a whole. Still, the price of tuition is rising, and I think this has a direct link to happiness. Take a look at Denmark. Denmark has free university-level education for all. In response to this (and of course other factors), Denmark and its citizens are consistently ranked as "the happiest country in the world." By placing less emphasis on tuition, and more on getting an education for the sake of learning, happiness will follow. This is just food for thought, but I do believe it is an concept worth looking into.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joshua. I don't think college is all about the money. The problem is that because of competition between colleges today for the best programs, the best facilities, and basically the best of everything, the cost of tuition has been steadily increasing to promote a school’s claim of its ability to better educate people -- that's why people choose the colleges they go to. So the rising costs are justified no matter how much of a nuisance they may be. Also, those "better, higher pay" jobs require the education provided by universities as well as the resources funded by high tuitions. Consequently, college is a necessary pathway before entering the "real world" despite what you say about our tendencies to only go for our want of more money.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I also can see what you mean. I ALWAYS skipped college in the game LIFE and I ALWAYS won by having the most money. But then again, if we were all about the money why go to college in the first place? College isn't really necessary and as you said, it costs a lot. People choose to attend college in order to achieve something beyond where they are now (whether the pay rewards match the pay-out after will vary).
I also disagree with your claim that “the only reason we come to college is for the money. We aren’t here to gain a better education and be a better, more rounded citizenry, we are doing it to attain a better, higher paying job.” I think this is completely false. Although colleges provide students with higher education, which can lead to jobs with high pay, not every single person who walks out of college with a degree gets a high paying job. We can see that many citizens who studied at some of the best universities are out of work because of the weak economy. I don’t think its fair to generalize and say that students are studying hours upon hours for their exams because they know that they will be rich one day, rather I believe college students are studying extremely hard to build character, to understand the material they are challenged with and to also make their college experience worthwhile. Another aspect of learning is that you can never learn too much, you can always keep learning. Learning is extremely rewarding and I think that receiving a grade you hoped for on an exam could bring more happiness than a bonus. I’m not saying that it does across the board, but for some people it would add more joy than extra cash in their pockets. It completely depends on the person and what their motives are. Each individual can make their college experience their own experience. Some people have no idea what career they want to pursue; however, they are still at college to grow, find themselves, experience being away from home and to learn about a wide range of subjects. Then again there are some people who are only at college because they know that this is the road to making a lot of money. I am not saying that money isn’t important to me, because it is. Trust me, I want to live comfortably and have a secure job after college; however, I am aware that college will give me experiences that have value money cannot compare to.
ReplyDeleteI want to begin by stating the topic of your post intrigues me, and that I have never thought about the question of whether universities are overcharging students. Hobbes' idea that humans are greedy is evident in the high raises in college tuition. Ultimately Universities are a business and they will try to maximize their profit just like anyone else and with the recent surge in demand for a college degree, the prices have surged as well. However, I agree with my peers that your statement “the only reason we come to college is for the money. We aren’t here to gain a better education and be a better, more rounded citizenry, we are doing it to attain a better, higher paying job" is a bit too generalized. Yes, many kids look up to the notion of attending university to be able to gain various degrees and eventually with that degree be able to hold down a good job. Yet, many others look to gain actual knowledge to be able to be more informed citizens. Others look to gain a "college" social experience and some people just want to leave home and experience a new atmosphere. Solid post.
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