Some Thoughts on Schooling
Much is made over the importance of higher education, and rightly so.
Those youths whose schooling ends with a high school diploma will, throughout life, find themselves with the same opportunity as persons who marry in haste: that of repenting at leisure.
Just as a secondary school diploma was the prerequisite for entre as a participant in the industrialized society of the early twentieth century, a bachelor's degree from a college or university is a minimal requirement for effectively competing in the technological environment that exists today.
To ignore this fact is to ignore reality.
Although there is general agreement that advanced education is necessary, there is no consensus as to exactly what constitutes first rate schooling.
If today's institutions of higher learning share one thing in common, it is the hyperbole each exhibits in promoting itself.
Scholastic reputation, whether real or perceived, is a marketing tool, and there seems no limit to the claims of excellence used to induce students to attend, alumni to endow, and prestigious educators to affiliate.
Above all else, higher education is big business in every sense of the word.
The result is as you might expect.
Large numbers of students throughout the nation obtain their college diplomas at a huge financial cost.
Whether the funds are provided by parents, many who must literally mortgage their own existence, or by students who graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, the sacrifice is often immense.
While we're on the subject of money, we'll scrutinize a few numbers.
Despite the costs of attending certain private universities, where annual tuitions, fees, room, and board, can exceed $40,000, there are many schools that are far less expensive.
Here in my state, the University of California charges $5,684 tuition for resident students, the California State University system recently set its charges at $2,334, and at the bottom of the financial totem pole are the community colleges that a full-time student can attend for $780 per year.
The question then becomes, how might a prospective student best select from among the many institutions?
As you might guess, I harbor some opinions.
Essentially I disfavor the standard methods that include recommendations of school counselors, ratings by such resources as Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, or the brochures and press releases issued by each university.
Instead, my approach advocates college-on-the-cheap, where the student seeks first-rate learning at the lowest cost.
My blueprint calls for the first two years at a local community college followed by two years at a state university, commuting from home.
Used textbooks can normally be purchased at a fraction of the cost of new ones, either from the school bookstore, or directly from a student just completing the course.
This not only trims the expense, but also offers a serendipitous effect-the book often contains important portions underlined, and helpful comments and notations included in the margins.
Furthermore, the student should spend each summer at a job, so to earn at least a portion of the year's education costs.
There is something about working that adds an important dimension to the learning experience.
Let me acknowledge that there will be many to brand my program an outline for mediocrity.
I'm familiar with the claims: Unless a student attends a prestigious university, the education received will be second-rate.
Lord knows, the academic community has been repeating that catechism for decades, and many persons believe it to be so.
The actual fact is that four years at Harvard or Princeton Universities does not impart, to a talented and dedicated student, learning that is in any way superior to the 4-year program I've outlined.
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