Let Colleges be Colleges

With all the discussion about the value of college, higher education is going through an identity crisis in the public perception. Time, U.S. News and World Report, and Pew Research Center are among the many that are weighing in on the value of a college degree.  And in the questioning, the purpose of college is becoming corrupted.  Some say just send kids off to entrepreneurship or that college is too expensive for the skills.  Yet, we know that individuals with college degrees are more likely to be employed.  
Community colleges and four-year institutions are balancing the pressure to train students for specific jobs and the intangible value of "education for education sake."   There is, in fact, real value in spending time understanding history, literature, philosophy and other "non-practical" subjects as members of the global community.  


And while Harvard is less likely to change its learning for learning sake, many colleges feel pressure to discard liberal arts learning in favor of trade learning.  Whole departments deemed not important to the workforce such as German are being shrunk or are eliminated all together. As such the value of a college degree or rather what a college degree means is being corrupted. And that is abominable.

We have in the United States one of the best and most accessible higher education systems in the world. Rather than disregard both the tangible and intangible benefits of college, what if we just let colleges be colleges.  And instead of asking them to change, we build trade schools to confer certificates and practical skills.  Community colleges do some of this, but they, too, have to adopt many programs and in some ways be all things to all students.  The United States needs to develop a practical apprenticeship program that students who leave high school "career-ready" can join.  Those who are interested or prepared for college, learning to be thinkers and problem solvers, should go to college in the traditional sense. The beauty of our system is that even if you miss college the first time you can go back. Or you can go back to a trade school. But either way, we need to let colleges be college.