Thursday, February 20, 2014

What's in an education?

Heard an update yesterday on brewings in Washington over educational reform. The basic impression is that whether you're talking about the Department of Education or the Congress, neither really know what they're doing. The DOE wants to regulate, but doesn't have the right regulations. The Congress wants to deregulate and let every whacko and yahoo give you a badge out of a gumball machine.

One thing said is that both sides seem to be convinced by individual stories rather than statistics. Statistics have always and continue to demonstrate without any dispute that a college degree improves a person's likely economic future dramatically. But what moves Congress and the DOE is an individual story by Joe Exception who had a degree but couldn't find a job. (Obviously they need to take a philosophy class)

Do colleges need to find ways to decrease cost and debt? Absolutely. Is an education about more than getting job skills? Ideally it is. Ideally it is also about making people better thinkers and better citizens. Indeed, a Christian college believes an education should be about becoming a better person and a better Christian.

The climate is requiring educational institutions to cut costs and demonstrate that they are worth the money. That can be a good thing. And it is something that can be done.

1 comment:

UX Master said...

very helpful information.thanks

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