I feel kind of bad for parents and teenagers today. How's that for an opening line? Usually we hear empathic statements toward parents or teens, but not often both. But there is one area where there is plenty of reason to lump the two of you together, and that is college. I have been a part of higher education for almost 30 years, and after all these years I really don't know what this college thing is all about. And you might be gearing up to attend, or send your kid to, my institution!

Do you imagine yourself sitting in this room? Better think about that.
Image source: Flickr

I am exaggerating a little. I have some pretty clear ideas what its about, but I still feel bad for you, because in many ways the traditional model of higher education seems on the verge of collapse. Do you (parent and teen) represent the last generation of people who will feed into an outdated system? Or worse, will you be among the last to actually pay for college? Or perhaps more on just a curious level, will you be among the last to earn a degree mainly by sitting in classrooms? These questions represent some big changes looming on the horizon. There are active campaigns to press various authorities to make college free. Certainly something will have to give in regard to the high cost of education, and the typical debt it requires that no longer correlates with a guaranteed career. Because colleges are historically slow to react, adapt and evolve, online learning has languished, and is no where near what people predicted twenty years ago, but my insider perspective makes me think that is about to change. If there is one thing I think I can predict based on my experience it is that the days are numbered when students will still gather in brick and mortar classrooms.

If any of those statements seem extreme or unlikely, then you really are part of the audience I am considering with this post and series. Things are changing. Fast. If you are holding onto the idea you had of college 10, 20 or 30 years ago, then you might be on the brink of making a really big mistake.

Please don't assume I have given up on higher education, or don't believe in it.

If that were the case I probably wouldn't have the heart to write this. In fact, I have a very deep belief in high ed, and I believe it is one of the more essential institutions of a healthy society. To provide an analogy, I think it is like the small, family-owned farm. Small farms are an essential part of a healthy society as they have an impact on local economies, the ability to eat fresh, nutritious food grown with a minimal impact on the larger environment, etc. But I don't know if enough people value the role of such an institution, and my guess is that we will eventually only have massive factory farms that are driven by profit over sustainability. Higher education also plays a significant role in society; colleges employ significant numbers of people, and also contribute to having an educated populace that is better equipped to solve real problems. That's an intentionally vague statement, as things can get dicey when we try to be more specific, and explaining the role of education isn't really the purpose of this post. Suffice it to say that although I believe deeply in higher education, I also know it is flawed, needs to change, and is indeed changing. My goal is to help you, the next stakeholder, to better understand what college is, how it might benefit you or your child, and if you choose to do it, how to make the most of its potential.

Here are the most significant problems I recognize today (I will address each one in a future post):

1. The "workplace" is changing much faster than higher education. This has probably always been the case, but the changes are happening faster and faster. Consider how unlikely it is that a typical college IT program can stay ahead of the curve with its own technology and educated faculty.
2. Employers have unrealistic expectations of how college prepares students for the workplace. Colleges are not tech schools (but its almost funny how colleges are scrambling to sell themselves as such). Employers have been complaining for decades that they have to train their new college graduate employees, but they keep expecting colleges to provide that training. At the same time, surveys clearly reveal that what employers want most in new hires are good communication skills, but those are provided by courses and programs that are often considered unimportant, or have no return in Investment compared to STEM (when in reality its just that you can't measure the ROI of the most universally needed skills).
3. Colleges are lying to parents and prospective students about what they provide. This relates to #2, as colleges attempt stay relevant, not by evolving their programs, but by re-branding their possibly outdated ones.
4. College faculty are not self-reflexive enough about what they are providing students. I feel no joy in criticizing my own colleagues and peers, but I know from my own tough soul searching that we often simply fail to make the connection between what we hope for our students to learn, and how that will actually assist them in the future. In this regard, the more technical college programs enjoy a more direct connection (dental hygiene students at my college not only learn to clean teeth, but they also learn that public speaking skills are required because they have to be comfortable giving instruction to patients). In liberal arts, I think we often, in a lazy way, believe too deeply in our colleges mission statements; go here and achieve everything you want in life!
5. The general public really has no idea what college is for, or what a student realistically gains from college. This is one of my big soapbox topics, and I share it with every class I teach. If I pay a dime for my own kids to attend college, it will be knowing that the primary purpose is so that they will end up a little more sophisticated (meaning able to talk to more people about more topics) then when they began. After 30 years, that's really the best I can come up with. On the surface it might sound ridiculous, and not worth the expense, but its actually, in my opinion, the real game changer for most people. Now, obviously someone who wants to work as an engineer in a chemical company needs more than just a little increased sophistication, and the science classes are going to provide some rigorously achieved knowledge, but except for a very specific group of majors, there are better ways to learn the essential information required by the job. If my kids end up wanting to study in a math or science discipline, they are going to get constant encouragement from me to take the liberal arts classes too.
6. Some parents have an ego-attachment to their child's college affiliation, and ignore reality for the sake of being able to brag at cocktail parties. This one may be a little out of place on this list, but as long as I have anyone's attention I have to include it. I personally know people to whom this applies, and it makes me insane. Perhaps I am just too middle class and frugal to wrap my head around it, but I simply cannot understand how willing people are to waste 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars on higher education, when they know its not really what their kid needs, is prepared for, or wants. Back in the 70s, when the typical college bill was a fraction of what it is today, I can understand how wealthy kids just went to college because it was something to do after high school, and it really didn't matter if someone earned a degree in Creative Ways to Drink Alcohol with a minor (or dual major) in Risky Sex. A typical middle class family could fund that with savings, and maybe a minimal amount of debt. Today, parents are actually urging their kids to attend college, and sometimes those kids end up saddling absurd amounts of debt themselves. If you are sending your kid to college for your own ego, please at least pay for it too.
7. As a subset of #6, less privileged kids are pressured to go into debt to keep up. We now have en entire generation that believed the lie that college would be worth the debt, and parents of the next wave of college bound students seem completely undeterred to repeat the crime. These students in the middle choose to attend four-year universities at a premium instead of saving thousands by attending community colleges. Even as the east-coast stigma of community colleges (which in my experience doesn't even exist on the west coast) has gradually waned, high school students still face incredible pressure to make a choice that will crush their souls more than the substandard jobs they will end up taking.
8. As a subset of #5 and #6, the students at the lower economic level still end up screwing themselves. More often they qualify for federal financial aid, work harder to secure grants, and attend community colleges, but too often they do so simply because they buy into the idea that they absolutely need a college degree to get ahead in life. This often correlates with an attitude of "just let me sit here and get my degree, man," when they lack the personal motivation to learn. I have heard there is a higher percentage of disengaged students at universities than community colleges, and I always do enjoy a good blend of students in my classes, and I can say, there is nothing sadder than a community college student who mopes in the back corner because he thinks "the man" says he needs a certificate. At least his peer at a four-year university is getting drunk and laid at awesome fraternity parties.

In addition to that list of problems, here are the issues that I believe must be considered by anyone thinking of investing in college:

1. The credibility of the college degree is going to decrease as new ways of learning essential information and skills are developed and embraced.
2. The traditional economic model of higher education (student pays tuition to large institution) is not sustainable and will be replaced by something else.
3. Online learning will completely replace traditional brick and mortar classrooms, which could impact the future perceived value of a degree earned in the traditional way.
4. Students entering college during the next few years might pay more than anyone in the future. Imagine buying a car for $40,000, and then six months later your neighbors start coming home with cars they got for free from the government.

And, finally, here is a list of problems I experience every day as a professor. If you do decide that college is the right choice for you, you might want to consider these insights.

1. Students waste their time going to college by thinking all they have to do is show up and pass courses in order to benefit from the degree they earn. College administrations are perfectly okay with you taking up space as they get your tuition money in advance. Today, thousands of parents are spending boatloads of money so their kids can waste four years and have only a degree to show for it, which usually results in frustration entering the workforce and reflecting that college was a waste of time. Vicious circle.
2. Good students earn lower grade point averages simply because they don't know, or are not willing to play by some simple rules. For example, I would bet my life that a student who makes one office appointment with every professor they take each semester will gain .5 on a 4.0 scale, yet I estimate that less than 1% of students do it. One more example: treating a professor like she is a cashier at the dollar store, or ignoring the fact that a professor said he thinks walking into class late is disrespectful will most definitely suppress a GPA. This relates back to what college is actually for (sophistication), and learning to play the game is part of the education, and it will serve one for life.
3. Students today, in general, seem to have very little patience for class discussions. I think it might have to do with the last decade's obsession with standardized testing. I don't give exams in my classes as they are not an effective means of learning to be a more competent communicator, and in the beginning of the semester I think most of my students appreciate hearing this. However, my sense later on is that they actually wish they could just take exams. Being awake and engaged enough to carry ones own in a discussion is just too much work. Maybe this is also related to the change I see now during the few minutes before class begins; in the past student used to talk to each other before class, but now its obvious they really prefer to be on their phones. So here's the deal. I get it that you might be a new generation of people who prefer electronic communication over face-to-face, and I will never be the old man who makes sweeping criticisms of an entire younger generation, but please realize that you are the one choosing to take traditional classes, and these classes are going to be taught by people who are from an older generation than yours. Most of your professors will enjoy what they do, and many will be quite skilled at running a class session, and they want you to be happy in their class. There might also be a few students in your classes who really want to be there and do enjoy engaging with the teacher and each other. If you show up to said classes hoping to just be left alone in the corner with your cell phone or laptop, understand that you are having a negative impact on the whole process. I mention this here as a problem because the dynamic is making it harder and harder to make sense of traditional classes, and I surmise it will begin pushing more professors to turn to online teaching. That is a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it, but in the short term it just sucks for the remaining, mostly older students, who still want the traditional experience.

That will do it for now. As I wrote, I will return with additional posts on this subject. With that in mind, if you have found this helpful, please feel free to suggest topics or ask questions in the comments. And please consider sharing this with any future students or parents who you think might benefit from this sort of information.

Please check out a previous post of mine about higher education and how I think it could be turned inside out by platforms like Steemit: Turning Higher Education Inside Out With Steemit.

About me:

My name is Craig and I have been teaching college courses for almost 30 years. My "career" began when I was still an undergrad and my professor would call me (on my land line) to tell me she was too sick to attend class and then ask me to teach that day's session. She knew I was planning to attend graduate school on an assistantship that would involve teaching my own classes, but it occurred to me much later that I was probably saving her from getting fired. (She had a chronic health issue that the college was not willing to accommodate, but it did end up taking her life at a relatively young age.) I did go to graduate school, and I have been teaching more formally ever since. For 17 years I taught part-time at various colleges around the US, while also working my way up from entry level positions to senior management in both retail and hospitality. I have taught at schools from La Salle University in Philadelphia, to Seattle Central Community College, to Chaminade University in Honolulu, and I have held jobs from Christmas tree salesman to general manager of a large retail mercantile, and busboy at a second rate diner to beverage manager at one of the largest hotels in the world. My relatively unique work experiences has provided some really good insight into what employers look for in new college graduates, and has helped me craft classes that are as relevant as I can imagine. I also believe I am an expert on the specific qualities students should hone while going to college to be as successful as possible beyond. Let's just say that while I was teaching part time all those years, I also hired, and fired, a lot of employees. More recently, I made the transition to full-time teaching ten years ago, and am currently a tenured Assistant Professor at Community College of Philadelphia, the second largest higher education institution in Pennsylvania, where I am a member of what I've been told is the largest English department in the United States. I was the lead writer of our current Communication Studies curriculum, have served as its Chair, and enjoy teaching communication courses to our 350 or so majors.