Is College Education a

worthy investment in the

U.S.?

by Vincent Chi
 Origins of College Education

First college, Harvard College, was established in 1636 by

Puritans (Edward).
Created for several reasons:
Settlers that arrived were alumni of prominent colleges of
New England such as Cambridge and Oxford
they believed in higher education
Puritans wanted:
a learned clergy
educated civil leadership
Missionary purposes, or to spread Christianity
Many other colleges were established ensuing the Fig. Harvard College in the 1700s
establishment of Harvard by other religious groups (Edward).
Some colleges include Princeton, College of William and Mary,
and etc.
Some of the groups that established these colleges were
Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and etc.
 Societal perception on college education

In the past, during the colonial times, college education

was seen as a privilege (Edward).
accessible to:
Christian white males of elite status
Native Americans in limited capacity solely for
missionary purposes
Today, college education is viewed as important for
(Public Perception of Higher Education),
Individual:
job opportunities
higher salaries
social growth
Society:
better economy
new knowledge is added to the collective pool
Fig. Shows what society views of higher advancement of technology
education.
 Societal perception on college education

According to statistics from The

Chronicle of Higher Education in 2003
of peoples views on higher
education (Public Perceptions of
Higher Education),
71% of respondents wanted higher
education to prepare
undergraduates for a career
65% wanted it to provide higher
education to aid in obtaining better
job opportunities
63% felt higher education should
produce individuals that could help
teach elementary and high
schoolers better
65% felt that offering general
Fig. Statistics of a survey in 2015 on peoples views on education from
the American Gap Association. education programs was essential.
 Society perception on college education

In more recent years

(2015), statistics from a
survey conducted by Public
Agenda on whether or not
college education is
necessary to be successful
shows:
57% of Americans
believe that college is
not necessary to be
successful
42% of Americans
believe that college is
necessary
Fig. Statistics of a survey conducted on whether or not people
believed college education was necessary for success.
 How institutional members of college
education view themselves

According to Pew Research Center, college presidents view the three biggest goals of their
colleges are to prepare students for the work-force, mold them into responsible citizens,
and ensure that access to college is available to all qualifying students.
College presidents often reflect on the mission of their respected colleges so they may represent
members of faculty within their colleges.
 Changes in college education
One major change has been the cost of college education. It has risen
Fig. Displays the
exponentially since the end of the 20th century. college tuition
College costs have been rising roughly at a rate of 7% per year for decades.
price rise.
Since 1985, the overall consumer price index has risen 115% while the college
education inflation rate has risen nearly 500% (Odland).
Another change would be the general curriculum change in the 20th
century.
General education, or the core curriculum, is in many ways a vestige of the
nineteenth-century common curriculumthe subjects, studied in sequence,
that defined a college/university education for every student. The rise of the
elective system at the turn of the twentieth century meant that students
could concentrate on a subject of their choice, a change that challenged the
philosophy that all students should master a common set of subjects (Staley Fig. Displays
and Trinkle) demographic
The racial demographic of college education has become much more diversity
diverse improvements
Exhibit 1.1 shows that bachelors degree attainment has risen over time for
made in
Hispanic, black, white, and Asian adult U.S. residents. For example, in 1974, college
the percentage of people 25 and older who had completed college was 6 education.
percent for both Hispanic and black residents, compared with 15 percent for
Hispanics and 22 percent for blacks in 2014. In 2014, Asians had the highest
rate of attainment with 52 percent having completed college. Similar trends
also occurred for young adults between the ages of 25 and 29 (Advancing
Diversity and Education 11).
Conflict Perspective

Someone taking a conflict perspective on college

education might see that:
There is economic inequality in college education; the
costs of higher quality four year institutions are much
more affordable to the middle class and above than the
middle to lower class due to cost.
In a news report, the nonprofit Institute for
Higher Education Police (IHEP) tackles those
issues while students from the highest income
quintile (earning around $160,000 or more) can
afford about 90 percent of the more than 2,000
colleges studied, low- and moderate-income
students (bringing in around $69,000 or less) can
only afford 1 to 5 percent of those colleges
(Deruy)
It promotes status groups which in turn gives others
more power over others
 Functionalist Perspective

In a functionalist perspective, college education may be viewed as

being worth investing in because,
it produces mature and intelligent members for society
According to statistics from Pew Research Center of a survey
conducted on whether or not college helped students grow
intellectually, maturely, and in preparing them for jobs.
74% said their college helped them improve intellectually
69% said their college helped them mature
55% said their college helped them prepare for jobs
it improves the economy
The average bachelors degree holder contributes $278,000
more to local economies than the average high school graduate Fig. Survey from Pew Research
through direct spending over the course of his or her lifetime; an Center of whether or not college
education was useful for:
associate degree holder contributes $81,000 more than a high intellectual growth, personal
school graduate (Rothwell). growth, and preparation for jobs
 Works Cited
Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education. US Department of Education. US Department of Education, Nov. 2016. Web. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.
https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/advancing-diversity-inclusion.pdf
Is college worth it? Pew Social Trends. Pew Research Center, 15 May 2011. Web. Accessed 2 Dec. 2017.
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/05/15/is-college-worth-it/
Public Perceptions of Higher Education. Scranton. Scranton, Feb. 2004. Web. Accessed 30 Nov. 2017.
https://www.scranton.edu/pir/institutional-research/kates-from-ir/Public-Perceptions-of-Higher-Education.pdf
Deruy, Emily. Measuring College (Un)affordability. The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, 23 Mar. 2017. Web. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.
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Edward, Jason R, et al. Historical Development. State University. Net Industries. Web. Accessed 30 Nov. 2017.
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2044/Higher-Education-in-United-States.html
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Odland, Steve. College Costs Out of Control. Forbes. Forbes, 24 Mar. 2014. Web. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.
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Rothwell, Jonathan. What colleges do for local economies: A direct measure based on consumption. Brookings. The
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a-direct-measure-based-on-consumption/
Staley, David and Dennis Trinkle. The Changing Landscape of Higher Education. Educase. Educase, 7 Feb. 2011. Web. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.
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education-outweigh-the-cost/