This is #controversycolumn 2/2, which ran on May 12th. If that sentence is nonsense, look for the post entitled “Something something Superficial Spring Fling.” The only thing notable about this column, beyond the caveats about these two that I provided in the prior post, is that I asked that my major be omitted from my “about me” at the end when this got published. I was denied. This is how rifts develop.
For undergraduates securing their diplomas this week, their four-year journey began with one question: “Why GW?” Answer that application question with gusto, decisiveness and political acumen, and students could follow a graduation path ending in the shadow of the Washington Monument.
But for too many students, that journey also ends with piles of debt. And you can draw that phenomenon back to a question the University is not asking its eager applicants, but should: “Why do you want to attend college?”
That question – basic at its core, but difficult to answer for many – is pertinent both as debt levels rise and as GW tries to raise its stature as an academic institution.
“Why do you want to go to GW?” is a very different question than, “Why do you want to go to college?” The latter one would force students to think more comprehensively about college’s costs and benefits.
And that critical thinking is particularly important as the cost of a degree can create a state of near-indentured servitude for graduates. Horror stories about the multi-decade process of paying off student debt are common, but that has not turned many away.
Even though average debt levels rose to nearly $31,000 last year for GW graduates – nearly $27,000 nationally – students keep arriving in droves for four-year degrees. And last week, the University landed on a New American Foundation study list of private colleges and universities with high net prices for low-income students. Similar stories occur at universities around the country.
If GW asks a question that more directly addresses the costs and benefits of college in general, it will force more students to think twice. And that will only create a stronger University.
The question becomes a sieve for bullshitters, clearly demonstrating to the University which applicants are dedicated to the learning and creation of knowledge, and which ones are simply going to school because it is the supposed next step, the social norm to follow or a proverbial trophy to place on a mantle to please mom and dad.
For most, the increasing interest in college is positive. Education is invaluable. But a four-year degree, especially from a private school in an expensive urban metropolis, is not for everyone.
Academia, after all, is a commitment. If you take a spot on the class roster as a zombie instead of a student, then something is clearly wrong with the way that you view college.
I recall my experience applying to colleges: the applications, the interviews and the essay prompts. My Colorado College application highlighted post-graduate study opportunities, and my University of Colorado at Boulder interview stressed what “CU could do for me.”
The “Why GW” essay question felt more like a sales pitch than a gauge of my interest in higher education. I never had that conversation with an admissions officer. And though I have valued my three years here, the question would have elevated the admissions process.
Admittedly, this issue goes far beyond GW’s reach. The idea that college is simply a “next step” is so ingrained in our society that, in most cases, employment is predicated upon it. We’re told that the main reason that we go to college is to get a job.
It just makes sense: The unemployment rate among college graduates is 3.9 percent, low in comparison to the national rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But are we actually able to do a job better simply because of our expensive certificate? I’m not really sure. I’m left wondering whether the benefits of a degree are enough to justify its steep cost.
Only the students who can answer “Why college?” are the ones who will excel in the classroom.
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It is cliché to note that, as one reaches the end of a given part of one’s life, that one starts to wax nostalgic and envelop oneself in the memories of that time—college is no exception. With my junior year ending and my senior friends about to enter the working world, the scary future of post-grad life comes in to focus.
I recall my experience applying to colleges: the applications, the interviews, and the essay prompts. My Colorado College application wanted me to see all of the postgraduate study opportunities, my University of Colorado at Boulder interview stressed what “CU could do for me,” and GW’s “Why GW” essay question felt more like it was
selling me the school as a product than it was about why I should even go in the first place.
But “why do you want to go to GW?” is a very different question than “why should you go to college?”
Admittedly, the fact that I am thinking about these two questions, three years in to my experience, is perhaps symptomatic of a much larger problem at GW, and higher education in total: colleges aren’t asking the correct question to applicants.
Instead of working from the position of assuming that college—in all cases—is a necessary “next step,” the first question that any application, interview, or essay asks should be, “Why do YOU want to go to college?”
This question “Why do YOU want to go to college?” becomes a sieve for bullshitters in this context, clearly demonstrating to the college which applicants are dedicated to academia, and which ones are simply going because it is the supposed “next step.” Academia, after all, is a commitment, and if you are attending and taking a spot on the class roster as a metaphorical cryogenic freezing instead of a student, then there is something clearly wrong with the way that we view college.
The idea that college is simply a “next step” is so completely ingrained in our American society that, in many cases, employment is predicated upon it. In fact, the current admissions question is based off of the idea that, unless one wishes to dedicate one’s life to menial labor and drudgery, a college degree is necessary. While this may not completely be the case, the main reason that we go to college, we’re told, is that we will get a job once we graduate. It’s just “the next step.”
Indeed, we may get a job upon graduation: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate amongst college graduates is 3.9 percent. But does our degree actually represent anything beyond a perception? Are we actually able to do a job better simply because of our expensive certificate? I have to admit, I’m not really sure.
And the cost of a degree nowadays can create a state of near-indentured servitude for college graduates. Horror stories about student debt and the multiple decades it could take to pay it off are commonplace in our generation, and the stories will only multiply as we all continue to assume that going to college is an imperative.
So maybe this isn’t for everyone. Maybe, for some people, the benefits of a degree aren’t enough to justify its steep cost.
Admittedly, solving the economic conditions that mandate we all get a college degree is near impossible. But before colleges ever sell themselves as products to prospective students, they should seriously probe the applicants about their intentions and goals for higher education.
The fact is that the more people attend college for a four-year bachelor’s degree, the less valuable this education might turn out to be. And the more people that there are who are just going to college simply for the next step, the fewer total seats can be given out to the qualified but needy. These two facts come together and hit me in the face, every time I’m in class and there’s a person on the roster who shows up half of the time, does enough to get by, and occupies a seat that someone else could have had.