As
millions of young adults head off to college, I am reminded of a disagreement
that my father and I often have about the utility of college. Like most
Americans my father has been misled about the primary function of colleges and
universities. Whenever we see some public official (or private one) do
something inane, my father exclaims, “You would think a college educated person
would know better.” To which I respond, “Pops, college doesn’t make you smart.”
What is
ironic about this exchange is that my father, who is one of the smartest and
most well-read men I know, never finished college. I on the other hand spent
most of my adult life in college: eight years as a student and ten years as a
professor. So, I’ve met enough college educated people to conclude that college
doesn’t make you smart. This, however, never seems to convince him.
To win
the disagreement I sometimes remind him that he never went to college, but he
has been able to advance himself over many of his college-educated peers.
“Yeah, well what’s your point?” he might grumble.
“My point
is that college doesn’t make you smart.”
To which
he responds with a defeated sigh, “Well it should.”
So, for
my father and those of his generation that sometimes get caught living in the
world that should be, rather than in
the world that is, I’ve decided to
share a few myths and realities of college and also to provide five guidelines
that will help students to maximize their college experience.
The first
myth of college is that the longer you go, the wealthier you will become.
College is not a place where you go for four years to become a millionaire
later in life. Despite the fact that college marketing programs and admissions
officers sell a four-year degree as a vehicle to wealth, the world’s wealthy
are not wealthy by having gone to college. Forbes magazine publishes a
recurring issue in which they profile the world’s wealthiest people. They call
the list the Forbes 400. In the October 2005, issue eight of the top twenty
wealthiest people (40%) had no degree higher than a high school diploma; and
four of the top five wealthiest people (80%) were college dropouts. Similarly,
the authors of the book, The Millionaire
Next Door point out that because college graduates spend at least four
years in college making debt rather than money, they begin their working lives
four years behind their peers and tens of thousands of dollars in the hole.
While college graduates do earn slightly more that non-college graduates for
doing a similar job, that difference in income is not great enough to warrant
taking on great debt. This leads us to guideline #1, be frugal. Avoid student loans wherever possible. Do not accept
credit cards or other lines of credit for unnecessary items. There are untold
thousands of college graduates who are mired in debt accumulated during college
for frivolous expenditures. Avoid this situation at all costs.
The
second myth of college is that it prepares you for the workforce. Despite the
fact that college marketing programs and admissions officers sell a four-year
degree as a vehicle to a great job, only in rare instances do four-year degrees
correspond to great jobs. In this respect, students who earn engineering,
education, and nursing degrees are in luck. However, students who earn degrees
in business management, chemistry, English, finance, history, professional writing,
safety management, anthropology, biology, criminology, entomology, geology,
philosophy, plant pathology, psychology, family and consumer sciences,
neuroscience, soil science, wood science, legal studies, liberal studies,
religious studies, social studies, women’s studies (you get the point), will
have greater difficulty.
Unless
students in majors such as these plan to pursue master’s or doctoral level
work, they are often compelled to work “out of field.” Instead, most employers
invest substantial amounts of time, money and other resources, preparing entry
level employees to do a given job. They spend even more resources training
established employees for improved performance and advancement.
This
leads us to guideline #2, plan your
career path. After having identified “what you want to be when you grow
up.” Talk to “grownups” in that line of work to find out what the best academic
preparation is for that type of work. In many career fields, the discipline a
worker studies in college is incidental. In other fields background knowledge
of a different disciplinary area is extremely advantageous though not
necessary. For example, a journalist with background knowledge in genetic
engineering has a unique advantage over the average journalist. The idea here
is to be proactive and thoughtful in mapping a career path. College plays a
very small role in preparing you for the workforce.
I can
hear some hostile dissenter now. “Well Mr. Smarty Pants, if college won’t help
me to earn a million dollars and if it doesn’t prepare me for a job then what
is the degree for?” I’m glad you asked. The first reality of college is that,
if we complete it successfully, the best we get from it is a credential. This
credential (which most people call a degree) is simply a ticket that allows us
to begin doing something. A nursing degree would allow a person to begin a
nursing practice. An engineering degree would allow a person to begin working
as an engineer. A psychology degree would allow a person to begin studying more
psychology at a higher level. The degree is simply a credential, nothing more
and nothing less. As such it is a starting point. It is for this reason that
the ceremony closing out one’s college experience is called “commencement.”
Understanding
that the four-year degree is only a credential helps to make the next guideline
more sensible. Guideline #3 is don’t let
school interfere with your education. I first heard this admonition from a
professor I had in graduate school. (I later learned that the quote is attributed
to Mark Twain). During my first year as a doctoral student, I passed this
professor on my way to class. He told me to join him as he was on his way to a
lecture given by a Nobel Prize winning physicist who was visiting the
university. “No,” I declined graciously. “I have a class to attend. To this he
smiled and said, “Don’t let school interfere with your education. Class will be
there next week with the same book and the same instructor. This physicist may
never come this way again.” Thousands of students spend the greater part of
their college lives with their heads buried in books. They miss out on campus
events, lectures, plays, the development of friendships, parties, travel abroad
and most of the educationally rich experiences that college life has to offer.
In the end, they get the same credential that everyone else gets, nothing more
and nothing less.
The
second reality of college is that it is the best social networking institution
available. It’s better than First Fridays, better than FraserNet, better than
church, even better than Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites.
Why is college better? The networking that takes place in college is better for
several reasons. One reason it is better is because it does not feel or look
like networking. It is place where genuine friendships (or at least
associations) can be built without the specter of ulterior motives. Few college
students would wonder, “Is this guy trying to be my friend simply to get my
money?” While I realize there are exceptions, for the most part college
students do not have any money. They do not yet have positions of privilege.
They do not run powerful corporations. In fact, even if they did, their peers
(other college students) are not typically in positions to take advantage of
that money, privilege and power. For this reason, the relationships built
during college tend to be more genuine. Another reason college networking is
better is because in one place each student has access to thousands of people
who will one day be well positioned in nearly every imaginable walk of life. It
is not unreasonable for a college student to look up 10 years after graduation
to realize that he has personal relationships with four professional athletes,
two attorneys, three journalists (one of whom writes for a national
publication), four college professors, three engineers, a federal lobbyist, and
tens of other professional people.
What does
this reality mean for today’s college student? This reality leads to guideline
#4, build a strong social and
professional network. One of the best uses of a students’ time is building
strong genuine relationships with fellow students and maintaining consistent
communication upon graduation. In this sense joining social organizations is
important; volunteering for campus events is important; spending time in a
friend’s dorm room in good conversation and uproarious laughter is important;
going to movies together is important; visiting one another over spring break
and during the summer is important. More than just being important, these types
of activities are as important as (if not more important than) getting straight
A’s. After 14 years of life post-college, no one has ever asked me what my
grade point average was. However, I often rely on the friendships and
associations I built while in college.
The third
reality of college is that it avails us of opportunities that most people will
not likely see again in life. Most college and university campuses have radio
and television stations, offer study abroad programs ranging from one week to
one year, have intramural sport teams, offer regular theater performances, have
student governance associations, and have a wide range of clubs and interest
groups. The beauty of these offerings is that students do not need any special
training or certification for most of these offerings. All that is needed is an
interest and a willingness to learn.
That
being said, guideline #5 is Carpe Diem
- Seize the Day (or seize the opportunities). For those who have not been there
yet, I will tell you that life does not offer many opportunities to spend four
months overseas. What is more, for most adults if the opportunity were there,
responsibilities such as work, children, the house, car note, etc. would make
it difficult to take advantage of the opportunity. Similarly, most working
adults work very hard to find extra time to join sports teams, take martial
arts, or try out for and perform in a play. Indeed, the freedom that college
students enjoy and the availability of unique opportunities makes it an ideal
time in life to learn new things, meet new people, and have rich, new
experiences.
So, while
college may not make you smart, a smart college student can certainly make the
most out of her college experience. As June draws near and we look to next September,
I encourage parents and students alike to make smart choices. Approach the
college years not as a four-year race to be ended quickly, but as an
opportunity to establish a foundation for long-term success.
Jomo W.
Mutegi, Ph.D. is an author of science-related children’s books, and an
Associate Professor of Science Education at the Indiana University School of
Education in Indianapolis. He is also Principal Investigator of the (ES)2 Research Program. To learn more about Dr. Mutegi’s books, visit https://blackkidsread.org/. To learn more about Dr. Mutegi’s research, visit www.ES2RP.org.
