College a dubious investment? Not so fast...

There’s a new vogue in the national conversation, one that is gathering steam: the debate over the value of a college education. There are several prominent voices in social media who regularly disparage the value of pursuing a degree (James Altucher, among others). The typical angle that these critiques take is, for the most part, utilitarian: 1. It’s not worth the money, 2. The load of student debt is too great, 3. One can do better by simply applying him/herself in a vocation they are interested in, etc. Another criticism often heard is from people who defend the value of being an autodidact, i.e., I’m a passionate student on my own terms, I read voraciously, etc. College would be pointless for me.

In many ways, I believe each of these criticisms has merit. College debt is a huge burden for many; the value of a bachelor’s degree may have diminished given the large percentage of Americans who now have degrees (one could argue that a master’s degree has now replaced a bachelor’s degree as the required credential for many situations); and certainly there is much to be said for the entirely self-directed lifelong learner, who pursues knowledge simply for the sake of knowledge. Finally, we must keep the pressure on and apply ourselves diligently in correcting the many sins of higher education that only add fuel to the fire: stifling political correctness on many campuses (clearly at odds with the sentiments of most of the public, and most certainly of many of the parents writing the checks), the backbreaking cost increases at many universities that actually surpass healthcare in inflation rate over recent decades, and so on. Universities are not guaranteed a place at the table in the future…they must be as adaptive and customer service oriented as any other organization.

In one very valid way, I’m the last person some would expect to be an apologist for the value of a college degree. I was a marginal undergraduate, barely eking out my bachelor’s degree from a good liberal arts college, costing my parents a princely sum. I was a child of the 60’s, with all that entailed (hic). I didn’t get the academic bug in a serious way until much later in life, earning my master's at 50, and my doctorate at 55. But even today, as I approach 70, I mentally reference the peer group that I had in my early college years in a very important way as I think about my journey. Those fellow travelers hold a place of high esteem in my personal reference group, and are still formative forces in my determination of who I am.

As I’ve thought about this challenge to the value of college (considerably of late), I realize how much value I’ve gained from my educational journey that is NOT utilitarian in nature. College, especially my undergrad years, broadened me in ways I'll never be able to quantify, and certainly can’t monetize. I’m an autodidact as well but would have never pursued many avenues of learning on my own terms that required college work exposed me to. As an example, I would have never in a million years learned Latin on my own, but my several Latin courses in college kindled an interest in language that follows me to this day. I would have been very unlikely to read the classics of American and European literature, study geology, or expose myself to art history. My college immersion in learning, and in the community of learners, did for me what I wouldn’t have done for myself. College not only deepens, it broadens.

So, to the James Altuchers of the world, and others who have attacked the value of college education with a passion, I would offer this: it’s not just about the financial return on investment. Let’s fix the broken things, turn down campus political correctness, make the experience more affordable, and increase the customer orientation of college administration and faculty, but we should be very cautious about throwing out the bath water…there really IS a baby in there. 

There’s a reason people from all over the world flock to the USA for a college degree. A good college education, one that exposes you to a broad range of ideas among very diverse kinds of people studying those ideas, has the potential to make you bigger, to facilitate your ability to see the world in all its diversity in a richer way, to break down the myopic thinking that we all are susceptible to in our narrow self-interests. The worth of the college experience is not only quantitative, it’s qualitative.  

"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned are perfectly equipped to live in a world that no longer exists." - Eric Hoffer