What are the three biggest problems facing universities today?
Higher education consists of many problems today that did not exist in previous generations. The biggest and most evident problem facing universities is the issue of cost. Parents have to find a way to pay for their kids' college tuition, room and board, textbooks etc. Colleges are charging an extreme amount of money for their students and this is creating a burden on parents to find a way to support their children's dream schools. Students now are paying triple what students 30 years ago had to pay. This issue will continue to grow until people eventually decide that going to college is not necessary given the price.
Another issue facing universities is the need to prepare students for the workforce. Employers feel that college students lack skills like communication and teamwork skills which are necessary for the workplace. If colleges do not prepare their students for the workplace, employers will favor other employees who may not have a degree.
Colleges are also becoming increasingly obsessed with competition and outdo-ing each other. Universities are vying for the top positions in various rankings. They build extravagant facilities at their campuses that also contribute to the issue of affordability as students have to pay more in their fees to accommodate for those new facilities.
I agree that high tuition costs, preparation for the workforce, and college competition are among the biggest problems facing universities today.
ReplyDeleteStarting with tuition cost, it's interesting you put how parents have to find a way to pay for their kids' college costs. It makes sense, especially with todays helicopter parents, who want to make sure their kids don't have to worry about money while still in school. But I've also known some people whose parents put the cost of college on them, which puts even more burden on the student, since they then have to juggle school with work. It use to be possible to pay your way through school, but as you mentioned, with costs tripling, most people have to take out loans to finance college, which creates more problems down the road with student debt. For kids who parents refuse to help with college costs, it could be partly due to what their parents' remember about college, when it was still possible to finance yourself through college. These memories could be blinding the parents to the reality of the current situation. However, like you said, this issue will probably continue to grow until people decide going to college is not worth the price.
Employers may be in a double bind, because the college may not be teaching skills such as communication and teamwork, but depending on the job, the employer is probably not going to trust (for example) the planning of a rocket launch to a bunch of people without a degree in physics. That might be overkill, but the point is that certain employers will still need college educated employees, even if they aren't the best possible employee. Since they aren't the best possible employee, the employer may have to compensate by recruiting more workers to make up for skills other employees lack, which would make the company more inefficient.
I read in article which once suggested that firms were using the name of the college the applicant attended and using the name of the school as a vetting process (as in, applicants to a law firm who had gone to Harvard or Yale were interviewed, while those who went to lesser known schools were more likely to be rejected). It's not good, but it would explain why colleges try to be at the top for different rankings-to stay relevant, the sense perception of their brand needs to bring something to the mind of prospective consumers (Harvard-Law/Medicine, for example). Topping lists brings recognition, which often (not always)brings prestige. Unfortunately, as you said, college attempts to outdo rivals results in higher costs for the student.
I think the problem with the cost is important because colleges dont have the pressure to lower the cost. If I want an icecream cone and it costs 5$ one place and 1$ somewhere else I'd go to the 1$ place, but there isn't any pressure to buy nice icecream like there is pressure to go to a nice college. For example, if someone got into an IVY league they'd probably want to go partially just to tell people they go there and pay the price it costs even though its higher than they were willing to pay for colllege. Also because college is so expensive and teenagers accepting spots at colleges have never dealt with such high amounts of money the difference between 70,000 and 75,000 dollars may not seem like a lot but thats 20,000 dollars by graduation. That is how much someone would earn working full time for a year at a minimum wage job.
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