<p>I asked this question to many college students and most of the common answers are due to societal pressure, family pressure, or that they are sold on the idea that college grads earn more than non-college grad. I rarely ever hear the answer just to LEARN. I thought that was the main point of school.</p>
<p>Ha, you think most eighteen-year-olds care about learning?</p>
<p>Besides, it is very hard to justify a $200k price tag with just “I’ll learn things!” Yes, learning for learning’s sake is important to me, and I hope to get a lot of that out of my college experience, but if there was no other benefit to it I probably wouldn’t go.</p>
<p>^Hmmm… 200K price tag? I guess I’m ripping off my college where I have no merit/financial aid and estimating 60K over 4 years with 5% annual tuition hikes. </p>
<p>Given, I do commute to a state school…</p>
<p>There’s just not that much hope for a good job out there without a college degree.</p>
<p>Guess it depends on whom you talk to. I heard about a survey that said generally people who consider themselves liberals go to college to find themselves and explore their artistic side, and people who consider themselves conservatives go to get better jobs and provide for their families. Don’t know how true that is, I’ll have to ask around!</p>
<p>All I can tell you, is for the $220K+ that it’s costing us for son #1 to go to school…obviously he is going to do alot of learning, but we do have some expectations that he’ll get a very good job in a field that he loves. We would be very disgruntled if he departed college with vast amounts of knowledge but no job. You don’t pay that kind of money to produce a celebral kid who is still flipping burgers.</p>
<p>Learning – and studying what you love – is a part of college for many students, but college students are also young adults who need to prepare for careers and adult life. The practical reasons for earning a college degree must take precedence over pure intellectual curiosity in most instances.</p>
<p>Which is why my son minored in philosophy, which fascinates him, but majored in computer science.</p>
<p>" I heard about a survey that said generally people who consider themselves liberals go to college to find themselves and explore their artistic side, and people who consider themselves conservatives go to get better jobs and provide for their families."</p>
<p>Hmmm… That makes sense. I can’t tell if that’s anti-liberal or if I’m just too conservative though. </p>
<p>Someone who reads this ought to throw a poll up here.</p>
<p>They go to get a good job. My husband went to college, I didn’t. He started off at a lower pay rate and ended up making 3 times what I made and we worked at the same place. He became a boss and I sure didn’t.</p>
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<p>I don’t think that political views determine educational values - it’s most likely the other way around. One of the consistent trends in college student outcomes documented through research is a liberalizing of social values.</p>
<p>Students should go to college if not for the education, but for the life long connections they’ll form there. Contrary to popular belief, academics isn’t everything.</p>
<p>Not all learning occurs in a classroom. The whole, broad experience prepares us for life as an adult. It provides
- vocational training
- time management challenges
- money management experience
- a “relationship incubator” (personal and professional)
- self control tragedies and triumphs
- and a decent amount of fun.</p>
<p>Here’s a summary from a meta-analysis that addresses research-substantiated college student outcomes from across the spectrum of American higher ed:</p>
<p>From “The Impact of College on Students: Myths, Rational Myths, and Some Other Things That May Not Be True,” Ernest T. Pascarella, University of Illinois, Chicago and Patrick T. Terenzini, Pennsylvania State University. NACADA Journal, Volume 15 (2), Fall 1995. pp. 26-33:</p>
<p>"Academia clings to several myths about higher education and its effect on students. This article outlines 10 of these popular myths . . . The authors cite extensive research calling these myths into question and challenge readers to rethink assumptions about higher education.</p>
<p>"Myth #2: College merely socializes adolescents to middle class status. It has little or no unique impact on student development or maturity.</p>
<p>“Since about 1975 there has been a growing concern with estimating the net or unique influence of college on student development and maturity. The results of this research are unequivocal in suggesting that, over the same period of time, college students make greater changes on a broad range of outcomes than similar individuals whose formal education ends with secondary school. These include (a) verbal and quantitative skills, (b) oral and written communication, (c) critical thinking, (d) reflective judgment, (e) intellectual flexibility, (f) principled reasoning in judging moral issues, (g) value placed on aesthetic and intellectual matters, (h) social and political liberalism, (i) acceptance of nontraditional gender roles, (j) intellectual orientation, (k) internal locus of control, and (l) a series of habits that enhance continued learning (e.g., reading, continuing education, and participation in cultural events). The bottom line here is that college may indeed function to socialize adolescents into middle-class status, but the evidence clearly suggests that college does considerably more than allocate status with a bachelor’s degree. It facilitates a broad range of desirable changes that don’t occur to the same extent to similar individuals who don’t attend college.”</p>
<p>I went to learn… is that a problem?</p>
<p>^Well, everyone should want to learn…</p>
<p>We are telling our kids that one of the main reasons to go to school is to learn HOW to learn. After they graduate from college, they will have to continue to learn new material every year, no matter what career they pursue. As structural engineers, DH and I have to constantly learn new methods of analysis and code design. Even the computer drafting program I use is revised every year. If our kids don’t learn how to dig in and keep up with the times, they’re going to flounder.</p>