Is higher education worth the price?

          Higher education has become one of the hardest financial blows for families in America. Prices of schools have increased so much, people question if sending their child to school is really worth it. In the article “Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission” the author stresses the financial burden of getting a college education. Both private and public education have doubled in costs. College education is a 420-billion-dollar industry and the rising issues of cost have become so apparent that schools are in need of immediate reform. The author goes into depth on different ways to fix these problems. For example, tenure should be replaced with multiyear contracts, fewer sabbaticals should be granted, donations should be spread around and the presidents in schools are overcompensated. I totally agree with this. Something major has to be done because the price of education has become so high most people are no longer willing to pay. Many presidents are making as much as 1.5 million dollars to 33 million dollars. In the documentary  "Ivory Tower"  You again see a heavy stress on the financial challenges of sending your child to college. College student debt is up to 1 trillion dollars and most students graduate with at least 25,000 dollars of loans. Higher education has become less of a right and state funding has gone down which has caused tuition to increase dramatically. Schools are at constant competition to have all the best facilities such as rock climbing and spas so if the college wants to stay on top, they must all have the best. This is another issue that causes tuition to skyrocket. At Arizona State University President Michael Crow talks about the infamous “party school” roomers. When a “party school” image is created people begin to wonder, is this school academically challenging or are we just paying for the social life. “Institutions are creating these party-pathways through college and take the money but don't ask anything of them academically”. So this is where we see the question: is the price you pay truly going to a valuable education or not. The schools are trying to satisfy the students  so they are still willing to pay but they are also sacrificing the education being provided. I think it is important to know where our money is going and if the consumer is actually getting what they are paying for. I often wonder, are the students at these universities going to have careers after they graduate? This is a very important question to me, but also too Many parents who want success for their child.  In the documentary we see a parent make a comment at a prospective students meeting at Wesleyan University. He states “many of us in this room are about to lay out a whole lot of money to you, tell me one thing, is my daughter gonna have a job and she's not gonna come back home after it's done”.The answer he received wasn't a promising one, however he was told not to give up on education. I don't know how fair that statement is when you clearly can't count on students getting a job after graduation. Of course these issues are all challenging to accept but does this mean college education is not worth it?

In the article “The new liberal arts” The author believes a liberal arts education is worth the price and that liberal arts education makes you a well-rounded individual. The author states “it is far wiser for students to prepare for change and the multiple careers they are likely to have- than to search for a single job track that might one day become a dead end”. I don't disagree with this. It is good to have a well rounded education because it makes you more appealing and opens the door to more job opportunities. These notions that a liberal arts education is best in “The new liberal arts'' are similar to David Foster Wallace’s “Commencement Speech”. Wallace expresses the importance of a liberal arts approach to learning. With liberal arts you are taught that you have a choice in the way you think. Liberal arts teaches you critical thinking about yourself. Wallace expresses that learning how to think really means, learning how to exercise some control over how you want to think. I agree that liberal arts education is very promising and it's not a great idea to shut yourself out of higher education. It can be very beneficial and give you an edge over people who don't have that form of knowledge. The president of Harvard stated that liberal arts is the best kind of education for undergraduates. “it’s a broad education across the fields of human inquiry” and we want to give them the abilities to think and reason and question for a lifetime. I believe college brings people together and creates life time memories and friendships. However, if you don't receive any financial aid or scholarships you could be paying back your debt for the rest of your life. In the end I think it comes down to the individual, I do not feel its absolutely necessary to get a college education. A lot can be accomplished with out it and then you are free from the years of paying back the money you owe. But if you do pick the college route you have the potential to learn a lot and be educated with a different approach to knowledge.