For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time – WSJ.com
This is a great article on a couple of levels:
1. Grade Inflation.
Although it shouldn’t, grade inflation happens at almost every school in the nation. Students have been raised to believe that everyone can and should receive an A in every class. As a graduate assistant I remember many students coming to me to complain about receiving a B or a C. Most of the time these students were under the impression that an A is the default grade.
The point of all this is to say there is no standard for awarding degrees. If you have a BA, then you have a BA. There is no way to consider the impact of grade inflation or academic rigor.
2. People Like Me
I have two degrees in History, mainly because History came naturally to me and I felt that having a strong liberal arts background would be more helpful than a highly focused degree. For the most part, I was correct. However, I have many interests other than History and Liberal Arts. I feel that I have enough interest in a few fields that I could imagine myself turning an interest into a profession. For the most part, this is only possible if I am willing to go to night school for a decade or to quit my job and attend college full-time. Neither is a viable option for me.
However, I would be very interested in studying on my own schedule and my own time and sitting for an exam in a field once I felt that I was sufficiently prepared.
It’s unreasonable, I feel, to ask an 18 year old high school graduate to make a decision that will impact their entire career trajectory for years to come. If we transitioned to a certification based system, it would significantly lower the barriers to career changes and revisions.
Take a look at this link, there are some very good discussions going on over at the WSJ.com forums for this topic.
