Opera, Brooklyn Pizza, Life Partners—The Case for College

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

A generation ago, college was considered the golden ticket, a way out of manual labor and into an easier lifestyle. The popularity of this notion was in full force when I went to college, as enrollment ranks ballooned, and all at a price that was incredibly affordable. 

And then things changed. For reasons I still can’t fathom, policymakers decided public colleges were simply out to make money, and college was no longer a public good. This led to state budgets providing less funding to their colleges, all at the same time the birth rate was going down, leading to increased competition for students. This led to more spending on luxury items like single-person dorm rooms, coffee lounges, and infinity pools—which led to more spending, which led to tuition hikes that were now being shouldered more by families, and less by the government.

COVID seemed to bring the discussion of the value of college to a head—why should we be paying full tuition for classes my child was now taking on TV, from home? This seems to have led to more questions, and not just from tuition-paying parents, all while tuition continued to rise, often at a rate higher than inflation. 

That’s led us to where we are now, with a clear majority of Americans feeling college isn’t necessary for much of anything. Parents use their college experience to justify their feelings, often saying something like “I got a degree in Sociology, and I’m the regional manager of a chain of retail stores. What did I need that for?”

I’m used to articulating the need for things many consider obscure, since I’ve taught both Geometry and Political Science, so here goes:

• You needed to see how big the world is. Sociology teaches that, but it’s hard to think of any major that doesn’t require a student to look beyond their front door—and their own frontal lobe—and be ready to not just understand the world, but change it for the better. Spending four years on the couch watching even the best of what cable TV has to offer doesn’t do that.

• You needed to see how small you are. Not everyone makes mac and cheese the way your mother does. It’s OK for you to still like hers best, but there will be lots of times you’ll have to eat someone else’s. Living with people whose moms make different mac and cheese, or who don’t even know what that is, helps you learn how to do that, and how to do it graciously. It also helps you attain an important life skill. It’s called humility.

• You didn’t know what you didn’t know. Taking on any subject matter in-depth means you have to learn how to learn in a way that high school, sadly, does not often teach. Name an employer who wouldn’t want an employee who can do that.

• Opera, Brooklyn pizza, your future spouse. Three things most people wouldn’t have in their lives if it weren’t for college. Would they still be good employees? Maybe. Would they still have rich lives outside the office? Would their children still find them interesting?

This isn’t to say all students need to go to college, a point I have gone out of my way to make many times in this space. The basis for that decision, as always, should be based on the skills, talents, needs, and curiosities of the student. Parents of little means find ways to make Christmas memorable. With a little help, they can mak their children’s preparation for forever just as worthwhile.