We talk about college a lot at the Kennedy house.
Our older son just graduated from an out-of-state Christian college. Our younger son is a rising high school senior, so he is in the process of picking a college. And I teach part-time at a local university.
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So, when it comes to college, I have thoughts.
Some of you may have seen this headline in the Times Free Press last week: “Is college worth it? Poll finds only 36% of Americans have confidence in higher education.”
So, Americans are losing faith in another public institution. What else is new?
I started to write it off as just another poll reflecting the country’s generally sour mood. It wouldn’t surprise me to read a headline like: “Americans lose taste for ice cream,” or “Poll: Mom and apple pie overrated.”
Still, there is no doubt that college has become more expensive and, therefore, more transactional. Today’s students, and their families, want to see a clear return on investment, especially when they are spending six-figure sums on undergraduate degrees.
The poll in the article revealed that: “Almost one-third of respondents say college is ‘too expensive’ while 24% feel students are not being properly educated.” Those are numbers that require the academic establishment to take notice.
(READ MORE: Opinion: How much is tuition, really? Your favorite college does not want you to know)
From my perspective, which admittedly is only partially informed, here are a few suggestions:
› Pare back general-education courses. Many students don’t like to be told they must take certain foundational classes that they see as immaterial to their careers; and they suspect that the system is designed to prop up academic departments that have difficulty attracting students on their own merits.
› Require academic departments to keep statistics on graduate job placement, and make those figures public. Modern students are prepared to do their due diligence on choices of majors, and they deserve to know if 90% or 10% of students in a certain major go on to careers in their chosen field.
› Combine academic and vocational training. Instead of an academic minor, encourage students to take a cluster of courses that would teach them a hands-on skill as well. I’ve always liked the idea of a plumber poet. A hands-on skill is the best insurance I can think of against the AI threat to knowledge careers.
› Acknowledge that promoting campus diversity includes attracting more young men. According to the Chronicles of Higher Education: “Men make up just over half of the 18- to 24-year-olds in America, but they’re vastly outnumbered in the nation’s colleges.” Only about 40% of college undergrads are men, the publication reported.
› Rethink faculty tenure. Most Americans don’t have lifetime employment contracts and don’t understand why U.S. Supreme Court justices and some college professors are granted this special status. Maybe there are other ways to protect academic freedom.
› Make college more affordable and, consequently, more efficient. When individual college students are paying over $1,000 a month rent for fancy off-campus apartments, many are borrowing money to pay for posh lodging — which is unsustainable when they finish school and are facing loan repayments. Cheap, on-campus housing worked for generations. What happened?
› Allow speakers on campus from all points on the political spectrum. Students tell me privately that they often have to edit their beliefs so as not to offend certain professors. Intolerance burns a lot of goodwill.
To boil it down, colleges need to be more customer-focused. Students are graduating into a work world that is a clear meritocracy. They need a marketable skill set, and their education should be structured with that truth in mind.
Family Life is published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press newspaper on Sundays. Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645.