{"id":3322,"date":"2012-03-02T15:08:38","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T15:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/?p=3322"},"modified":"2012-03-02T15:08:38","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T15:08:38","slug":"the-future-of-american-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2012\/03\/the-future-of-american-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of American Higher Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Megan McCardle of\u00a0<\/em>The Atlantic<\/em> recently wrote\u00a0a provocative piece suggesting numerous ways<\/a>\u00a0in which American higher education could adapt to fit a modern, technology-driven society. \u00a0Her comments were no-holds-barred when it comes to the question of the \u201cpracticality\u201d of a liberal arts degree. \u00a0Here\u2019s a bit of what she said:<\/p>\n

Online education will kill the liberal arts degree<\/em>. \u00a0Let\u2019s not have the same dismal discussion of whether liberal arts degrees are awesome or useless. \u00a0The important aspect for this discussion is that what they teach is hard to test efficiently. \u00a0There\u2019s enormous variation in grading of, say, English papers, and even if it were easier to standardize, that grading requires hours of expensive labor.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0The president of my\u00a0alma mater<\/em>, Barry Mills, recently made\u00a0his own contribution to this national discussion<\/a>. \u00a0I found his comments inspiring:<\/p>\n

\u00a0One day a few weeks ago, we asked fans of Bowdoin on Facebook to tell us \u201cwhat makes Bowdoin Bowdoin?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The responses<\/a>\u00a0painted a picture of an institution of learning that is unique and prized by our students, alumni, parents, and friends. As I have often written, we could quickly reduce the cost of a Bowdoin education. It would mean larger class sizes, fewer faculty, fewer research opportunities, reduced athletic competition and dramatic changes to our coaching staffs, fewer clubs and fewer extracurricular experiences for our students. Simply, we would not be the Bowdoin that our students enjoy, our alumni love, and the world admires.<\/p>\n

We should avoid the trap to conflate a Bowdoin education with education as a commodity. As a group of Bowdoin leaders and supporters today, we are the stewards of a remarkable institution that has long educated students in the liberal arts tradition and with a commitment to the common good. It is our responsibility to provide that opportunity well into the future for young men and women who have earned the right\u2014through their hard work, ability, promise, and character\u2014to join the ranks of the Polar Bears. We have a continuing responsibility to educate \u201cleaders in all walks of life\u201d and to stand strong in support of what we do here, even in the face of a growing conventional wisdom that attacks the college experience and questions the value of our form of education.<\/p>\n

Read the whole piece.<\/a><\/p>\n

I see both sides to this challenging discussion. \u00a0McCardle is surely right that changes will come and will alter the face of American higher education. \u00a0The cost of education at some schools has, in the minds of many students, outpaced the benefits these schools offer. \u00a0If the product is not top-notch, and if students perceive that, say, $35,000 a year just isn\u2019t worth it when a $12,000 state or community college yields a similar outcome, then many colleges and universities in the next decade stand to suffer. \u00a0This reality will draw many schools to reconsider their \u201cbusiness model\u201d in some of the ways McCardle outlines\u2013Internet courses and so on.<\/p>\n

I am personally proud to see the president of Bowdoin take a stand for the humanities (the program of thought that provided the educational backbone of the Reformation, as seen in folks like Calvin and Zwingli). \u00a0There are more important measures than the mean earnings of a school\u2019s graduates. \u00a0Around 27% of recent Bowdoin graduates went into teaching, for example. \u00a0This profession is not lucrative\u2013actually, scratch that. \u00a0It is lucrative in terms of personal fulfillment, even if it is not in terms of salary (at least for many of us).<\/p>\n

The humanities matter. \u00a0Pure education, conducted for purposes of intellectual and moral development, matters. \u00a0We may have to reckon with the hard economic realities of the college, university, and seminary worlds. \u00a0But we must not sacrifice our belief that learning is to be valued on its own terms. \u00a0In a Christian sense, in fact, there is nothing more foundational than to learn, to be taught, to be instructed and led into the way of knowledge that not only enlightens our minds but secures us in God\u2019s steadfast grip (Proverbs 1:1-7).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Megan McCardle of\u00a0The Atlantic recently wrote\u00a0a provocative piece suggesting numerous ways\u00a0in which American higher education could adapt to fit a modern, technology-driven society. \u00a0Her comments were no-holds-barred when it comes to the question of the \u201cpracticality\u201d of a liberal arts degree. \u00a0Here\u2019s a bit of what she said: Online education will kill the liberal arts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[575,13068,13162,1708,1862,1996,2975],"class_list":["post-3322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college","tag-barry-mills","tag-bowdoin-college","tag-higher-education","tag-john-calvin","tag-liberal-arts","tag-megan-mccardle","tag-ulrich-zwingli"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Future of American Higher Education<\/title>\n<meta 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