Who is College For?

Rick Santorum does not believe that college is for everyone. Apparently neither does Barack Obama. Both agree that some folks are better off with a technical education. But whom does that leave college for?
Let’s agree that it is not exclusively for “snobs.” We are nearing twenty-five thousand students at Kennesaw State University and very few of them fit this appellation. Let’s also agree that college has become too expensive. Certainly the upwards of fifty thousand dollars that some elite universities charge is too rich for most pocketbooks.
Let’s also agree that not everyone has the ability to pursue a higher education. Not only do some people hate academics, but a great many of them do not have the candlepower to deal with the subject matter in which traditional universities specialize.
That still leaves the question as to who can benefit from four or more years of college. Many nowadays think in terms of acquiring marketable skills. They (or their parents) decide that it is worth the effort because they will then qualify for jobs that enable them to earn an additional million dollars over the course of a lifetime.
First of all, let’s understand that not everyone benefits from this monetary bonus. The higher the percentage of the population obtaining a degree, the smaller is the financial differential between college and high school. After all, not everyone is going to become a high-power executive just because they take extra years of schooling.
Nor is every major going to have an equal payoff. If you want to be an accountant, college is pretty much the best place to acquire the requisite skills. But if you major in communications—as many nowadays do—the odds of becoming an on-screen television reporter are slim.
So let me switch gears. Let me share a personal experience. Far too many years ago, when I was an undergraduate, I took a course in anthropology. I’m not sure why I did—I was not an anthropology major—but it turned out to be an eye-opening experience.
One of the books we were required to read was about the Tiwi. Who, you may ask, are the Tiwi? They are an obscure aboriginal tribe living on Melville Island just off the north coast of Australia. Although not particularly important; they made a huge impression on me.
Consider that this is many decades later and I still remember them. I recollect how they went to war by symbolically trying to wound the enemy rather than kill him. I also recall how the older men married much younger women, who nonetheless cheated on them with the younger men by having liaisons in the bush.
Why does this matter? Well, on a certain level, it doesn’t. Ignorance of the Tiwi’s is not going to make or break many careers. Nevertheless, for me, my introduction to them was life changing. It shook me out of a complacency born of an absent-minded ethnocentrism.
Like most people I grew up believing that the world surrounding me was the norm. A majority of Georgians would not agree that the gritty streets of south Brooklyn exemplify the way ordinary people live, but they did for me. It took a college course in anthropology to make me realize that there were alternative ways of living.
Which brings me back to the question of what is college for? My answer is that for many it is preparation to become social leaders. It changes their frame of reference so that they can deal life’s complexities better than they would have had they remained parochial in their outlook.
Universities are not merely about honing technical skills. In some cases, that is their forte. But in many more the goal is to shake us out of the lethargy of youth. In these instances, it is much more about growing up to become a multi-faceted human being.
Melvyn L. Fein. Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University