Why college?

 It's time to start admitting, college is not for everyone. It may not even be for most. It may not be for most NOW.

I teach freshmen. OOPS, I'm supposed to say first year students (which I understand and am not mocking). A lot of them do not belong there--YET. 

Colleges exist for a purpose, but the first one is to keep existing as an entity. When a college goes "out of business" it is seen as a tragedy. I'm not entirely sure why, except that people lose their jobs.  So we in higher education have a basic ego driven motive to keep students in the college so we have decent enrollment. Each student equals a certain amount of money, of revenue. 

BUT, why don't we try to get more adult learners and serve them, since the 18-year-old population is diminishing and being dispersed among so (too) many colleges? 

But there is a bigger issue. Why shouldn't a young person just do something else for a few years? Grow up; we know they are not mature enough; Jean Twenge says they are three years behind in maturity (IGen). I certainly see that with mine. They are risk averse and not willing to separate from parental dependence, financially or emotionally. Fewer get their drivers licenses at 16! 

Add to the idea that degrees are so specialized now, that they are asking to choose a major at 18 for the rest of their lives. It's a crazy system.

In the USG, students are also pushed to take 15 hours their first semester. This is a huge mistake. 

So, I have become vocal about reality for these young people. I'm supposed to keep them here; I will do all I can to help those who want to stay. But if a bright young man tells me he wants to be a lineman, why should I discourage him? He can do that for a few years and come back and get his engineering degree, with a stronger sense of what is involved in the real workforce. Otherwise he's unmotivated and loses his financial aid from poor grades. 

I think younger people are questioning this ethic of college only, although I hope it's not because they reject a work ethic. It's hard when jobs are paying so much now.  But they lost out on a lot of high school because of the overreaction to the pandemic, so they have a reason to question.

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