Runaway College Inflation By Julia Edwards: Article Analysis

Sabrina Herrmann

Critical Thinking

Professor Menna

12 December 2017

Critical Thinking Essay Planting its roots in young adolescents, it is engraved in their pre developed brains that if they want a good job after graduation, then they absolutely must attend college. As the years have come and gone, it seems as though higher education has strayed from its initial purpose. The three articles, Higher Education: for too long we’ve avoided debating the true purpose of universities, written by The Guardian, College is not a commodity. Stop treating it like one, written by Hunter Rawlings, and Meet the High Priest of Runaway College Inflation, written by Julia Edwards, all go in depth about what the true value of education is, and how we have gradually

Stop treating it like one, written by Hunter Rawlings, he explains on what exactly goes into making the college experience worth it. He simply puts that what truly makes an education valuable is the work that the student puts into it. “The value of a degree depends more on the student’s input than on the college’s curriculum...I have seen excellent students get great education at average colleges, and unmotivated students get poor education at excellent colleges” (Rawlings). This is an interesting point and one that makes sense the more one thinks about it. For example, students make their own schedule. In order to receive a higher GPA many are able to just take these less challenging classes or enroll in certain professors courses that require little work or if they do assign work, they grade it loosely. One way colleges are ranked is based on graduation rates, so it only makes sense for them to make classes less difficult, give out high grades for little work, and offer programs that don’t push them too hard. There is a flaw in this because it places all the pressure on the university, rather than one where it should be placed, which is on the student. It is important for colleges to make sure that they aren’t simply just passing out degrees, but also providing what they are there for, which is for a learning experience. I think it is important to note that in order to get the absolute most out of the college experience, it takes

Stephen Trachtenberg is the former president of George Washington University. He is most known for raising tuition from $25,000 to $51,000, making it the most expensive school in the nation. He also took the acceptance rate from an enormously high 75 percent, to 37 percent. It is important to note that George Washington University is no longer the most expensive school, but a student still graduates with around $24,300 in debt with that number still rising. The article goes into explaining how schools are ranked. “Those rankings are infamous for their gauzy attempt to measure academic quality a non quantifiable abstraction. They don’t even measure job placement after graduation” (Edwards). Edwards then goes on to explain how these rankings are measured by pricing per student and campus life, thus making a more expensive school receive a higher ranking. This brings up an interesting point and one that Trachtenberg definitely took advantage of. He increased the tuition drastically, and instead of using this extra money to go towards things like improved technology, higher qualified professors, or a wider range of classes; He put it towards more cafes on campus, and things like nicer dorms. He was under the belief that people equate price with value. In other words, the higher the