To College or Not to College

By Dan Davis and Buck Surdu

Not long ago, the ECMC group cited a study that only 48%, down from 72%, of high school students are likely to attend a four-year school. Frankly, we think this is healthy, and we would like to see the trend continue. It will be healthy for the country for students to choose other career paths, such as the trades, for the number of vocational schools to grow and the number of colleges to shrink, for college enrollment to go down, and for useless majors to disappear.

According to the ECMC Group study, “The cost — as well as the student loan debt — “is the No. 1 concern” … This year, tuition and fees plus room and board for in-state public colleges rose to $27,330; at four-year private colleges, it averaged $55,800, according to new data from the College Board, which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid.” Interestingly, students feel pressure from society and parents to attend college, even if they do not want to do so. Some of that clearly is that parents may be looking long-term, while students are often thinking short-term; however, there is a clear narrative that the path to success in life is a college degree.

This narrative, like most in the press and from government, is somewhat counter factual. Tradesmen and women can do quite well for themselves and their families. Accountants tell me that their clients with the strongest investment and savings portfolios are those who work in the trades.

When my kids were seniors in high school, we tried to emphasize that college was not the only path to success. Of course, for some career choices, college is necessary: engineering, medicine, etc. But even in those fields, there are career paths that do not require college. There are engineering techs, mechanics, nursing, and laboratory tech positions that do not require a four-year degree. On the other hand a degree in anything that ends in “studies” results in a lot of debt and four years of political indoctrination with little economic payoff afterward.

18 year-olds should be better counseled as to major/career choices. High school guidance counselors’ offices are full of glossy books about colleges, but there are very few glossy publications extoling the virtues of other career paths. Major life-decisions should not be left to the inexperienced, whether ivory-tower guidance counselors, well-meaning parents, or young people, who often make choices based on emotion and fantasies. Parental/teacher focus is often on immediate successes (do well in college), not on long-term career potential.

For years, we were all told that you could be anything you wanted to be. My dad used to say that he could never be a brain surgeon or a professional hockey player, even if he wanted to be. The fact is that different people are born with their own sets of talents and traits that make them more suited to different career choices. Some amount of drive, perseverance, and mentoring can overcome some challenges, but in the end, fair or unfair, we are each wired with specific skills. We’ve all also heard that “if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.” That bit of hyperbole ignores that all jobs, even ones you love, entail a certain amount of blood, sweat, and tears. Convincing youths that they should only do what makes them happy, sets unrealistic expectations.

Wiser heads should work hard on doing more to orient young people to realistic and sustainable goals. We have lately been pointing high school students to several Web sites that provide information on majors vs. earning potential, like the Hamilton Project, PayScale, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PayScale article is particularly interesting in explaining wage gaps between (the two, and only two) genders: it is mostly explained by choice of major. Like we told someone recently, if you want to major in Haiku poetry by authors of Lithuanian descent, because that makes you happy, you should do so with your eyes open. Know your earning potential or likely job openings with that major compared to other majors. Then don’t vilify or envy someone who made different choices and has a bigger house, larger property, etc. It is not the engineer’s fault that you chose to major in gender studies, whatever the heck that is.

In academic admissions, among other life altering selections, meritocracy is under attack; the results will be catastrophic for our nation. A review of history would support that a nation that chooses the most capable for the best opportunity to learn and advance will logically excel over a nation that makes that serious selection based on family lineage, bribes, adherence to special religious groups, or adherence to political party dogma. As a nation we once scoffed at the corruption like this in other countries; now we emulate it.

Our nation has prospered under the meritocracy. Now, however, that objectivity is under attack, e.g. get rid of objective admission criteria/admit the needy and socially entitled, not the capable. A complete re-centering of and commitment to metrics of capability is needed, but that is a topic of a further discussion. Pathos is no substitute for logos when the existence of the community is at risk, i.e. sometimes it is more beneficial to everyone to tell someone, “You would be better advised to pursue a different path.” To not do so harms all the presumed beneficiaries.

Recently, a friend presented some facts he had drawn from reputable sources about a hot issue. He presented the facts and asked the question; can you provide counter evidence? The response from a high-ranking academician was, “Your facts are racist.” The primary weapon of those ruled by emotion and feelings instead of facts and analysis is to resort to name calling. Primary, secondary, and college education should focus on critical thinking. We recommend the book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences. Critical thinking is the ability to look at facts, conduct analysis, and reach supportable conclusions. In our colleges and our society, we rarely have fact-based conversations about hot topics like climate change (the world will not end in 2030 as AOC predicted), racism (which exists mainly on the Left), mask and other non-sensical mandates, the security of our election systems, etc. Instead, we resort to name calling, obfuscation, hiding data that doesn’t fit our pre-ordained conclusion, labeling things we don’t like as “conspiracy theories,” using partisan activist groups to “fact check,” etc. If our schools are not teaching critical thinking, much of their value is lost, and students might better serve themselves and the nation by choosing to eschew them.

Arguments that kids do not need to take hard classes like trigonometry or learn rhetoric and grammar are tiresome. First, in early grades, it is important to provide a broad base of knowledge so that a student can sample different disciplines and make an informed decision about future academic studies or career choice. More importantly, the value of those classes is learning to think logically and analyze critically. In Maryland, which deludes itself into thinking it has good schools, kids needed to pass geometry to get into math and science magnet schools. Many of them then take a summer geometry class. Those classes frequently skip most of the theorem proving that was once the defining characteristic of geometry. The value of geometry class was not memorizing the formula to compute the sum of the interior angles of an arbitrary polygon. The value of geometry is the training of a student’s mind to think logically from A to B with the tools (theorems) at hand. The schools and the state can “check a box” that a student has taken geometry by it is a hollow experience.  Form over substance.  Geometry was once about problem solving. Now it is about satisfying a requirement.  If our schools are not teaching critical thinking, what are they teaching? Irrational shutdowns of schools during COVID have enabled parents to discover what they are teaching: wokeism, Leftism, hatred of America, critical race theory (by any of its euphemisms), disrespect for parents, and gender identity nonsense.

Polling data shows that people without college degrees tend to be more conservative than those with college degrees. Watching the non-stop political indoctrination that bombards college students, this is not a surprising result. Leftists are the most intolerant people on the planet, as a group, and America-hating Leftists control our colleges, universities, school boards, and teachers’ unions — even those that are supposedly conservative and religious. Actually, this is now pervasive, insidious, and pernicious in K-12 now. The government, college deans, boards of “education,” schools of teaching, and a large majority of teachers continue to force Leftist, anti-American, woke lies down the throats of students. We know of one recent high school senior who was hesitant to go to college because he didn’t want to face the daily browbeating by intolerant ivory tower Leftists. Colleges are supposed to be a place of learning and the free exchange of ideas. They have become political indoctrination camps where holding non-sanctioned thoughts and ideas must be censured, vilified, and silenced. I was recently told by a student teacher that her school might not recommend her for a portion after graduation if she didn’t adopt the approved gender identity dogma.  Because they have become tools of indoctrination instead of institutions of reason, we think it is healthy that many high schoolers are eschewing four-year degrees.

Contra: We have also seen US DoD Commissioning Boards who turned down applications for direct commissions based on the lack of scholarship, dearth of broad-based societal awareness, and inability to name or discuss a recently read book. It was pointed out that Grant wrote a book, Patton wrote a book, Guderian wrote a book, Eisenhower wrote a book, Rommel wrote a book, … ad nauseum. Junior officers were once held to be of a group that at least read such books.

The issue may again fall into the realm of transparency. There are many who argue for the benefits of a wide-ranging and life expanding liberal education in the language, the arts, the literature, and the science of successful societies; however, a recent unscientific straw poll found none (NONE) of the respondents reported their high school counselors gave them useful career information. Another time students in a class room were asked: “What do your parents do at work everyday?” None of the students gave an informed answer. Most knew the parent’s job title, but not what they did. But then, when it comes time to go into tertiary education, we expect the students to make wise choices for their Majors and Careers. This may be an important topic that warrants a separate discussion. This dearth of direction may be most hurtful if the student will be the first generation from a family who is headed for college.

If a student has a passion for Art History, they should not be dissuaded, but they must be aware that there will be scant opportunities to earn a living in their field; indeed, there are many examples of actors working as waiters to enable their non-pay participation in amateur theatrics. Fortunately, we live in a society that is rich enough to keep someone with that passion from starving to death. Such a choice would more rational if the student stayed at home and went to the local low-cost state college, unless their parents can afford the full support at a large private school. In that case, that private school should be up-front with the parents. Or, as we might say in Latin: Caveat scholar!!

ECMC Group, in the article cited previously, went on to say, “The good news in here is that there’s been an uptick in the awareness of career and technical training as a pathway to a good career.” Why is it that as a society we tend to look down on tradesmen and women? The Left often derides blue collar workers as too stupid to go to college.  Those “deplorables” support the opposing party because they are too stupid or two uneducated to know better. Somehow, not having a college degree is seen as shameful.

Never look down on someone who does an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.

When Mike Rowe started his television show, Dirty Jobs, he talked about the people who do the dirty, hard, and unpleasant jobs that help us all live better lives. Why should we look down on the Trades? From personal experience, we all know that once we find a good electrician, mechanic, plumber, carpenter, or other tradesman, we will keep going back to that person again and again. We value them individually, but as society we don’t value them collectively. Yet, people without four-year degrees are often much better citizens than those who have survived four years of political indoctrination and emerged with crippling debt. They do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. They vote. They pay their taxes. They don’t expect or accept government largesse. They help their neighbors.

Mike Rowe: ‘To my knowledge, no one has ever burned a flag at a trade school’

One of the authors of this article has often said that as an Army officer, he kicked some people out of the Army (because they didn’t meet the standards or made some bad choices) who are better citizens than most of the people we meet in everyday life.

To be even better citizens, even trade schools should not abandon the liberal arts. Every level of education should be directed toward constructive and attainable national goals — goals related to objectively measurable academic accomplishments, not valueless “goals” to favor some demographics over others. Establishing these goals should be a priority for those in charge of our education system rather than indoctrination. If those are in charge are not inclined, capable, or open to such an objective evaluation, they should be replaced, as they recently have been from San Francisco to Virginia.

Issues such as “diversity” should be reviewed for value, cogency, and attainability. We need to realize that “diversity” is a means, not an end. There may be fields where pathos can control, but when it comes to the national-level or life-sustaining offices, logos should reign. Every member of the armed services wants the best leadership from the officer corps, not a social equity program. So it should be for every parent and student in every field. Attempts to circumvent this drive to the top with either self-serving academic career aspirations or hidden (or blatant) social agendas will dilute the quality of the product: the graduate citizen.

Any leader who thinks he is providing diversity on the United States Supreme Court by appointing a black woman might want to consider the lack of diversity without noting that she was a Harvard Law School Grad. Is it diverse when in the 40 years since the nomination of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Stanford Law), every appointment has been a Justice who had been admitted to either Harvard or Yale Law School, with the single exception of the recent appointment of Amy Coney Barrett (Notre Dame). The U.S. Supreme Court now has seven Justices from Yale or Harvard Law Schools, so it seems like appointing a modestly experienced political ally who is once again from Harvard does precious little to support intellectual diversity but announced his reliance on her ethnicity and gender.

As a topic for another article, it is demonstrably true that as standards of academic achievement have been watered down or eliminated to enable anyone to be admitted into colleges, it has become incumbent on the next level of education to make up for deficiencies in lower levels. Most high school graduates today could not pass an 8^th grade competency exam from 60 years ago. Many high school graduates cannot find North America on a map of the world. In Washington State it is no longer necessary to demonstrate proficiency in any subject or pass any classes to be awarded a high school diploma! Even at West Point, which was once a school with high academic standards when it was primarily and engineering school that also stressed liberal arts, the academic standards of incoming freshmen has fallen. While they may still be the top x% of their high school classes, that top x% may have been in the middle y% based on academic achievement 30 years ago. While cadets still take several semesters of math, math professors at West Point have told me that they must start with high school math for most freshmen, because the high schools are failing. Each educational stratum (secondary school, college, professional school, etc.) is forced to spend time remediating the failures of the previous stratum. As a result of our failed educational institutions that focus too much on what to think and too little on how, a graduate from prestigious school today may likely not have the same level of knowledge, skills, and experience as one 40 years ago.

Pandering politicians keep threatening to make college “free.” College is not a right, and in most cases is not even a necessity. As we have watered down admissions policies and lowered expectations of measurable achievement across the academic strata, the value of a college degree to the graduate and to our society has eroded. The trend away from four-year college degrees is being blamed on the high cost of education, which we assert is largely driven by the government’s policies and underwriting of student loans, but perhaps the plummeting value of a college degree is no longer worth the staggering cost. We think it is healthy for the nation to produce fewer bachelor’s degrees but more tradesmen who tend to be stronger, more patriotic citizens.

Follow AFNN

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa

Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAz…

Twitter: @AFNNUSA

GETTR: @AFNN_USA

CloutHub: @AFNN_USA

Patriot.Online: @AFNN