Andrew Gossett
Professor Burchfield
English 1102
April 25, 2015
College: A Waste of Time and Money
The birth of the Internet in our society has made communication instantaneous. The way we share data and information has been completely revolutionized. To understand the issues arising in the modern college education system, the reason colleges were started must first be understood. A college is defined as a “part of an American University that offers courses in a specified subject” (Merriam-Webster). Throughout history, there has been a basic need for established facilities for the purpose of higher learning simply because there was no option for immediate transfer of information available. In order to pursue a career path in a specific field, it was necessary for a person to attend college in order to receive this education. In today's society, there is a myriad of information that is freely available to anyone capable of a connection to the Internet. Paralleling this emerging concern, there is another arising issue that hinders a society's need for higher learning institutions, and that issue is basing this system in a capitalist society. I see the revelation of modern colleges' continuing lack of importance in society reaching its peak due to two growing issues rooted in the education system converging into one central growing concern: How can we condition the importance of a higher education from an established university when modern technology allows any person to receive the majority of this information for free online? Nevertheless, universities continue to have a place of requirement for future employment candidates. The share of jobs in the U.S. economy needing a college degree will increase to 63 percent in the next decade. This will require 22 million new employees with college degrees. At the current pace, the nation will fall at least 3 million college degrees short. (Washington, DC: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 2010). Today's information transfer happens at such a fast rate that new knowledge and discoveries are practically available in real time. In no way has our society reached this level of instant gratification before. In the setting of a free economy based in capitalist views, businesses have a simple incentive to promote efforts in keeping up with the rigorous and ever-changing technology curve, and this incentive is the pursuit of financial gain. Under this system with the rapid pace conditions continuing to grow, the desire for businesses to achieve instant gratification is a major requirement to keep up. Unfortunately, the design of a college is structured against this model, requiring a specific amount of years to complete. About 59 percent of first-time, full-time students who began seeking a bachelor's degree at a 4-year institution in fall 2006 completed that degree within 6 years. The graduation rate for females (61 percent) was higher than the rate for males (56 percent) (National Center of Education Statistics, 2014). As the economy continues to experience inflation, we notice some recurring trends among the college environment involving inflation as well. As prices continue to increase in a continually expanding market, colleges must maintain this margin as well. Unfortunately, the grip of capitalism is just as apparent in colleges as it is in the free market. If colleges are viewed as a business, then this business has two main products that it offers to the public: knowledge, and notoriety. Since the majority of both of these “products” can be obtained freely and instantaneously today, the college system becomes no longer a necessity in finding qualified employees that are not only educated in a chosen field, but also capable of yielding returns without a higher education. The “American Dream” is an idea that has two distinctly different meanings that are often passed down to the next generation. One interpretation of the American dream involves the ties to