Vincent Aguilar
Prof. Simons
Eng. 111
10/7/13
Summarizing, Quoting, and Responding:
“Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?”
In the essay about college tuitions and if they are worth the price of admission, it talks about the increase in price over the years. They did some studies and have concluded that higher education is a $420 Billion industry that has some fixing to do. It also gives some ideas about what should be done to begin reforming the college system. A few examples that Hacker and Dreifus give are to engage all students, make students use their minds, replace tenure with multiyear contracts, and spread donations around. It also names a few schools like M.I.T, Notre Dame, ASU, and some community colleges that are implementing some of their suggestions and ideas.
By saying that colleges should engage all students, they believe all Americans can do college level work and that enrollment should be universal. I say that if we allow everybody to enroll in universities, in the short-run it may lower tuition, but school loans and debt will still exist and for no good reason because I don’t believe higher education is meant for everyone. Higher education is a lot more demanding and time consuming than the average high school education and that is why I don’t think all Americans are capable of taking on such a task. With enrollment the way it is now, its hard enough already to get the classes you need, I don’t think it would be beneficial for people to take seats that aren’t in it for the right reasons, just because its allowed.
In the essay they also disagree with some of the fields of education and state that fields such as philosophy, literature, and physical science are a wiser use of college and a better investment. They want all students to be forced to think for themselves. With this type of reformation there might be a loss in all the creativity that doesn’t come from the artists, or the entrepreneurs that go out on their own and create opportunities for not only themselves and others. The vocational majors are the trades that run the country. I don’t believe philosophers and literature majors will be able to fix a leak in their homes if the problems arise. There will always be a need for these specific trades. Multiyear contracts instead of tenure will allow higher education to lose nothing while also allowing major gains. They say that it doesn’t make the