Read Me Before College

I probably don't have to tell you this

There is a problem with higher education.

College is getting more expensive by the minute, student debt continues to climb, and the people who actually manage to graduate often struggle to find work in their desired fields. The actual education taking place at the university is often bureaucratic and counterproductive. And, as college degrees become increasingly common, they mean less and less. In light of these apparent problems, I think it's fair to say that something about college is broken. As a society, we've gotten some things about college completely wrong.

Let's start at the beginning. College is introduced, even to young children, as a profoundly good and necessary thing. Children are told that it is the path not only to a good job but to a prosperous life. But, the reality is much messier. College, like much of education, is not based on an institution's desire to truly better and educate its students. Instead, it is itself an industry. It is an industry that is monstrously profitable and rapidly expanding.

But, its success alone is not the source of the dysfunction. The problem arises as a result of several key problems that are often ignored in today's conversations about education. Systemic issues exist in the way higher education functions (at least in the U.S.) that have led to the problems we now face. So, although you probably know about some of the problems of college, let's look at each one and try to piece together their impact on the system as a whole.