It's probably worth noting my bias: since its founding by RogerBabson (who also founded Babson College) and his wife Grace KnightBabson in 1927, Webber International University has always beenlaser focused on its graduates getting jobs. When Board membersroutinely call to ask about the latest job placement statistics,the importance permeates throughout the organization. While as atraditional liberal arts college it brings to the table broadereducational offerings, since its founding in 1896 St. AndrewsUniversity has been focused on turning out graduates who,irrespective of their degrees, are trained in critical thinking andlifelong learning. Not only have the successes of our graduatesvalidated our methods, but I like and believe in what we do. Suchare my biases exposed and in the open. The widespread recent attacks on the value of a college education-- notwithstanding a mountain of evidence showing neitheremployment nor earnings are equally distributed amongst those ofall educational levels ( one example ) -- leave out an important consideration. Perhaps the debateshifts, and, indeed becomes more meaningful, if we collectivelystipulate that a college degree is a tool, and, like any othertool, cannot be valued in a vacuum but instead must be consideredin light of what the tool enables one to do, what other tools areat one's disposal, and what the job at hand entails. Take, for the sake of a simplifying analogy, the hammer. Most ofus, I think, are better off in many situations with a hammer thanwithout one. But a hammer's value is dependent upon a variety offactors, the complex calculus of which is challenging to reduce toa simple one size fits all formula. I have a brother who is acabinet-maker by trade. His hammer allows him to, quite literally,bang out a handsome living. While he could not have provided forhimself or family without it during his carpenter days, my retiredfather's hammer now doesn't have a lot of value, though theoccasional threat to remodel my sister's house doubtlessly bringshim as much joy as does his periodically using it to rearrange thephotos on his wall. And for me, well, if my can opener breaks,there's always my hammer. And don't get me started on the subtledifferences between sledge hammers, claw hammers, and ball-peenhammers or whether the top of the line hammer drives a straighternail. Clearly, the average reader is willing to concede by now, thevalue of a hammer varies from person to person, life stage to lifestage, the intended use of the hammer, the other tools in one'stoolbox, and likely other factors as well. One wonders, therefore, if it becomes challenging to universallyand definitively value a hammer, how we would go about valuingsomething as complex and varied as a college education. We have allheard the remarkable (perhaps, in part, because of its rarity)story of one having become a billionaire irrespective of not havingcompleted college (or, more rarely still, high school). But, in theaggregate, the data are inescapable -- in terms of likelihood ofbeing employed and earning potential, it's better to have a collegedegree than to not have one. Does a college education help everysingle person earn a better living? It's as reasonable a questionas "does owning a hammer help every single person earn a betterliving?" with the same answer: of course not. Having a tool -- eventhe right tool for the job -- is but part of the equation. Anotherhuge part of the equation is what one choses to do with it. We would not say categorically hammers are bad investments becausesome people chose not to use theirs. Neither would we brand themcategorically overpriced because some folks purchase a differentmodel than their profession requires. So here's a humbleproposition... what if we turn our energy away from discussing aquestion -- is a college degree worth it? -- already amply andindisputably answered in the aggregate by the empirical data, andfocus instead on a question where our collective input might havesome value: what should we assume any college graduate knows andknows how to do? There will be varied opinions, of course -- I havea friend who thinks knowing how to insert an IV is critical andanother who believes that every comprehensive exam should have apass fail question demonstrating the candidate's ability to discernbetween and properly use "its" and "it's." There are those whobelieve that a passing acquaintance with the masterworks which haveshaped humanity is essential to being human and those who thinkthat balancing a checkbook is a non-negotiable. Divergent views, ofcourse, which may well not congeal into a consensus about what acollege graduate needs to know. But, perhaps it is time to againdefine what having a college degree means. While offerings, likepeople, are too diverse to lend themselves to the "bright lines" orcommon curricula some have proposed or a stripping of the uniqueaspects that make so many programs special (if standardization wasso swell, we would not have both sledge hammers and finishhammers), perhaps we can reach some agreement about what saying "Ihave a college degree" ought to convey to society. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Business Brochure Printing , China Cardboard Display Stand for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Brown Kraft Paper Bag.
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