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Providing Value: The 21st Century College Challenge
July 14th, 2010 by Ken 1 Comment »
The question you have to ask yourself as a college student is; what’s your priority? Are you going to college for Ra-Ra football games and keg stands or are you there to build and expand your potential? In a down economy it’s great to have fun and escape the grind, but the real purpose of college is to build a future. But are colleges providing students with the right tools to build that future, or are they enabling a false sense of achievement and satisfaction? A slew of new articles have been written challenging the methods that schools are using to help student’s reach future goals. A New York Times piece focuses on the increase in spending on recreation described as the “country-clubization of the American university.” An article from the Chronicle of Higher Education outlines major hurdles colleges must overcome in order to provide better educational value. Using constructive criticism it outlines what colleges can do to improve their output, namely to challenge the minds of young people
Tags: 21st century, century college, chronicle of higher education, college challenge, colleges, constructive criticism, down economy, educational value, false sense, football games, going to college, hurdles, keg, new articles, new york times, priority, ra, right tools, satisfaction, slew
It is true that the main purpose of college is for education, but I disagree that this means solely academic education. You can not ignore the social education that comes with college as well. Learning social skills is a vital part of education, and without these skills, it would be hard to obtain a job and function in workplaces. Developing peer groups with like minded people is an essential part of a person’s development, and one’s academic education will mean little without the social skills to accompany this. Successful students learn to balance their academic work and social activities, which I believe contributes a healthy and well rounded individual, who will be better prepared to enter the workforce after graduation.