I tend to believe you really do get what you pay for. At least that is the best case scenario, sometimes you do get disappointed, Caveat Emptor being the guide. There is a candidate running for governor here in Maryland promising free community college for everyone. Sounds good doesn't it? But it leaves me with a lot of questions? The biggest being, who exactly is going to pay for this, already know that answer really but trying not to think about that. Beyond that however I wonder about the requirements for entry. Now I haven't attended college myself and don't know much about the admission process. I was always under the impression you had to qualify for admittance, not just pay for it. Isn't that why I was told to take the harder courses in high school, to prepare yourself for the academic challenges of college? Didn't you have to have minimum scores on standardized tests? I really don't know how that works, but maybe that only applies to the best schools. This candidate is only talking about community college where I know you can just pay the price of admission and take whatever course you like. As I understand it community college can be a pathway to a four year degree saving you lots of money. On the other hand I also hear that those community college degrees aren't held in very high esteem by some folks. Is that a case of you get what you pay for? If so, what if it is free?
Something else I believe is you don't have to go to college to be brilliant. In this modern world full of information readily available to anyone, that is doubly true. I can study any subject I choose from the comfort of home. Other than paying for internet access the cost would be very low or non existent. Still society requires that piece of paper as proof. In the old days we used to call it the old sheepskin. I do believe it was far more difficult to obtain. The question is, was that difficulty linked to academic achievement or the ability to pay? The current belief surely has to be the ability to pay. Apparently there were a lot of brilliant poor people in the past yearning for an education. If that education were free, everyone could go, everyone gets the degree and everyone makes the big bucks! Isn't that the driving force behind obtaining that degree in the first place? Or is it the thirst for knowledge? I was always given the impression it was " to make a better living for yourself and your family. " I was never told it was for personal enlightenment. Ask a guidance counselor, if that is what they call them these days. I do hear an awful lot about a career path. Seems I was told to just hit the bricks!
Whatever, I'm just wondering about the value of something you get for free. Are you going to get your moneys' worth? That begs the question, as far as these community colleges go what are they selling? Is it an entrance to a " better " degree? Are they really degrees for the " poor " folk, kinda like having a Chevy instead of a Rolls Royce? You have to go to an Ivy league school to get the Rolls. Isn't that the perception. Are those degrees being issued by community colleges just a cheap knock off? If you start giving them away for free that is certainly promoting that perception.
Well I just don't know. None of this is meant to disparage anyone that goes to community college or obtained a degree in that fashion. In fact I congratulate them for having achieved that. It was an expenditure on their part. They did have to work for it. I'm not insinuating in any way that their academic achievement is any less than any other one achieved in the same field of study. I do have issue with some of the " fields of study " that are being awarded degrees these days. Those degrees being issued by two year programs that basically have no real value in the market. A degree in Philosophy or Communication Arts won't land you a high paying job, you can work at McDonalds, think about life and talk to the customers.
It is those degree programs I balk about funding. If you are going to take my money, buy stuff for others with that money, I only want you to buy useful stuff. Just like I don't want you talking my money, giving to others to go grocery shopping and allowing them to buy lobster! As I said I haven't been to any college but I know about fiscal responsibilty! If everyone gets to go to college for free, for at least the first two years, how many will be signing up? How long before the schools are full and the complaining begins about over crowding? How long before someone is suing the state because they are being denied their " free " stuff? How long before I will be required to provide those " students " with free breakfast and lunch? What about laptops and I-pads. Then after having completed their degree program, how long before they sue because they should be making a lot more money, after all they have a degree! Where does that end? Can you restrict the " free " college to only those programs that are approved by the state? Yeah, good luck with that.
Something else I believe is you don't have to go to college to be brilliant. In this modern world full of information readily available to anyone, that is doubly true. I can study any subject I choose from the comfort of home. Other than paying for internet access the cost would be very low or non existent. Still society requires that piece of paper as proof. In the old days we used to call it the old sheepskin. I do believe it was far more difficult to obtain. The question is, was that difficulty linked to academic achievement or the ability to pay? The current belief surely has to be the ability to pay. Apparently there were a lot of brilliant poor people in the past yearning for an education. If that education were free, everyone could go, everyone gets the degree and everyone makes the big bucks! Isn't that the driving force behind obtaining that degree in the first place? Or is it the thirst for knowledge? I was always given the impression it was " to make a better living for yourself and your family. " I was never told it was for personal enlightenment. Ask a guidance counselor, if that is what they call them these days. I do hear an awful lot about a career path. Seems I was told to just hit the bricks!
Whatever, I'm just wondering about the value of something you get for free. Are you going to get your moneys' worth? That begs the question, as far as these community colleges go what are they selling? Is it an entrance to a " better " degree? Are they really degrees for the " poor " folk, kinda like having a Chevy instead of a Rolls Royce? You have to go to an Ivy league school to get the Rolls. Isn't that the perception. Are those degrees being issued by community colleges just a cheap knock off? If you start giving them away for free that is certainly promoting that perception.
Well I just don't know. None of this is meant to disparage anyone that goes to community college or obtained a degree in that fashion. In fact I congratulate them for having achieved that. It was an expenditure on their part. They did have to work for it. I'm not insinuating in any way that their academic achievement is any less than any other one achieved in the same field of study. I do have issue with some of the " fields of study " that are being awarded degrees these days. Those degrees being issued by two year programs that basically have no real value in the market. A degree in Philosophy or Communication Arts won't land you a high paying job, you can work at McDonalds, think about life and talk to the customers.
It is those degree programs I balk about funding. If you are going to take my money, buy stuff for others with that money, I only want you to buy useful stuff. Just like I don't want you talking my money, giving to others to go grocery shopping and allowing them to buy lobster! As I said I haven't been to any college but I know about fiscal responsibilty! If everyone gets to go to college for free, for at least the first two years, how many will be signing up? How long before the schools are full and the complaining begins about over crowding? How long before someone is suing the state because they are being denied their " free " stuff? How long before I will be required to provide those " students " with free breakfast and lunch? What about laptops and I-pads. Then after having completed their degree program, how long before they sue because they should be making a lot more money, after all they have a degree! Where does that end? Can you restrict the " free " college to only those programs that are approved by the state? Yeah, good luck with that.
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