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Back in the day college was something that only those who were wealthy or very lucky managed to attend. While on the outset letting just about anyone in seems good, is it really?
If college were relegated as it once was would that actually be better?
There is a median alternative, which this country was in for a good part of the 20th century. Education wasn't just for the wealthy, nor was it an "everyone gets a trophy" free for all. That's the model we need to get back to. Available education for those who have the ability, not just the pocket book, but not wide open.
Back in the day college was something that only those who were wealthy or very lucky managed to attend.
When was that?
Back in MY day (70s), college was for the smart kids and the ones for whom college was expected (many were wealthy, but some were not!).
The wealthy paid there way; the rest got scholarships. Prices were manageable.
There were no remedial reading courses, no basic math, etc. like there are now. What a waste of tuition those are!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitt Chick
When was that?
Back in MY day (70s), college was for the smart kids and the ones for whom college was expected (many were wealthy, but some were not!).
The wealthy paid there way; the rest got scholarships. Prices were manageable.
There were no remedial reading courses, no basic math, etc. like there are now. What a waste of tuition those are!
I was going to ask the same thing, when I started college in 1970 it was very competitive, requiring a good GPA and SAT scores. It was not for the rich, in fact my state university only ran about $1,500/year so no need for student loans, you could easily make that working part-time. Many were turned down due to having lower test scores or high school GPA. My father went to UC Berkeley in 1939, and his family was anything but rich. His father worked as a laborer in an asphalt shingle plant.
I graduated from Univ. of Maryland in 1974. Through the sixties it seemed that a college degree was a guarantee to a decent job. Those who went to college had good grades and test scores and got financial aid, or were from wealthy families.
In the seventies, you still needed the grades to get in, but there was no longer the assurance of a job just because you had a degree. I can recall paying my semester's tuition and room and board for about $1200 a semester. So my degree cost me and my parents about $10000. This was as an out-of-state student. I was an only child and my folks made about $20000 a year, so that was too much income to qualify for aid.
Now, I'm an old fart and the cost of college is just staggering. I've seen friends and neighbors incur huge debt to send their kids to college to major in some crazy field of study that will not prepare them for the job world. I can only see college these days if you need a specific degree to get a specific job (i.e., engineering, accounting, medicine, law, etc.) or your family is wealthy enough that you want a "classics" degree for self-enrichment.
Otherwise, get trained in a marketable skill. Learn how to maintain robotics, fix a plane, do medical scans. This is where the future lies. Not whether or not you took the history of Romania in the 16th century. Just my two cents.
There were many levels of colleges in the 1970s. I'm not sure where people get their ideas. Having attended college during that decade, there were perhaps more choices for motivated "B" and even "C" students. Many of these small liberal arts colleges shut their doors with the growth of community colleges and infamous proprietary businesses, such as the University of Phoenix.
I firmly believe that marginal students flourish in a residential setting, and at a smaller, liberal arts college.
There was a general optimism in the 60s through early 80s. Most parents wanted their children to attend college, and saw it as entry into the middle class.
It still is. However, there is so much misinformation that has been disseminated as of late, that is anti-education.
This is yet another attempt to increase the chasm between the "haves" and "have nots" and to permanently erase the American middle class.
Achievement was certainly rewarded in the "golden era" of higher education. Better students attended more prestigious colleges.
Personally I think this is the wrong question. Flip it around. Why is demand from students up?
The answer is complex, but one key reason is because the job opportunities, particularly in manufacturing, that used to be available to those without a degree have diminished significantly. If you can't just follow mom/dad off to the factory straight out of high school college starts looking more appealing.
What are you going to do with a college degree? Well, just figure that out later.
There's some truth to the notion that college has become a place you can go while you can't find work. Ostensibly that is towards career development or retraining, but in many cases it's covering other holes in the labor or social safety nets.
Plus, given how the majority of the remaining "middle class" career tracks do increasingly require at least some post-secondary education, you can't just revert to the system we had 60 or 80 years ago without shutting off whatever avenue for economic self-improvement education does provide.
As toobusy asked, the real answer to the question as the OP asked it is "better for whom?"
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