The Evolution Of Higher Education

Deresiewicz believes that “The purpose of education in a neoliberal age is to produce producers.”(1) In his introduction, Deresiewicz compares the ideologies of colleges from the 1920s to today’s thoughts. He concluded that “College is seldom about thinking or learning anymore.”(1) He also believes that there is only one value of education now and that is commercial. The other values are tolerated only when they pertain to commercial value. With the new beliefs in neoliberalism, Deresiewicz determines that “The world is not going to change, so we don’t need young people to imagine how it might.”(3) This leads to education just being about information rather than free thinking. He then goes into discussing how there are others who have come to the realization that not everyone can have high paying jobs as well. Deresiewicz concludes that students only care about the skills needed to start their career not obtaining general knowledge. Colleges teach their students to be leaders for their own benefit not the benefit of others. The neoliberal society, Deresiewicz believes, has begun to give students “a sense of helplessness”(5) so they have no

A college education is valuable and its quality is of the highest importance to most Americans. In his essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” Mark Edmundson utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively deliver his argument that the current educational system, especially in college, revolves around consumerism which in turn has negatively impacted students, teachers, and universities in general. However, although Edmundson presents an overall logically sound argument, there are few instances throughout the article that may hinder the reliability of his claims to the audience.

Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).

“What Is College For” by Andrew Delbanco, shows the need for both a universal college system; one which caters for all of society, and one which provides a liberal education. Delbanco gives many reasoned thoughts on how, and why the college system has become restricted, to purely those of a higher socio-economic background, rather than being exclusive to people of all backgrounds. The idea of college being a platform for people to learn, advance their skills, and become whatever they want to be has seemingly diminished over time. The ideas in favor of such an educational system are put forward, but they are foreshadowed in my opinion, by the notion that people should have the same educational opportunities in life; regardless of their economic or social background. A universal education system is needed for our society to prosper, especially if it provides a liberal education; this is not just for the individuals that make up a community, but for the community, as a whole.

“The New Liberal Arts” is an article written by Sanford J. Ungar, who is a president of Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. In the beginning of his article, Ungar wrote, “Hard economic times inevitably bring scrutiny of all accepted ideals and institutions, and this time around the liberal arts education has been especially hard hit.” In other words, Ungar means that recent economic recessions have made a huge impact on what people think of going for a liberal arts degree. In his essay, Ungar lists seven misperceptions and how he reacts to them. The most common misperception that Ungar identified is that liberal arts degrees are no longer affordable. The cost for liberal arts education is very expensive while

Unfortunately, notwithstanding poet Louisa Fletcher's desire to start over, colleges and universities in the United States will not at any time soon access the Land of Beginning Again. Those institutions must enact meaningful change transitions from where they exist today, and there is much change that is needed. To wit, innovator and strategic management consultant Fred Buining asserts that higher education is in the "eye of the hurricane," which means that leaders, scholars, and educators are not doing enough to meet the challenges they face. Buining suggests that there is "no critical mass" in terms of the changes that are needed in higher education. Moreover, he believes that while today's student in colleges and universities are getting younger the professors and instructors are getting older, issues like cultural diversity and commercialization threaten institutions of higher learning. This paper reviews and critiques scholarly sources that address issues of diversity and commercialization on college and university campuses. Thesis: colleges and universities are in many respects becoming very much like corporations, and this is truly the wrong direction for higher education

The article “The Neoliberal Arts: How College Sold its Soul to the Market” is a very persuasive piece, this piece talks about how college is no longer about teaching people how to think for themselves, and form their own ideas and creations. The article talks about how college is changing to go with the idea of neoliberalism. That college is only about setting you up for your career and not for life, that the people behind the college don’t want or need something new or changing. Even though we have big global, worldwide, problems like global warming, this neoliberalism is making people only look at small, individual, or local problems instead of these big problems. Another part was about how college is no longer obligated to teach there students how to live life independent and confidante, and to think for themselves but instead to just go and do there job and work at

In an article, The Neoliberal Arts, a former liberal-arts professor claims “the purpose of education in a neoliberal age is to produce producers” (26). Throughout his article he questions what really happens at college and picks apart the students who attend. Deresiewicz fails to explain the reason neoliberalism evolved in high education by blaming students for focusing too much on their future. Neoliberalism was not caused by student’s choosing a popular major or an expensive college, it is how society is portraying higher education. Deresiewicz believes there’s nothing else we can do, belittles the power of leadership skills, and thinks free college will solve the problem. He encourages the students to conduct a “sense of meaning” for him

As time goes on, Neoliberalism has progressively had a larger impact on the youth enrolling in colleges following high school. As these students enter these colleges, the idea of neoliberalism is being attached to their attendance and tends to have some effect on their status. Places of higher education have furthermore been linked to the ever-changing tendencies that neoliberalism produces. Neoliberalism is defined as “blending liberal political views with an emphasis on economic growth” (The Free Dictionary, 2003). Neoliberalism has had a lasting impact on the youth of today had has affected higher education overall.

Furthermore, by receiving post-secondary degree students would be provided with opportunity to increase their education and experience necessary for the job market. Article refers to the 19th century when higher education began as private as the new nation began. However, in the 1920s, the Congress provided a broader portion of students with a chance of getting higher education with support of federal programs. The author states that appearing of neoliberalism limits the influence of government and widens the role of market in people’s lives. Consequently, when Ronald Reagan was elected a governor in California in 1966, the government cancelled all the support for free education. Because of the influence of neoliberalism, students started to

Additionally, S. Georgia Nugent concentrates on the relationship between business and university throughout the United States of America, in The Odd Couple: “University” and “Business”. He suggests that many involved within the university community do not believe that there is a relationship between business and university. However, the author seems to believe that there is a relatively strong relationship between the two. This article is different in that it revolves around the idea of higher education being likened to a “‘bottom-line’ business enterprise” (Nugent, 2010). Nugent suggests that higher education is valued more today than ever, but its cost is the most frustrating it has ever been. Even though, this is highly disputed, the author

“My premise is that the values of the market and the culture and organizational style of corporate life are changing the university”, (Steck, 68.) Further, he analogizes this

In higher education capitalism can be characterized as “embedded market logic and market practices”(Altbach, Bastedo, & Gumport, 2016) within institutions. As higher education becomes more entrepreneurial the focus on knowledge shifts from being perceived as a public good to a product to be capitalized on. State and federal policies market towards students because they perceive them as consumers of institutions. A positive of capitalism, is that you have schools competing with one another, which prevents schools from becoming stagnant, and keeps them evolving. It can aid in schools evaluating faculty strengths and help inform decisions to be made by college administrators. A negative is that a college can begin to operate like business. Some

“My premise is that the values of the market and the culture and organizational style of corporate life are changing the university”, (Steck, 68.) Further, he analogizes this

For this assignment I will act like I have been recently hired by Nobody State University as a consultant to help the university to increase their total revenue. I already knew that the university has been struggling since the last couple of year I need to help them to find the right solution so the university can survive.