The Purpose Of Higher Education

Andrew Delbanco’s essay “A college Education: What is its purpose?” gives three reasons why college still matters. Delbanco teaches at Columbia University, where he’s the director of American studies and has written several books on the meaning and benefits of college. Delbanco, begins his essay by discussing what college means to each individual student. He states, “For many more students, college means the anxious pursuit of marketable skills in overcrowded, under resourced institutions. For still others, it means traveling by night to a fluorescent office building or to a “virtual classroom” that only exists in cyberspace.” (1) Delbano successfully uses pathos to appeal to his audience’s emotions, his personal experience and anecdotal combine to persuade his readers to consider or realize the importance of receiving a college education, however his essay contains minor flaws that can counteract his claims.

Colleges and Universities are institutions of higher learning. These institutions are continuously changing and evolving as means for preparing their students for the ever changing and evolving world. The institutions' curriculums and courses that are offered to the students are reflections of those changes. Higher learning institution's graduate students will learn how to conduct research into new theories, conduct experiments that have never been done and analyze social changes for the betterment of all. Our technological and economic growth is dependent on what types of students the universities and colleges are producing. This is one of the vital aspects of the importance of a higher education.

College, a universal, fundamental concept that the globe utilizes. Through a wide array of variations, countries across the world have developed their own meaning of what higher education is. However, the underlying tone of it all is the same, furthering one’s knowledge. With a vast number of schools from a broad range of locations trying to pull the population in, colleges compete with different tactics ranging from education relevance to evaluation. Consequently, problems have arisen from these approaches, addressed along the lines in an article called “A New Course” by Magdalena Kay, an associate professor of English at the University of Victoria and an educational film, “Ivory Tower” by Andrew Rossi, a graduate of Harvard and Yale University and a filmmaker. Furthermore, these problems change the meaning of college itself, no longer seen as an education, but as a commodity.

Higher education in the United States, today, is a modified derivative of colonial American higher education. To understand its purpose, it is imperative to contextualize its founding.

Description: Make an argument to define higher education in a way that readers will find illuminating given the essays and excerpts from Chapter 19, “America’s Colleges: Issues and Concerns,” in Read, Reason, Write. You must cite at least two of the readings from Chapter 19 to support your argument. Take care not to define higher education as a dictionary, encyclopedia, or other outside source defines it. Instead, articulate a precise and defendable definition of your own, a definition whose merits you explain throughout your paper.

Pursuing a higher education empowers me with the gracious skills of lifelong learning and an appetite for intellectual growth, and personal development. The motivation to pursue higher education first comes from my parents who have been instrumental in encouraging me to accomplish my goals. As a child, I loved playing doctor with my father, who suffered with a silent disability of Post-Traumatic Stress disorder creating a physiological disorder. For years, I dreamed of becoming a doctor where my fingers had healing powers, that magically transform my father to his former self. I appreciate his influence in my pursuit of medicine. His voyage through the medical profession has shown me the importance of obtaining a higher education when your passion aligns with your heart. Education is the key to creating the change that I wish to see, not only for myself, but for the world around me.

As wasteful as it may seem, college graduates working in fields that don t even require a

In outlining the historical development of American colleges and universities, Greiger (2011) illustrated the fact that the tensions present today in higher education between the purpose and function of post-secondary education have been ever present since the inception of American colleges. I found it interesting that many of the initial colleges failed, restructured themselves (undergraduates vs graduates), or made the decision to forgo government support (Harvard and Yale) in order to hold fast to the ideals thought to be most sacred surrounding the purpose of higher education (prestige, exposure to “the classics”, and exclusivity) and in rebellion to the idea that higher education ought to serve as a function of society. I also found it

As a woman from a very long line of passionate learners, it is only right for me to continue the tradition. On my mother’s side of the family, a majority of my elder relatives had completed some form of higher education. My great-grandmother was a certified seamstress, my grandmother and aunt are certified nurses, my uncle received his degree in chemical engineering, and my mother and father received their degrees in liberal arts. Growing up with educated, successful, well-traveled African-American role models throughout my life provided me with the drive and inspiration to pursue my higher education as well! Although some people may believe that receiving a college degree and traveling the world represents wealth, but in my family, it represents effort to give back to the community. My grandmother, mother and sister have all traveled to South Africa to assist provide free-services to poverty-stricken neighborhoods.

This essay discusses the journey of my previous educational experiences, lessons learned from the past and further reflections on how to approach future challenges and expectations of a university course. Altbach, P. G., Gumport, P. J. & Berdahl, R. O. (Eds.). (2011) explained that higher education always brings considerable challenges for new students in becoming knowledgeable and triumph over the barriers that may impact on learning. University course requires a student to be self-motivated, challenging, capable, concerned, active, energetic and vibrant. Maintaining the balance in learning and nourishing in university is the beginning of the journey of a new student in higher education.

Since time immemorial, education has been undoubtedly and certainly the most significant component of development for not only the individual that help them in achieving their status and prosperity but also for the entire country's economic growth and equity. Besides, higher education is a necessity that can lead the nation towards success, growth and maturity (Gumport, 2007).

53) After the Enactment of the American Service Mans Act of 1946 also known as the

“On the Uses of a Liberal Education” by Mark Edmundson examines the relationship between the ways of college students and the universities they attend. He states that students lack passion and avoid taking educational chances to challenge themselves. Edmundson also has the idea that all of his students, except for a few outliers, are cowardly and unwilling to pursue higher paths of education. According to Edmundson, the universities are to blame; the main purpose of the universities being to appease the wants and needs of students. This consumer culture created by universities is unknowingly perpetuated by the students who wish to attend. Edmundson concludes with ideas of how to improve this relationship: getting rid

The idea of Higher Education is a crucial thread in the fabric of this nation, woven through our culture, beliefs and politics. The best of American Higher Education outstrips any others in the world and the output of American Institutions is unparalleled. To stay competitive and expand the current education horizon, different types of institutions, evolve and prioritize differently to ensure the best education quality to targeted students. However, today Higher Education is facing more challenges and critiques than at any other point in history. Indeed, when encountering the unavoidable struggle between pleasing students and following government regulations, colleges start to rouse from their academic wish-fulfillment fantasies and realize that the idea of Higher Education does not swab away the realism of this materialistic world: higher education cannot simply satisfy everyone. Three distinctive educational models, public universities, non-profit private universities and for-profit universities, demonstrate the complex dynamic among schools, government and students. Although the three educational models share different education philosophy and serve multiple objectives, they all have the same purpose in the end: to help one realize his or her own unique potential in order to manage the diversity of expectations and challenges one would face in the society.

The purpose of university education is not only to gain more knowledge for future careers, but to educate people from becoming illiterate. University education was first established in 1636 by John Harvard. His first purpose was to train students to becoming Christian ministers, which resulted into a prestigious school for students to attend. Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts was primarily a puritan college because of the era of strict religious beliefs in society. Students that attended Harvard were very wealthy because of the high costs that was in demand to receive a higher education at a private university. As years past, students were not able to continue their education after high school because they did not have the money to attend a private university, so the idea of a public university would be established in 1795. The University of North Carolina was the first public university that gave people who were not rich an opportunity to receive a higher education, and democratize education for everyone. This university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina was established by William Richardson Davie. As more universities were being developed, a new system of higher education would be introduced in 1901. The first public community college was Joliet Junior College. Founded under Superintendent J. Stanley Brown and William Rainey Harper, President of the University of Chicago. This new system of higher education gave more people the opportunity to go