News articles are often told by way of polls, as in, "this percent of college graduates believe X" while "this percent of Americans believe Y" and so forth. I don't believe this is a very constructive way to discuss the issue, but then again, modern media is very focused on public polling, since obviously if something is believed by the majority, then it must be true.* I personally believe that even the ridiculously overpriced tuitions of many private schools are worth it, in many regards, but I don't really wish to discuss this in great detail.
What this made me think of, however, was what students do to get the most out of their (or their parents') money. In my courses, I teach scientists who may or may not go on to continue "doing science," but they are majors in this particular field (I am for the moment not thinking about the students taking classes outside their major), and thus are interested to some degree in learning about science. Depending on how many courses a student takes each semester, the cost per hour for a given class is on the order of $100 for this particular (private) university.
There is sometimes an attitude that I have noticed both here and at other institutions (sometimes even among graduate students who are not paying at all, but instead being paid to go to school!) that the students are here to be taught, which is very different than the students being here to learn.
For example, I had a discussion with a student the other day, about a different class he was in. He discussed his severe disappointment with how the class was taught (often a complaint made about many professors, I'm sure about myself as well at times), and that he didn't learn anything in the course. I responded with the idea that this is a moment that he, as a student, should have stepped up and worked that much harder to get as much out of the class as he could, by looking at other resources and finding ways to learn the material in other ways. The typical response emerged, that being, "Well, I was really busy with other courses."
This is a sentiment I understand. I am relatively young, and recall my undergraduate days (for now) very well, and I get it. But I also remember wanting to work as hard as possible to understand everything I could, at least in my major classes. I get a sense that this is not the norm, that many students expect to be taught everything but not have to do any additional work on their own. I do not have enough experience to know when this trend began, and perhaps it has always been the norm, and I was an outlier. (Most likely if this is true, it is true for all academics.)
So discussions of whether or not college is "worth it" bug me, because it all depends on the individual student. In fact, there are some of my students that seem to not put any effort whatsoever in their classes. I feel as though they think that they are paying a lot of money for a college degree and expect to get it, even though they do very little of the work. I look at those students and believe that college is not worth it for them. These are most likely students who thought Science was cool, and wanted to major in it without really understanding the work involved.
They will leave school with a mediocre knowledge of the subject matter, thinking that the piece of paper they receive will be their ticket to do anything. The problem will arise if they try to get a position that "needs" their specific Science degree, as any employer will interview them and realize how little they know. Having the degree is necessary for many jobs nowadays, but having the knowledge is essential for getting a job that actually uses the degree you have.
They do not seem to understand this.
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* Please note the sarcasm.
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