Empty Academic Calories in College

Higher Education and the Sopranos

College May Be AS Risky As Running a Prostitution Ring

The "P" Word
High schools should help students think of themselves as budding professionals in whatever field they pursue. The terms in the thesaurus for “professional” – “skilled,” “experienced,” “proficient,” “learned,” “trained,” “able,” “adept” or “masterful”—collectively express the idea. Students need to understand career success in our complicated modern world takes a set of skills associated with the concept of “professionalism.” When talking to high school students, I ask them the difference between a high school basketball player and a professional basketball player. Their initial answer is “MONEY,” which leads me to ask

College Education and Health Care
College tuition and the cost of health care are similar in that both continue to escalate. For health care, this is understandable because people are afraid of dying. Apparently, the higher education industry has been successful in using a similar fear tactic: the idea that failure to get a college degree is a death sentence for the “American Dream.” A local high school at an inner city school in Indianapolis even goes as far as to welcome students with the phrase “College or Die.” The latest issue of the electronic newsletter College Parents of America quotes Patrick Callan, the president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. He says, “G

How Citizenship is Demeaned by Colleges: Let Me Count the Ways
Does the undergraduate experience help to prepare its graduates to be responsible citizens? Given that the public relations machines of higher education spin out biased news and frequent lectures about being a good citizen, students need to look at the downside. • The high costs of a college education mean more debt for graduates who then have less time to volunteer, serve on community boards or even pay attention to public policy discourse. Graduates instead spend their time trying to make as much money as possible to pay off these debts.• The low value relative to the high cost of higher education makes students distrust most societal institutions. Stude

Liberal Arts versus Professionalism
True believers in the value of a liberal arts education usually present themselves as an alternative to the narrow, mundane and overly specialized nature of professional school education. The professional schools counter with the argument that they are relevant and that they provide students what they are paying for. Having evolved from liberal arts colleges and faculties, professional schools have too much liberal arts-envy to see or tell the truth.The truth is that liberal arts colleges are more vocational than the professional schools. The goal of most liberal arts faculty is to find the best and brightest students and then turn them into academic prodigies. An

Message to College Students: Do Well by Doing Good
No doubt that you did some community service in high school. Some of you did it because you are a good person and the reward was in the doing. Some did it as a requirement to graduate, and others saw it as a way to beef-up your college applications. Whatever the reason, volunteering in programs on campus and off campus can help you develop the skills every employer wants. Employers want skills such as a strong work ethic, communication, writing, teamwork, problem solving, and many of the crucial attributes which cannot be measured on a 4.0 scale.It might seem harsh to say, but non-profit organizations depend on volunteers and low paid workers who may have limited commitment or s