A recent article by syndicated columnist Walter E. Williams appeared in my local newspaper, titled “How Good an Investment is College?”  In it he reveals several startling facts, among them that 77 percent of high school graduates taking the ACT college entrance exams in 2007 were unprepared to do college level work.  He also reports 45 percent of entering freshmen never graduate and fewer than half of all college graduates possess basic skills of critical thinking, writing and problem-solving.  He contends the nation’s universities use “bait and switch” tactics to “confer fraudulent degrees and engage in other practices justifying legal sanctions if done by any other business.”  It’s clear the author questions the value of a college education, concluding it’s not worth what it costs.

As a long-time admirer of Walter Williams, I can dismiss neither his statistics nor his consternation.  I too doubt the value of many degrees awarded each year by the nation’s universities.  In particular, I wonder whether the holder of a bachelor’s degree in social arts, for example, will ever recover the money many renowned institutions now charge to administer four years of inane academic machinations which result in a sheepskin award.

With these sentiments in mind, it’s time to view the value of higher learning from a different angle.  The issue is fundamental: Must a college diploma cost a king’s ransom?  Although there is general agreement that advanced education is necessary, there’s no consensus as to exactly what constitutes first rate schooling.  If today’s institutions of higher learning share one thing in common, it is the hyperbole each exhibits in promoting itself.  Scholastic reputation, whether real or perceived, is a marketing tool, and there seems no limit to the claims of excellence used to induce students to attend, alumni to endow, and prestigious educators to affiliate.  Above all else, higher education is big business in every sense of the word.  The result is as you might anticipate: Large numbers of students throughout the nation obtain their college diplomas at a huge financial cost.  Whether the funds are provided by parents, many who must literally mortgage their own existence, or by students who graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, the sacrifice is often immense. 

While we’re on the subject of money, we’ll scrutinize a few numbers.  Despite the costs of attending certain private universities, where annual tuitions, fees, room, and board, can exceed $40,000, there are many far less expensive schools.  Here in my state, the annual tuition (technically referred to as a “fee”) for resident students in the California State University system  is in the $3,500 to $4,000 range.  Even lower on the financial totem pole are the community colleges where a full-time student can attend for $600 per year.

The question then becomes, how might a prospective student best select from among the many institutions?  I hold firm opinions on this.  Essentially I disfavor the standard methods such as recommendations of school counselors, ratings by such resources as Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges, or the brochures and press releases issued by each university.  Instead, my approach advocates college-on-the-cheap, where the student seeks first-rate learning at the lowest cost.  My blueprint calls for the first two years at a local community college followed by two years at a state university, commuting from home.  Used textbooks can normally be purchased at a fraction of the cost of new ones, either from the school bookstore, or directly from a student just completing the course.  This not only trims expense, but offers a serendipitous effect—the book often contains important portions underlined, and helpful comments and notations included in the margins.  Furthermore, the student should spend each summer at a job, so to earn at least a portion of the year’s education costs.  There is something about working which adds an important dimension to learning.

Let me acknowledge, many will brand my program an outline for mediocrity.  I’m familiar with the claims: Unless a student attends a prestigious university, the education received will be second-rate.  Lord knows, the academic community has repeated this catechism for decades, and it’s believed by many persons.  The actual fact is four years at Harvard or Princeton Universities does not impart, to a talented and dedicated student, learning in any way superior to the 4-year program I’ve outlined.  Nonetheless, countless parents will spend unbelievable sums and deprive themselves of many things, at the risk to their own eventual retirement, so their progeny can attend the idealized institution.  No doubt many parents feel no financial limit can be set when it comes to providing their offspring with the ultimate gift.  However, a fortune spent by parents who can ill afford it, jeopardizing their own financial well-being, is money pathetically wasted.  Actually, the finest gift a parent can give a child is an assurance the child will never be required to support their indigent parents in later years.

Let me offer a testimonial of sorts, reaffirming my belief that the academic source of education is far less important than the student’s efforts, and further, neither the architectural characteristics of the campus and classrooms nor the credentials of its professors will determine the extent of learning acquired by a motivated student.  My mastery of algebra in no way suffered by my classroom being a primitively lighted and ventilated Quonset hut.  Similarly my grasp of partnership law is sound, despite a one-time nameless and faceless course instructor located in a post office box two thousand miles away.  Admittedly, a smiling and enthusiastic professor in an elite university adds a touch of stature to the process, but the eager student who strives to learn will do so regardless of the accouterments.

I’d like to conclude with a response to those critics who contend a degree from an institution without an exalted reputation will forever stigmatize its holder.  To you, I pose this question: Do you actually know from what schools your dentist, attorney, accountant, and physician received their bachelors’ degrees?