I have recently completed a piece looking at education’s role in our society and how it plays into a larger conversation about wealth and inequality. That said, the problems with our education system are not at all limited to financial ones. This piece is the companion to that argument.
There are other, more difficult-to-resolve issues with the way our system functions. The below piece was originally published as a half-formed idea on Medium, but I’ve only grown to believe more strongly in it as time has elapsed. In any education discussion, the personality of students should have a place. This is that place.
A horrible compromise
Those who are critical of higher education and the funding thereof typically make two arguments. The first is that the cost system is broken at its core and we need to fix that prior to the government stepping in to cover all students’ costs. I agree with them, but that’s irrelevant. A problem? Yes. The problem? No.
The second argument is that “college isn’t for everyone.” The meaning of that ultimately is: “try though we might, not everyone is cut out to be a scientist, so stop pretending everyone should go to college.” I suppose I agree with that as well, but it once again misses the point. A problem? Yes. The problem? No.
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