Tye, Daniel. (2009). Problems in Higher Education

Post-secondary education has been available for those who wish to sharpen their academic prowess in America even before it became independent of Great Britain. Now, nearly a decade into the new millennium, post-secondary education has almost become a given for those who wish to succeed at a career and live above the poverty level. Institutions of higher learning are facing both old and new problems. These problems, if not remedied, could potentially cause the downfall of the university system and cause further harm to the reputation of our nation. This essay is being written in order to raise awareness of the crisis befalling universities across the nation. Problems facing these institutions include, but are not limited to: a need to restructure the university system, the idea of general education, and various pitfalls in the graduate education program.

To begin, the restructuring of the university is the key to its efficiency and survival. Departments at most universities are rigid, unchanging, and merely coexist with each other. Professors are given tenure, which allows them to be extremely independent of their coworkers and teach what they believe is relevant to the course (Taylor). This independence among professors does not allow for necessary collaboration. Tenure and such broad academic freedom cause narrow scholarship, and overly specific training and data that is rarely relevant to future careers (Taylor). Undergraduate and graduate students alike will continue to be ill prepared entering their careers, if the university model is not restructured to encompass a more collaborative effort among professors at achieving broad scholarship. Another matter relating to the efficiency of the university is communication with secondary schools. High school students are more likely to take advanced, specialized classes in order to be noticed by universities (Reid). Thus, although students may have outstanding test scores and have taken classes that make them stand out from their peers it may take a while for students to become acclimated to the college experience. This is a hard problem to remedy; however, the solution may lie within combining secondary and post secondary schools in the future.

Another problem that must be addressed lies within the idea of a “general education”. General education in university today is often used by professors as a way to get out of “general education.” Liberal education requires to students to be trained in multiple facets of their selected fields. What general education allows professors to do is to focus on aspects of their “specialty fields”, while a student may suffer the consequences in an increasingly competitive world. Another problem in granting degrees in general education is less obvious. Rather than training students to learn and to fulfill the goals of liberal education, professors are training them to be prepared for graduate school (Connor). These practices, again, relate to the idea of departments working together. That seems much more efficient than being a class a non major must struggle through in order to meet a prerequisite.

Still another notable set of problems with post-secondary education are the many pitfalls in the current graduate school programs. The major problem found with grad school programs is best described by Mr. Mark Taylor of the New York Times: “The dirty secret of higher education is that without underpaid graduate students to help in laboratories and with teaching, universities couldn’t conduct research or even instruct their growing undergraduate populations. That’s one of the main reasons we still encourage people to enroll into doctoral programs. It is simply cheaper to provide graduate students with modest stipends and adjuncts with as little as $5,000 a course -with no benefits- then it is to hire full-time professors.” This system, prevalent among universities, has no easy solution without considering extreme financial overhaul of the entire university system. Another problem a graduate student faces is heavy competition among a growing number of peers and few position openings. The benefits between starting a career out of high school and after achieving an undergraduate degree are still considerable, but steadily declining. This has led to many more undergraduates taking advantage of the benefits offered through masters and doctoral programs. This overcrowding of these programs is another issue not easily solved.

In conclusion, America’s post-secondary education programs are in need of a serious overhaul. While there are plausible solutions to all the problems listed in this essay, there is a need for joint individual and cooperative effort among universities in order for education in America to thrive once again.

Bibliography

Caitlin Reid, K. H.-C. (n.d.). "Re-envisioning Education and Democracy." . Retrieved from The Bridge Program: Connecting Performance-Based Reform with Post-Secondary Education.

Connor, R. W. (2005, November 17). College Makeover. Retrieved from Slate Magazine.

Taylor, M. C. (2009, April 26). End of the University as we Know It. Retrieved from The New York Times.