Burton, Talia: Credentialing

            In the thought-provoking essay “Death by Degrees,” the writers explain their views on the current system of higher education in America and its negative effects on society. The system ensures that the average high school graduate must pay exorbitant sums of money in order to obtain a bachelor's degree. If one wants to get a decent career, one also must get a master's degree, or even a doctorate. In their view, the whole system is undemocratic and ensures that the country is being controlled by a few rich elite.

            Many points of this article are valid. I came to college planning to get a bachelor's degree, only to find that in order to teach, I most likely will need a master's degree as well. Bachelor's degrees are simultaneously getting more common and more expensive. They are worth now what a high school degree was worth years ago. And, as with the example from Obama's cabinet, the writers pointed out that if you want a prestigious position in government, you must be educated at an Ivy League College (not at SAU).

            If college is too expensive, too much of a requirement for decent employment, then what should the solution be? The writers believe the answer is for the educated elite to shed their degrees and slowly work on bringing down the whole system of college, in a romantic, revolutionary notion of “standing with the 99%.” It is on this point, however, that I disagree.

            If master's degrees and doctorates (and perhaps even bachelor's degrees) were abolished altogether, I cannot see a bright future. Though some students are ready to go into their professional field of choice right after high school, the majority are not. I would not want an undereducated doctor operating on me or prescribing medication. However I also understand that many cannot become doctors, not because they are unqualified, but because medical school is too expensive.

            I believe that in order to improve our current system of college, education should be reformed from the bottom up. Then the system must ensure that the right people are handling the right jobs—not only the rich people who could afford the education. Scholarships are an example of trying to ensure that those from poor backgrounds have equal opportunity to become as credentialed as those that don't. But there will never be a perfect answer, or a society that does not give power to the rich, educated, or privileged. To think otherwise is overly-optimistic—but something we should strive for.