Death by Degrees resonated with my view
of the conundrum of higher education. Students are coerced to pay into a system
of accreditation for the prospect high paying jobs at the cost of a lowered
emphasis on education and mammoth debt awaiting the new graduates.
College should be
the foundation of a deeper education that enriches the individual’s interests
and rewards them not the establishment that gives trophies away to those have who
spent a due amount of hours in a curriculum. However, after discussing possible
careers with a counselor, I was advised to not pursue a master’s degree, but
rather a doctorate to be distinguished. This is the backward belief that
credentials are equal to actual knowledge or skills. The goal of students is no
longer to absorb, comprehend, and manipulate their knowledge to become affluent
professionals, but instead the goal is survival, with the credit hours passed as
a sign to others that these accredited persons should be affluent professionals. This is a common college experience noted in
Death by Degrees, as more students
discover completing hours is preferable to learning major information.
The devaluation of
higher education is not the only issue with higher education. The almighty
student debt is possibly the most relatable scornful object in college
education. With most student debt being higher than home mortgages,
accreditation traps many students into a paradox of going to college to accept
high pay in exchange for high debts. If college is sidestepped, the likelihood
of finding work with a decent wage and benefits are slim compared to having a
degree. If it were not for scholarships, I too would have accumulated a
ridiculous amount of debt over a first semester. If college is an investment in
one’s own future, then why enter into something that practically guarantees
another mortgage after graduation. The unfortunate answer is accreditation, as
employers must discern who is optimal for a job and the most efficient way is
to stratify based on credentials. This soon becomes a cat and mouse game, as
students chase credentials at their own expense.
Devaluing college
education and forcing students into debts are tangible to all college students.
Who among us aren’t focusing on getting the hours needed and eliminating our
debt. Death by Degrees underscores
this current college predicament.
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