O'Hara, Casey: Credentialing

            Emphasis is forever being placed on getting a better education. From the time we start Kindergarden, there is the underlying understanding in middle class society that the point of education is to go to college to get "the best education." But who is to determine the value of this education- is it the ones pursuing the knowledge or the capitalists of society dictating a diploma as equal to social class.

            Western education has held the tradition of producing "not learning but graduates, with teaching subordinated to the process of certification...to keep their numbers scarce and their services expensive" (Editors).

            The value of a degree is becoming less impressive as it is being pursued by more people. A bachelor's degree now holds the same value as a high school diploma did twenty years ago. Right now, there are thousands of workers holding a degree that is worthless to their professions. Not only does this devalue the worth of a degree, but it also wastes thousands of dollars on a useless education. Although this provides a hefty profit for banks providing student loans, it depletes the economic opportunity of the student.

            Professional careers are some of the only jobs that need a degree to succeed. In the majority of careers, the skills and tools one needs to succeed can be learned on the job. Society needs to refocus from professional jobs back to service and skill jobs. Although there are some needed professional jobs, there are an equal if not a more numerous amount of skill-based jobs available. These jobs do not necessarily have to be flipping burgers or working retail; work such as mechanics, construction, welding, or other hands-on jobs are the jobs right now that no one has, but are greatly needed.        However, because of society's push towards education, these jobs are not always filled as they should be.  The Editors state, "Dignity must be restored to labor, and power and ecumenicism to labor unions. On the other side the reverse must happen: dignity must be drained from the credential. Otherwise, the accreditation arms race will become more fearsome."

            Society needs to be more educated about their education. If a job does not require a degree-—don't get one. If a professional job needs a degree—get one. There is not always a need to go in debt or waste time on a degree one does not necessarily need.

Ogletree, Jeremy: Credentialing

                  Traditionally, the sure way to get a dependable and enjoyable job is to go to college and get a degree of some sort, be it Bachelor, Master, or Doctorate. While this has held true for many years past, this pattern may be even more pronounced in the future. It is becoming more of a necessity to get a college degree in order to have a job and soon only learned people will be able to obtain well paying jobs. This will force more people to acquire degrees which will, in turn, force more people into unemployment because they do not have the appropriate credentials. This rise in unemployment would be exponentially expanding, creating chaos as the people with lower level degrees would no longer be able to get jobs because others with higher level degrees are already occupying all the available job spaces. In order to keep job spaces open, the lengths that citizens must go to in order to achieve college degrees are going to continue to grow in complexity.  College has been getting progressively more expensive since the early 20th century. Today the cost to attend college long enough to get a degree is at an all time high. This is to try to help thin the number of students out so that not as many will be degree holders. Colleges also hold the power to continuously raise their prices because they know that people will continue to pay the increasing prices in order to get their desired diplomas to achieve better paying jobs.

December 2012 Grads: Jones and Novotny

The Honors College congratulates its Winter 2012 graduates Daveante Jones (left) and Alex Novotny (right). Jones will attend law school and Novotny will pursue a career in theatre.

Honors College Donors Give Suraj an iPad Mini

David Wingfield presents Suraj Manandhar, Honors College graduate assistant, with a 32 mb, white, iPad Mini as a graduation present.

Honors College graduate assistant Suraj Manandhar recently received an engraved iPad Mini to commemorate his graduation. He will receive a MS in Computer and Information Sciences on Friday, December 14, 2012.

The inscription of the back of his iPad reads:

Suraj Manandhar, MS, 2012, SAU
Computer and Information Science

In addition, a thank you note enclosed in the box read as follows:

The Honors College thanks you for your time and efforts!

During his time with the Honors College Suraj was the indispensable person in charge of the college's servers. He also contributed many software innovations including the SAU Map iOS app. He will be sorely missed.

No public funds were used to provide Suraj with the iPad Mini. Donors were David Rankin, Donna Allen, Jasper Lewis, Trey Berry, Paul McLendon, Jan Duke, John Hawkins, Deborah Wilson, and David Wingfield. The Honors College thanks them for their generosity.

Canada, Trent: Credentialing

                  After reading the article “Death by Degrees” I have been forced to think more critically on the situation that Americans face today in the world of higher education. I have also started to reflect on my own educational journey.

                  “Death by Degrees” has also raised an important question for me to ponder on. What would happen to me if I did not graduate or complete graduate school? This question alone kind of scares me because I understand it is going to be a hard to earn my bachelor’s degree, but it is vital that I graduate and attend graduate school. A bachelor’s degree will simply not be enough for me to advance in the workforce, so I will have to attend graduate school to achieve the status that I want. As the article states, if bachelor’s degrees become more common then it becomes almost mandatory to achieve a masters to have any kind of advanced rank. In my education goals, being a psychiatrist requires a doctorate which would only mean disaster if I did not finish my education.

                  The article also made me ask myself another question.  Am I being forced to become credentialed in today’s society? I do not believe that I am being forced by my parents but I do agree with the article on some points. I believe that society is forcing me to become more credentialed. In today’s workforce, it is almost impossible to have a moderate or high paying job without having a masters or Doctoral degree. Therefore, I believe that my generation and those following me are being forced to become over educated.

                  The last question that I was forced to think about was probably the hardest. What is an alternative to become credentialed? I believe that there are a few ways but I also believe that to become successful you have to be credentialed to be advanced in you line of work. Like the article states, it is harder for someone with a lower level degree to have the leg up. So I think that there is no real alternative to becoming credentialed. Even if you are an entrepreneur you are going to need some kind of background or credentials.

                  Reading “Death by Degrees” was very eye opening and forced me to think critically on a situation that we face everyday.

Dao, Hai: Credentialing

             In the article, Death by Degrees, the N+1 editors remind us that credentials do not always bring benefits to education. Social, economic, and political force will concentrate onto a few people if we still effectuate the pay-to-play education system. The article also criticizes the system that demands expensive, time-consuming higher education in order to access professional and political life.

             At the beginning of the article, the N+ 1 editors told a story about the education system of Chinese empire. If someone wanted to a politician, he had to pass the exam which required the memorization of 400,000 Chinese words. In order to pass it, students had to hire an expensive tutor. That meant that poor people hardly ever had a chance to pass the exam. As time went on, more and more passed the first round. Soon, there were more degree-holders than there were positions. So the emperor decided to make the exam harder. Only 0.16 percent candidates passed all three exams to get a bureaucratic job. They were all “elite”. And “elite” was defined by only three exams.

            Back to the present, in education there still exists a thing called “elite”. It is the word describing students who enroll in Ivy League colleges. To be an elite student, one has to pay a lot of money and spend much time studying. A student must sacrifice to pay attention to his studying. When successful, that student wishes to become a one-percent rule creator. Is it fair enough when those who can calculate faster are the bosses? The educational system is turning into a credentialed pay-to-play stratified feudal system. Because most students are interested in getting high-paying jobs, employers only choose some who graduated from top-tier colleges. What happens nowadays is similar to feudal China. Only when students are in the best colleges will they have more chances to get high-paying jobs. It creates a race to get more accreditations. Then the credentials will be devalued.

            What would happen if I did not go to college? I imagine how difficult my life would be if it really happened. I could not get a high position in company (unless I establish it). I cannot become involved in political systems because politicians never hire people who have never met an undergraduate program before. If something can replace credentialing, it is on the job experience. Credentials are very important to evaluate the ability to work, but if people are evaluated a person by credentials, the difference between poor and rich people will widen.

Plunk, Ashley: Credentialing

The article "Death by Degrees" explains how in China the education system was started. Today’s economy requires a degree in order to have a good paying and more secure job; the alternate is working a low paying job, like at McDonalds.

    If I do not finish college, I would not be able to go home. I would get a job and begin a life. That shows that I have no choice. I am being forced to get my college education, but in reality, a bachelor’s degree won’t get me anywhere.

    With the economy the way it is, I must have knowledge enough to know what I am doing in the workplace and the ability to function under any circumstances. Still I will be completely restricted as to what jobs I can seek. I can’t be everything. In a way, it is modern day slavery. I have to get an education because I want a good paying job, but at the same time I will be working jobs that require my abilities for the rest of my life. In the article, if applicants did not pass the test, they did not get very far in life. That is the same today. Taxi drivers pay $200 an hour for SAT tutors. What taxi driver can afford that? Also, I don’t want to be working the same job my whole life. Ironically, my plan is to take over my parents ad business; neither of them went to college.

    This raises questions, why must I be required to spend four more years of my life learning about something while my parents didn’t have to? Why is today’s generation held to different standards than previous ones? In China, the education system ended up being for people who could afford it. Now it is we students who go, or we suffer severe consequences with little help from the people whose opinions we value higher than others: our parents.

    For me there is no room for mistakes now, otherwise my life goes down a completely unwanted path. My peers and I are forced to get a secondary education and start a life. But, why disregard what happens to us when our plans don’t work out for the best in every situation?

Daniel, Hauwa: Credentialing

            People are generally bound to be successful or to fail at certain points in their lives, socially and educationally. "Death by Degrees" is an article that explains the system of education and how it affects individuals. The high cost of education and the long time spent in school are good reasons why most persons will not want to be credentialed.

            Higher cost in education is a huge reason why people would not want to have an education. In the article there is an example about a taxi driver who spends $200 an hour to hire a tutor for his children. However, not everyone can afford such an expense to educate their child, so education becomes an unattainable idea and parents decide to invest their money in something they find interesting that will bring back more money. In this situation, only the rich can educate their children and then it becomes a thing of pride, whereas for the common people it becomes a thing of less importance because they feel they must provide for the household and pay off bills. That leads to more uneducated people becoming slaves of the educated and no one listening to the uneducated because they have no credentials even when they do have a point.

            Furthermore, spending a long time in school is a source of discouragement to most students. For instance, Johns Hopkins introduced the standard formula that students must attend four years of college and an additional four years in medical school. Also, Institutions that did not follow this rule did not get donations. From my analysis, spending eight years is college is discouraging and, sometimes, individuals will change their majors while others will not attempt to finish. It is even worst for those that want to go to school and cannot afford it. Eventually, schools become self interested and look at benefits from tuition rather than being concerned about education itself.

            In general, I will say that high cost of education and long time spent in school are two factors that will lessen the number of the credentialed. The article notes that the educated will use their credentials to intimidate the uneducated just as those with master's degrees will intimidate baccalaureate degree holders thereby making education harder and more expensive. Knowledge is the key to success but not when it has a self-interested price tag on it.

White, Jerlyn: Credentialing

   

            With a failing economy and a sinking work force, jobs are becoming scarce. The unavailability of work has led people to seek degrees to get an upper hand in the competition for survival. In China, people born during the first meritocracy were rewarded for their success and that led more people to want to be successful. Today, most people are struggling to provide for their family and self. In order to succeed, a person has to become well educated. Some people are forced to become credentialed, but most want it for themselves. Having credentials leads to a better life. Although some may disagree, education is what separates the rich from the poor. As mentioned in the article many students face a lot of debt after graduating from colleges or professional schools. I have many friends who have taken out huge loans just to pay for college. They may have to repay them for the rest of their lives. Is it worth it? The more credentialed people become the better opportunities they will have in the job world. The thought of success, a better life, and fewer struggles is what drives people to want to have credentials. In the article people faced many downsides when trying to get their credentials. Sometimes blood was even shed. That shows just how important education is. Despite the cost, college is a very wise choice. If people don’t further their education they may experience many economic problems; life will not be easy. If they decide to further their education, they will experience economic problems for a while, but they may find a great job. Having credentials doesn’t guarantee success; instead, it promotes a greater probability of becoming successful. Clarence Thomas graduated from Yale Law School and still faced problems in the job market! So why do people want to become credentialed? If a person without credentials and a regular person both applied for the same job, the person with credentials would get the job 99% of the time. In today’s society everyone is fighting for each and every job available so it would only make sense to want to be credentialed. The alternative to becoming credentialed is to work at an undesirable job and live paycheck to paycheck. For many people today, earning credentials is the only option.

Vanhoose, Justin: Credentialing

            Being a member of an elite vs. feeling the need of a meritocracy—these two views have clashed for centuries. Dating back to 605 CE in China to the present in the United States, the need to be educated, and preferably at the most elite schools, is still instilled today. Whether it be Harvard or Yale, coming from top tier schools can be a huge social status advantage when determining future employment.

            In 605 CE Yang Guang murdered his father for the throne. Yang was tired of people using only their letters of recommendation to excel in the bureaucratic world, so he composed a series of examinations to test people’s ability in learning and intelligence, creating the first meritocracy. However, the tests soon led to paid off examiners and other methods of cheating. To pass the test, hours of study and expensive tutors were required and. The test was almost an abomination, a disease in which the Chinese had the longing to be involved in the elitist program. In order to be successful people had to pass this examination and that created a lot of pressure and eventual disappointment for those who failed.

            The authors believe the same process is occurring presently in the United States, especially in the bureaucratic world. The university has almost replaced the labor union as the most important institution and has become the backbone of this country. The need to not only excel in education but also graduate from the top tier of universities has formed sort of elitist guild like structure. Today, every justice on the Supreme Court judge has attended Yale or Harvard and 22 of Obama’s cabinet members graduated from Ivy League schools. The bureaucratic world and the people of power have formed an elite guild where a degree from a top tier school is required. In the 1950s, only a fifth of the Supreme Court justices had such degrees.

The feeling of wanting an elite colllege education is gripping the nation by storm. Kids now respond with, “I want to go to college,” rather than stating their dreams of wanting to be a doctor or lawyer. A debt of nearly 3 trillion dollars from educational loans burdens college students. The Ming Dynasty fell before revisions were made to make the test harder and revise the elite status. It is only a matter of time before America has to do the same.

Chavez, Jasmin: Credentialing

            The present generation believes that going to college is essential especially if they wish to attend professional schools. They also believe in the “American Dream,” where anyone from any social class can thrive in society through hard work. However, this vision of America being “the land of opportunity” is being called into question and attacked by the article Death by Degrees. The article describes universities as money machines that only care about enriching themselves and not about making the public more knowledgeable. This article creates doubt in the middle class college students who strive to attend professional schools and to better themselves in society. The article shows how difficult it is for lower and middle class students to move up in society.

            For example, if college students plan to attend medical or law school it is a requirement for them to obtain bachelor’s degrees before attending professional school. “The corporate-sponsored consolidation of the medical establishment changed undergraduate education from a choice to a necessity,” this quote from Death by Degrees shoes how becoming a doctor became a time and financial burden. One example was the adoption of the Johns Hopkins model of medical training, where it became the only path available for inspiring doctors to follow. With all the obstacles college students must confront it seems that it is the money obstacle that is most difficult to overcome, and with society only allowing one path to becoming a doctor makes the path all the more difficult for middle/lower class students to achieve their goals.

It seems that the American Dream is fading fast in our society because money is becoming more and more the key factor in education as stated in Death of Degrees. “Those who want to join have to pay to play, and may never recover from the entry fee,” this explains how people wanting to better themselves must pay for college/school before they ever step foot onto the playing field. The quotation also shows that many do not overcome the financial part making education in America less accessible to the lower/middle class strata because fewer of them can afford to pay.

Middle/lower class college students were brought up in the American Dream and to believe that they could achieve anything through hard work, but the society we live in today has made the dream nearly unreachable. With universities only worried about money and not their impact on the public who knows if the American Dream will still be alive much longer.  

Adams, George: Credentialing

Academic credentials are becoming more and more common.  As a larger number of people attend college and receive bachelor’s degrees then those degrees become less valuable.

Employers are always looking for applicants who stand out from the crowd.  In years gone by having a bachelor’s degree may have been sufficient to distinguish them but as more and more people earn bachelor’s degrees it becomes necessary to have a masters or doctorate to achieve that distinction.  Achieving a bachelor’s degree at the “correct” university can also help, meaning one that has serious international recognition that everybody, including employers, has heard of.  Employers would almost always take an applicant from Yale over somebody who graduated from their local college.

The article talks about the importance of having academic credentials when looking and applying for jobs.  It mentions the people President Obama brought into his cabinet when first elected.  It states “of Obama’s first thirty-five cabinet appointments, twenty-two had a degree from an Ivy-league university, MIT, Stanford, the University of Chicago, Oxford or Cambridge.”  Although being a cabinet member is a high calibre example it still shows how important it is to not only get a degree but to get one from a recognised university.

If students decide not to go to university after high school then they are really going to struggle to find a job that enables them to live comfortably with their family in a good-sized house.  The opportunities available to them would be greatly diminished in comparison to those who had been to university and earned just a bachelor’s degree.  Looking at the difficulty people with a bachelor’s degree are having finding jobs really emphasizes the difficulty that people with only a high school education will have.  They are pretty much limiting themselves to manual labour jobs and unskilled work when they make the decision to not go to university.

The situation is also the same in the UK as more and more students are going to university and earning a basic degree.  Students must study longer and earn master’s degrees in order to get the jobs they want.  Although a bachelor’s degree is becoming less valuable I believe this is also a positive thing as more and more people are going to university and earning these degrees.  This leads to a more educated population which can only be a good thing.

Hickson, Kathryn: Credentialing

                  China’s system of choosing the political elite was biased. The poor were unable to even take the exam because of their lack of education and money, while those who were able to pay for tutors or pay off the examiners were able to take it and pass. The result was that qualified poor people could not work for the government. The rewards were great for bureaucrats as they gained a steady salary and collected bribes. The system was corrupt and made the rich richer and kept the poor in poverty.

                  The system failed when more and more people were able to actually pass the exam as education became readily available. That should have been a good thing, but Imperial officials began to worry when there were more job-holders than jobs. The Qing made the exam harder so that less than .016 percent were able to pass all three of the exams. People again began to pay tutors and the examiners to pass, pushing the poor back down once more.

                  Hong Xiuquan probably would have been a normal middle-class citizen had it not been for his four exam failures. The American missionaries set in motion something that would push him over the brink. In his case, the exams were a catalyst to his insanity, something many people may experience, even in the today.

                  Classes that depend on test grades make many people fear going to college. High school teachers tell students that they should go to college, yet fill their heads with stories of classes that were nearly impossible to pass. The fact that a certain GPA is required to keep scholarships means that some of the poorer students who rely on the scholarships to be at the college in the first place are at risk of not being able to stay due to the lack of funding.

                  Those who are unable to attend college in the first place are basically left out of ever having a highly ranked job. Without a college degree, many employers will not even look at a person’s resume. College is too expensive and those who didn’t stand out in high-school and whose parents made just a little bit too much money were not eligible for scholarships and grants. Even if the person makes it to college on loans, they have to worry about paying that back later. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Nunn, Cheyanne: Credentialing

            Credentials have become necessities of everyday life and achievement. To have a college or professional degree is to have intelligence and to be able to succeed in being comfortable. “Death by Degrees” even states that our system of education is, “a system of stratification, and only secondly…a system for imparting knowledge.” To agree with this statement does not seem ethical, but in some ways, it is understandable. Attending university becomes a daunting task when one begins to realize how much money and effort is required. The article states that student debt in the United States alone exceeds to over $1 trillion, which only adds to the idea of education being a system that establishes social rank. Frankly, some students who wish to cannot attend college because of the cost, and many who do choose to earn a degree struggle with their debt in the future. This can be because they decided to finish their education with a bachelor’s instead of attending graduate school. That decision often leads to lower paying jobs or their careers becoming “underwater assets.”

            In the nation’s current state of mind, the type of credential a person has is far more important than it used to be. When comparing places that two people have graduated from—with one from a less than five star rated law school and one from Yale—it is blatantly obvious which person is going to be chosen for a job. Becoming credentialed has become necessary. As “Death by Degrees” points out, however, this “training” has come to support a system that is costly for both corporate clients who overpay as well as for small-time criminal defendants who can’t afford representation at all. Despite the fact that many suffer financially because of this, there is dignity in credentials. This needs to change, or else it will be harder and harder to attain accreditation and the prices of doing so will continue to shoot up. The idea of change proves to be difficult. “Death by Degrees” states, “Quadrupling the supply of gold stickers is one way to devalue the credential; getting rid of the sticker system altogether is another.” While some suffer, some will continue to get a leg up and the never ending cycle will continue. The ones at the top will not willingly step down to allow the bottom to rise up, proving that, no matter how unfair they are, credentials will always be a part of success.

Wallace, Brandon: Credentialing

    Definitions of success vary greatly from person to person. Talk to people who have just graduated law school and they will say that they have earned an accomplishment worth referring to. However, talk to those who just got promoted to shift leader at McDonald’s and they also will say that they, too, have earned a great accomplishment. The idea that a college degree makes someone exponentially “smarter” or “more prepared” simply does not describe the world we live in.

    College is a strange idea to some. A large portion of the population decide to end their education the night they accept their high school diplomas. So, is it right to force these people to attend a university just because someone might see potential in them? Coming from a family of college graduates, there was never a question whether I would be going to college. To those who already have families or those that are supporting themselves, it is a completely different story. Their priorities are different and some of these people make a choice not to attend college because of their respective situations. Is it fair to reject a person for a job interview simply because they do not have a college degree?

    A college education seems to be a growing “necessity” in today’s world. With advances in technology and science, the only way to keep up is to be thoroughly educated. This mindset is hardly true though. If a poll was taken on how successful Bill Gates has become most would say he has done quite well for himself. However, Gates began his career by dropping out of Harvard, one of the nation’s most accredited universities. Why would he do such a thing? Someone with such talent and potential is expected to receive a degree, there is simply no other result. This is where the “degree necessity” theory goes down the drain. People today are driven by more then just a need to be educated; they may a long to achieve all that they can, or to provide for themselves and there families as best they can.

    Without a set credential system, though, how can it be determined if a person is right for the task at hand? A simple record of achievements could plenty suffice for this. If a people have striven to succeed, used ingenuity to thrive, and battled through hardships, then, just like Gates, they are the ones who could potentially change the world.  Sadly, many possessing these hidden talents have been rejected due to their lack of education.

    To move forward in a world that is constantly becoming more demanding, it must harness the power of our education systems, but it should also promote the drive of those who carry distinct talents that allow them to unleash the kind of higher level thoughts that lead to astounding discoveries. It must never snuff the flame that is within those that don’t attend college. Whether it be that they simply make a living a McDonald’s, or perhaps go on to make a scientific breakthrough, each person in society helps to build it.

Shaw, Ehvan: Credentialing

Though I did not fully understand it, in the article of Death by Degrees, the editors point out the fact that college level degrees are necessary to be able to hold a well paying, high ranking jobs here in the United States. They begin the article with the history of where our elitist educational system originated. When the idea of creating an elite class of people was being born in China by emperor Yang Guang, anyone who took the time to learn the Chinese alphabet could become a part of the country's upper class politicians. But as the years progressed, it became more and more difficult for just anyone to make it due to the cost of preparing for such strenuous exams; this stipulation blocked many potential candidates.

For the type of profession that I plan on entering into, having at least a master’s degree is essential to gaining a high level of success. Going to graduate school and medical school is a must. If I avoid these steps becoming a doctor is practically impossible. Hospitals want doctors with outstanding credentials and experience. But the cost to become such a doctor is extremely expensive. Many do not ever get to become to great doctor or dentist that they have the potential to be due to the cost of professional schooling. Graduating from high profile undergraduate schools increases the chances of a person being selected to study in a professional school versus those who graduate from low profile schools. It is unfair to think that the best future doctors and lawyers come from what are considered the top colleges and universities. There plenty of excellent doctors who graduated from small or unrecognized schools. Being credentialed has become an important and nearly necessary factor in how graduate and professional schools pick out their students.

Raigama, Thurisha: Credentialing

            People say credit cards are scams. However, Going to college or university is the biggest scam in the United States.  Higher education is an integral part of everyone’s dream. We all led to believe that it is going to lead us to a better future. But instead, it leads to a future of pain and misery.

            Today, more and more college or university students increasingly must finance their higher education through student loans. Sadly, the number of students who are already or will have to deal with debt collection on their student loans isn’t insignificant.

            While federal loan debt may stay crucial to students in recent years, one of the most troubling segments of student lending is the private student loan sector. These loans often carry high and variable interest rates. Therefore, many students end up paying much more than what has been lent. Often, private lenders do not offer the generous payment options or the lower rates federal lenders do. Also, student debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy regardless of the lending body. It remains as long unless it is completely paid off, especially so as the U.S government has taken increasingly aggressive measures to get borrowers to pay up their debts.

            Many factors have contributed to the dramatic increase in student debts including the global economic recessions. The recent economic downturn led to significant cuts in state higher education funding that led to a rise in tuition fees. Indeed, because of the overwhelming debts, many graduates are not being able to wait for higher paying jobs and are forced to take lower paying jobs in order to stop the payments and interests from ballooning. 

            Despite of these issues, higher education remains critical for millions of students and their families. In fact, the impact often extends beyond the students, burdening their families for decades.

Ochs, Addison: Credentialing

            In today’s society, more and more people are becoming credentialed. This is causing the devaluing of the credential (1). Now that the job market is flooded with credentialed applicants, people feel forced to become credentialed in order to compete for jobs. However, there are alternatives to achieving a master’s or a doctorate. Although applicants are competing with the rest of the world for their niche in the job market, those with more experience and success in a particular field of study can prove to be a more desirable applicant and triumph over an applicant with credentials. Granted that without the applicant’s experience or success, the credentialed applicant is the obvious choice for the job. Specializing is an outstanding way to bypass the stressful and expensive process of becoming credentialed. Doctors themselves specialize in order to break away from the competition. For example, patients who need to have spinal surgery have a choice to either receive treatment from their local doctor, who operates on about four spines a year, or the patient can receive treatment from a surgeon that specializes in spinal neurosurgery and performs about 200 spinal surgeries per year. Specializing without credentialing can also be advantageous in that the money a student would normally spend getting a higher degree can now be put towards programs and internships to gain the experience needed to outcompete the credentialed for jobs.  Also the time spent enrolled in a university is greatly reduced, allowing them to begin their careers earlier in life.

             Currently attending SAU, I am attempting to spend my summers gaining experience in marine biology through Dauphin Island programs as well as the programs offered by the Gulf Coast Research Lab in southern Mississippi. This extra experience will drastically improve my chances of being accepted into internship programs as well as in securing jobs further down the line.

Mills, Taylor: Credentialing

Death by Degrees touched on Jean Baudrillard’s thought about one of Karl Marx’s theories. He believed that exchange value exists. By definition, exchange value is the quantitative aspect of value of a commodity. I believe that exchange value of a commodity exists. Academic institutions are common goods that are valued and useful. Students pay thousands of dollars for this commodity. In exchange, they expect the use-value to be equivalent to what they pay for. Karl Marx had a contrasting belief that only use-value existed. I believe in that idea too. The use-value describes a good’s qualitative aspects—does it meet the needs of the consumer? Referring back to academic institutions, they too have a use-value. The institutions provide many services to their students as well as their communities. Although Baudrillard did not believe in the idea of use-value, I digress by restating that use-value does exist if the consumer takes advantage of what the commodity has to offer.

The article goes on to insist that higher education in the United States is a system of stratification. It shows that there is separation among people based on income, race, sex, and in some cases the intelligence quotient (IQ) of a person. Although an unfortunate circumstance, it is a reality that some of us seem to abide by. Why do we seem to abide by it? There’s this concept called Equality of Opportunity. Taken from Dalton Conley’s, You May Ask Yourself, the idea expresses that although there is inequality it is accepted because every person should or will start with at least one equal opportunity. It is a concept that is difficult to digest considering the history of how this country has had oppressed individuals lacking opportunities from their suppressors. My thoughts on a system of stratification is that it exploits the fact that there are only a select few that can ride their way to the top of the social hierarchy while there are those who will never meet the ideal requirements of an elitist.

Therefore, I am asked whether or not I am being forced to have credentials? It is not a direct forcing considering the fact that this is the path that I chose by my own free will. But I will conclude by saying that the forcing is indirect because of the expectations set by those who claim they know what is best for me and for others.

Matney, Shelby: Credentialing

            Becoming credentialed is ultimately a matter of choice.  However, today’s actual situation almost eliminates the option, especially for those students who do well academically throughout their secondary education.  “Over the last thirty years, the university has replaced the labor union as the most important institution, after the corporation, in American political and economic life.” (Editors).  Students are not expected to go into the workforce upon receiving a high school diploma and when they do others are often skeptical and quick to assume that entering the workforce is not by choice, but that the student lacks the means to afford higher education.

            In past generations, men and women provided well for families solely through hard work.  Our society has become extremely focused on improving credentials. This has come to mean higher education that is more common, jobs have become more specialized, and, ultimately, higher earnings accrue to those who possess higher degrees.  Those desiring a career that requires vocational schooling, such as cosmetology and mechanics, are often placed in a lower social class although these are necessary services in our society.  The vocational school education is deemed less valuable and the careers they enable are generally viewed as lesser or risky options.

            Operating under the expectation of college to be my future after high school, I stressfully searched for options I could afford as well as a major that might interest me.  There are few other career options that have been appealing to me.  Thus, the only choice is to go to college and hope that something will attract my attention and ambition.  This is the only safe choice because our society now teaches and preaches that any other route, such as working for an hourly wage, is far too risky and degrading for an individual with any potential.  I would not argue that I am being forced to go to college by expectations of family or friends. However, the expectation of my peers is overwhelmingly.

            Many operate under this same feeling of obligation to go to college to ensure their own self-worth.  In turn, more and more people are earning undergraduate degrees, “…the bachelor’s degree becomes democratized, the master’s degree becomes mandatory for advancement.” (Editors).  Even the simplest jobs are now employing degree holders only and positions once respected are now viewed as mediocre. 

            Very simply, far too much value has been placed on holding a degree.  So much value has been bestowed upon these achievements that people are becoming indifferent to it.  Degrees have become what are expected and therefore less difficult to obtain.

Levin, Amanda: Credentialing

Many years ago it wasn’t necessary to hold a college diploma to make a decent living, and labor unions were more prominent than the universities. But over the past 30 years, universities have replaced labor unions as the main employment institution and without at least a bachelor’s degree the chances of finding jobs with steady incomes are slim. Student debt in the United States now exceeds $1 trillion and universities are continuing to raise the tuitions! As long as a bachelor’s degree is required to find a career, students will pay as much as necessary. If I decided not go to college and not obtain a bachelor’s degree, I would struggle to make ends meet for the rest of my life. A majority of job openings require bachelor degrees and years of experience! But, in the same sense if I wanted to be a successful doctor or one day become a Supreme Court justice it is almost essential to graduate from an Ivy League school! When Elena Kagan joined the Supreme Court, it marked the first time in history that every single justice had attended Harvard or Yale. The prices for these schools are hefty and not many people are wealthy enough to go. Even back in the year 605 in China they were having the same struggles as we are today. In order to get the highest salary students had to score the highest on exams, but in order to learn all the necessary information students had to have a very expensive tutor or have the money to bribe the examiners. For a poor countryman, making it past the second round was impossible. Much later as a result of all the stress and anger, a failed student formed an army and rebelled against the Chinese system. It became the bloodiest conflict of the 19th century, 20 million people died. Do we want that to happen today? The rising prices of tuition and the low number of jobs are stressing this generation out and really making them angry. Why is higher education so expensive if it is so necessary? Do medical students really need to go through a $1 million education in order to become certified? Why do students now need master’s degrees to advance? Our education system is just a system of stratification and barely a system for relaying knowledge; and that needs to change.