Holiman, Ashlyn: Credentialing

The essay, "Death by Degrees," discusses today's ideology that a person must be credentialed to become anything in society. Over time, the importance of the blue-collar work force has been replaced by the importance of earning a degree. As emphasis is placed on white-collar jobs, billions of dollars out of students' pockets are going to institutions for certification in various fields. It is almost to the point where the baccalaureate is obsolete, compared to the master's or doctorate degree. As the essay states, our society has become, in essence, a gold sticker system. 

As a current college student, I see the emphasis placed on a college education. Sure, people go straight from high school into the work force, some into the military. Although, if someone wants to have make a decent living and be well off in society, a college degree is one requirement to achieve this goal. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, but the typical McDonald's worker does not live luxuriously. Most employers nowadays require some sort of college degree. The higher the degree earned, the greater the chance a person has of snagging the position, especially in a related field. It even states in the essay that the result of today's system of accreditation is "to enrich the accreditors and to discredit those who lack equivalent credentials." 

The problem is that "systems of accreditation do not assess merit." A college education, in a sense, has just become a status in our "pay-to-play" society. Many students are in debt from student loans. The cost to be well off has become ridiculous. "Our elaborate, expensive system of higher education is first and foremost a system of stratification, and only secondly—and very dimly—a system for imparting knowledge." A college degree has become the dividing line between what society deems to be the educated and the remainder. It has become the "leg up" needed to reach the top rung of the social ladder. It seems as if social rank has become more important than the actual knowledge itself. 

In today's society, a college education has become essential to make a decent living to supply for one's family. Not just because it is deemed a necessity, I chose to attend college because I do not want to live paycheck to paycheck or live under financial stress. I chose college because I want to be able to provide a comfortable living for myself and my future family, not for "social status."

Hardy, Zachary: Credentialing

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.

Hamal Thakuri, Prajit Chandra: Credentialing

“Death by degrees” is a thoughtful article that describes a system that demands expensive and time consuming higher education that guides people towards a professional and prestigious life. It focuses on the importance of becoming credentialed relating it with the past and present.

The US economy is recovering from recession; jobs are still scarce and now people realize the importance of a college education. College credentialed students are the first choice of employers. College educated students exhibit high positive correlations with employment, salary, and attaining career goals. College educated students have the potential to become the powerful and influential people in the sectors that they choose. The article "Death by degrees” points out that the increasing number of bachelor's degrees in the United States is creating an intellectual elitism that is already skewing access to power in many ways. For example, almost two-thirds of President Obama's first thirty-five Cabinet members came from elite colleges, and that every member of the U.S. Supreme Court attended either Yale or Harvard.

“If you don’t have the official position, you cannot plan the affairs of government” ~Analects 8:14. This is a quotation from the ancient maxim which describes the importance of credentials to have a public official position and make decisions for the government. In the past to get to the top of any public administration credentials were regarded as the basic criteria for the post. Similarly, when the Chinese dynasty imposed imperial examination as a major qualification for posts, Hong Xiuquan suffered a nervous breakdown as he failed the same test twice as he could not afford to pay tuitions and other fees. This showed the negative aspect of the importance of being credentialed.

In today’s society, college education leads to a multitude of employment of possibilities. On the other hand, those without a college education are severely limited in their future prospects. College education is seen as the base for nearly every activity. The efficiency of work and the knowledge gained from it are reflected by the credentials that people earn. The alternative to college education could have been experience which is no longer taken into consideration as it does not have "golden stickers" on it.

In conclusion, to attain all kinds of goals in life college education plays a vital role.

Elder, Kandis: Credentialing

In modern day society education is stressed, the level of education one receives dictates much about future success. As a student I want to receive a bachelor’s degree so that I may have a better life and a better job. The article, “Death by Degrees” brings up concerns regarding this mindset that I, as well as most of Americans, have. It begins by telling of emperor Yang Guang and how he created the first meritocracy and introduced the idea of credentials.

To become a bureaucrat in China one had to take a series of tests. One of two things could happen. If the process of gaining credentials was easy there would be an abundance of degree holders, but not enough positions, creating a new underclass of “accredited” men working jobs they would have had before gaining credentials. If the process was too hard only those who were able to afford years of tutoring would be able to gain “credentials.”  Thus, only a small percentage of the wealthy would be able to gain bureaucratic jobs, creating an elitist bureaucracy. Modern American is in a very similar situation.

The majority of Supreme Court justices do not consider people for jobs who have not gone to an Ivy-League school, every justice currently serving on the Supreme Court went to Yale or Harvard. The highest court is entirely run by a group of professional elite. “Death by Degrees” suggests that populists should direct hostility towards these elitists. It states, “Dignity must be restored to labor, and…labor unions…dignity must be drained from the credential…” As a member of the middle class I agree that others, such as myself, should be given the opportunity to work in bureaucracy. We too should be able to gain credentials.

But one must consider the situation stated where there was an overabundance of accredited people. To quote “Death by Degrees,” “as the bachelor’s degree becomes democratized, the master’s degree becomes mandatory for advancement. Our…system of higher education is…a system of stratification.” If more people gain a bachelor’s degree, more jobs will require master’s, and accreditation becomes an arms race. My generation is going out into a world where we’ve spent our time, and thousands of dollars, to become accredited: but there are no jobs available. Che Guevara said, “the duty of intellectuals (is) to commit suicide as a class,”, and that is a very depressing aspect for my generation.

AirPrinting in Honors Lounge

HP 401dn Laser Printer

The Honors College recently purchased a wireless high speed (32 ppm) black and white laser printer for use by its students. It will print directly from iPads and other wireless devices, including iPhones. (We have not tested it with other phones yet but it should work with those as well.)

Honors students are welcome to come and print assignments any time the lounge is open. There is no cost to you. But, you may only print materials needed for classes.

Instructions for use can be found just to the right of the printer and on the coffee table. Your wireless device must be connected to the "Honors College" network in order to print.

Oladji, Jeannette: Credentialing

      According to the article Death by Degrees, “Today, we take it for granted that practicing medicine or law requires years of costly credentialing in unrelated fields.” Because I plan to have a career in medicine, I will have to finish my four years in college and then after that go for another four years in medical school for me to become credentialed according to the example set by the Johns Hopkins University. A pediatrician doesn’t need to know much about orthopedic surgery or obstetrics; but we will have to spend time and money learning those things to become “credentialed” as a doctor.

          If I did not graduate from college or go to medical school or graduate school, all my plans

to become a doctor would change because I did not meet what is required to become a doctor;

because becoming a doctor requires so much education and licensing. I can say that, in some ways,

I am being forced to have certain credentials to achieve some goals. Those credentials are not

what truly qualifies one to be a doctor, but one must have those credentials to be a respected doctor

in today’s society. As the article pointed out, “million-dollar medical training isn’t necessary to

perform an abortion,” and this principle carries over into the legal field: “routine legal matters could

easily, and cheaply, be handled by noninitiates.”

                  If I did not go to medical school after receiving my bachelor’s degree to achieve my goals, I would have to completely change my goals for both my career and my life. The only alternative will be to look for just something as a job to do. I will be forced to do what I did not plan to do, what I did not have any interest in just to survive instead of something I love to do or have passion for; I think that can affect my life in all areas.  

             All those examples show how critical it can be if someone does not have any

credentials today in our society because without it we cannot go further in education and achieve

what we really want to do in life. I can say that those of us who want to be doctors

are definitely being forced to become credentialed if we want to have a profitable, respectable

career in the medical field. Without the credentials, we could not even call ourselves “doctors,” and 

we would face legal repercussions if we practiced medicine.

Morehead, Lauren: Credentialing

I have always wondered why society worships Ivy League schools as if they were the gods of education. Seriously, what makes these eight schools catnip to teenage eggheads?  I have come to the realization that it is the name that singles out these institutions. It's the cult of elitism that we have come to celebrate in this country. We encourage the dismissal of other people so that a few can retain their status. The competitive climate that education has become does not benefit students at all. But it does make a few a lot of money.

The editors of n + 1 express similar thoughts in "Death by Degrees" (Editors, 2012). Juxtaposing the American educational system against the Chinese meritocracy of antiquity, they maintain that as student enrollment rises so do the standards of the   elite. The necessary educational standards rise for jobs not out of necessity but for exclusion. One only needs to look at the alma maters of our current Supreme Court justices. All of them have a degree from Harvard or Yale. Perfectly capable graduates may have dreams that will never come to fruition because their degrees are not elite enough. In America, all degrees are not created equal.

It's not just careers on the line in our education system; it's lots of money. Student

loans have become the bane of college graduates everywhere.The problem is that getting a degree doesn't guarantee a great salary; in fact, it's starting to mean less and less as more earn degrees. So, parents spend thousands of dollars on schooling and test preparation, grooming their offspring for a school with a Latin motto. Then, these young disillusioned jobless adults end up with degrees but are saddled with debt. All of this despite the fact that most careers shouldn't require four years of education anyway. Why does an engineer need to take art appreciation? And why does an artist need to take chemistry?

People always asked me when I was younger if I wanted to go to Harvard or Stanford. I did not even apply to one such school, and I don't think I've missed anything. Having an education with a price tag of $50,000 a year doesn't entice me.To learn is enough. Possessed with the notion of prestige and Ivy League mythos, too many of us forget that sentiment.