I’ve written in this space
before about the out-of-control borrowing to pay to attend college (I’m having
trouble, frankly, calling it “higher
education”) and the devastating effects the debt load has for years to come for
most borrowers. Now I’m wondering if
maybe the COVID-19 national health emergency might do what years of preaching
and warnings have failed to accomplish: slowing down the borrowing cycle and
even causing a fundamental shift in thinking towards college, its value, and
how to finance it.
I began to smell change in the
air when some of the big-name universities sent students home during the spring
semester this year and switched to online classes. Good
move. The right move. But it started people thinking, “Am I getting
my money’s worth with just online classes?”
What about “sitting at the feet” of “learned professors”, mingling with
people of different cultures, and the much-vaunted “college experience” (which
usually meant little more than Friday night drinking parties at a frat house or
that symbol of the 21st century American university, a climbing wall
in the student center)? Suddenly,
attending college was not a lot different than playing a video game in your
room, alone. How much is THAT worth?
While the schools had little choice
in the spring semester, they do have options for the fall semester; but they
are shooting themselves in the foot.
From what I’ve read, many or most are going to have just online classes
again—but without reducing the tuition.
I realize there are such things
as fixed costs, but the long-term damage to the schools’ image in the wake of
their decision may be irreparable. Students
(and their parents) care little about the fixed costs. What they see is an education that is cheaper
to provide, is basically “no frills”, yet they are having to pony up the same
amount of money for it as they did the whole package. This is especially galling when the university
has a large endowment. Take Harvard, for
example. It has an endowment of over $40
billion but doesn’t seem inclined to tap into it to lower tuition. Smart move short-term perhaps, if their
investments are down and they don’t want to sell low; but it is potentially
disastrous long-term.
According to a Wall Street
Journal report a few weeks ago, many idled workers—remembering the long-term
unemployment of the last recession—are taking steps to prepare for a future
when their former jobs have disappeared in the wake of the pandemic. They
are taking online courses, just not at the big universities. “At LinkedIn Learning, downloads of
certificate-eligible classes in professions like accounting, project management
and information technology have increased more than 600% since February”, the
article reads.
“Community colleges, often the
first responders when it comes to developing courses for new labor-market
needs, typically see enrollments rise during economic downturns”, the report
went on, quoting an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
First responders. Now that’s a term you hear a lot these days,
and almost always coupled with praise.
Could it be that the humble community college with its still very
competent and knowledgeable and real-life-experienced teachers is the future of
higher education? Will they have the
edge in preparing students for a recession-proof career? And will they do all that while offering it
at relative bargain prices and at the expense of enrollment numbers at the
bigger universities?
Students and their parents
should give serious consideration to the local community college as the first
stop in post-secondary schooling. It may
serve as the last stop in launching a successful career. It can certainly be a money-saving way to get
the basic classwork out of the way before transferring to a four-year college,
especially since so many of the latter have guaranteed admission agreements
with nearby community colleges. And that
is how the community college may save the financial life of many a student in
the aftermath of the pandemic, as Americans reconsider how they obtain their
education and ponder what it’s really worth.
Until next time,
Roger
Do
not deceive yourselves. If any of you
think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so
that you may become wise.” I Corinthians 3:18 NIV®*
*Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version® NIV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide
