To the Editor:
“Plan
B: Skip College” (Week in Review, May 16) made a plausible economic
argument for steering some kids away from college. I worry, though,
that it’s of a piece with the movement toward sanctioning class
distinctions that has accelerated in the wake of the recession.
Some people will never find well-paying jobs. Some people should keep
renting and not aspire to own a home. Some people shouldn’t think about
college. These may be realities we ought to acknowledge, but it
diminishes us not to think of them as problems we should work to
overcome.
There’s nothing wrong with vocational training or corporate
apprenticeships or work readiness programs, as long as they offer a way
up and not a dead end. The aspirational part of our culture is a key
American strength, and we should aim toward creating opportunities for
people and businesses, not legitimizing lowered expectations.
Matthew Chanoff
San Francisco, May 16, 2010
To the Editor:
My daughter is graduating from high school this month and going to
college in the fall. The prospects are slim that she will find
meaningful work with a B.A. in any field. But what we’re expecting of
her time in college is that she will become a sufficiently skilled world
citizen to be able to make successful future decisions about her life.
For most American high school graduates, college is really an
introduction to life beyond their parents’ sphere of influence. Yes, it
is also important to become employable. But if the choice is between a
lifelong general education or getting vocational training that may lose
its value as the economy and technology change, which is the better
option?
The solution to this problem—which regrettably is unlikely because of
how education funding works—is to create national standards for
graduating high school and provide equitable resources for all schools
across the country.
This way, as is the case in many other countries, 18-year-olds would be
reasonably prepared to participate in public life whether or not they
continue with any form of higher education. Shamefully, American high
school graduates are still far behind their peers elsewhere.
Eran Fraenkel
Jakarta, Indonesia, May 16, 2010
To the Editor:
The plight of young people during the recession has sharpened the focus
on the real value of higher education, as your article illustrates.
Clearly, many students are pushed to pursue a college degree based on
out-of-date perceptions of the route to success.
Many of them are not suited to this choice and will not profit from it,
personally or economically. Realistic alternatives, more suited to the
persisting economic crisis, should be encouraged.
As you note, the majority of jobs likely to grow in numbers over the
coming decade do not require a bachelor’s degree. It is abundantly clear
to me as a faculty member who has taught undergraduates in private and
public settings for nearly two decades that many young people who are in
college are not there by thoughtful choice, not likely to excel and not
happy.
As with another American shibboleth gone painfully wrong in recent years—the virtues of owning your own home—now is the time for action to
change unsustainable, outdated concepts of postsecondary education in
this country.
John Baldwin
Lubbock, Tex., May 16, 2010
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 