Recent media posts: Celebrating several students who quit school to make devices and became millionaires. Predict that skilled workers are likely to earn higher wages. The hope is that low unemployment will lead to higher wages. Authors and readers conclude that post-high school education is worthless.
The rising cost of attending college is causing students to take on large amounts of debt. The causes of debt are complex. Studies have shown that graduate students carry more debt than undergraduate students, especially in the fields of medicine, law, and business. Carefully administered remedies are appropriate.
Previous data shows that lifetime earnings are significantly higher for college graduates. Unemployment rates are higher among the less educated. The fields that pay the most are STEM sciences, medicine, and business. Earnings are lowest for graduates with degrees in education, religion, counseling, social work, and the arts. In short, they are people who support your career.
The vice principal trusted me as his owner. My plan was to attend a small, inexpensive college to study religion. He took me aside and told me that a friend of his at an investment firm downtown had offered me a job. I was also able to take evening university courses and live at home. He thought my plan was a mistake. I will always be grateful to Mr. Blanke for his generosity and consideration. However, I have never regretted studying religion, and I have never dreamed of becoming wealthy through investing.
The son of poor refugee immigrants entered Wabash as a pre-med student. He came to me as an advisor, saying he had decided to major in religion. He has a great career ahead of him as a doctor, so I suggested he keep his options open. He did so and came up to me my sophomore year and told me he had decided to major in art and minor in biology. He interned at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and earned master's and doctoral degrees from major universities. He graduated with honors from every school and got a job teaching art at a university. He is currently the director of a major art museum. What can you do if you major in art? What is that! If the student is very bright, dedicated and motivated!
Young people are discouraged, convinced that they will never be able to afford to live like their parents. Many people feel depressed because they think that their efforts in education are not appreciated. Some drop out of school or fail. The decline in education is greatest among boys and young people. Fewer African American and Latino men graduate from high school, enroll in college, and graduate. After false promises, failures, and depression, disaster follows.
Few people stay in the same job for a career. Retraining and uptraining is something everyone will need in the future. In the future, crab-like side moves will become more common, rather than a well-oiled pole climbing the ladder to success. Those who do not or cannot learn how to learn will be left behind.
Life is more important than work or income. The purpose of education is to enable free individuals to decide what they affirm as truth (worldview) and what is good to do (morality). That wisdom allows people to decide what to study and what career path to pursue within their abilities and skills.
Actions taken here and now may save young people. Avoid placing artificial constraints on your child's curiosity and joy of learning. Don't force young people into one educational box that limits their opportunities to adapt to upcoming changes. We encourage young people to learn and develop their God-given potential for a lifetime of abundance, career, joy, and fulfillment. Support schools and universities to strengthen them. Providing a strong and tightly woven safety net, both social and economic, for those who are not genetically or environmentally prepared to receive the necessary training and education. Less remains in the dust.
Raymond Brady Williams, LaFollette Professor Emeritus of Humanities, Crawfordsville, contributed this guest column.
