The Flaws of the college system

Hello everyone. I am here to talk to you about the flaws society has when dealing with the college system. Yes society, us, we have a major flaw in how we view college.

Let me give you an example, There are two students that want a certain job at the same time. Student A went to a 4 year college and got a bachelors degree for that job. Student B went to a 2 year technical school to gain the skills necessary for that job.

Now based on this, who do you think will get the job? Of course almost everyone would say student A. But now why is student A more likely to get the job than the other student? Both students have all the skills needed to work in that job. So why? Is it because student A's college is more prestige then a technical school? It can't be, how famous and renowned a school is would have nothing to do with a person's ability to do the job. Maybe it is because student A can analyze a book and write a 10 page paper on it. Well that can't be it either, if the job has nothing to do with reading books then being able to do that would be pointless. Or is it because student A spent the time and money to pay for an expensive college. Now that would not make any sense, for it should not matter how much money you spent or for how long you it took you to finish. So once again why is student A going to get the job and not student B? The truth is, there is no real reason. Student A is getting the job just because he has a piece of paper that says bachelor's degree on it. So who's fault is it that this is happening? I will tell you, the fault lies within our society. The people as a whole are to blame for this. You have to see that society says people without college degrees are inferior to those that do. Society will openly judge a person based on, if they have a degree or not. Society will completely ignore all of the work experience you gained if you do not have a degree. A person with a degree will even get paid more for doing the same work. I know people that have great jobs but can never leave that job because they will never get hired in the same field because they do not have a degree.

These people have worked very hard without a degree to get to where they are. But since they do not have a degree they are the first ones to get laid off or replaced by others that are fresh out of college. So some of these people have decided to go to college and are wasting 4 or more years of their life just to get a piece of paper labeled degree. Not to mention the thousands of dollars they will spend for classes they do not need. How is this fair? We say we have an equal opportunity market, but only people that have the financial stability to go to college will have greater opportunities. This leaves poor families with no chance to compete when they cannot afford to go to such colleges.

Why does society see college as the only way to have a stable career? Society has to remember the fundamental idea that drives colleges. A college is a business. And what do all businesses want, to increase their profits. Which, by the way, colleges are doing very well at. Colleges are gaining such large profits by using one word.

Requirements. If you only went to college and took the classes that you needed for a particular job then this system would not be so flawed. But colleges use the word requirements to force you to take more classes and spend more money while taking those classes. An example of these requirements is all the liberal arts classes one must take. If you are not going into a career that requires you to write analytically then you are just wasting your time. And yes I do admit that most jobs will need you to write up a paper or a report but you do not need 4 different classes to teach you how to do that, especially when you should have learned that from high school. Basically Just about all the requirements can be covered through high school and middle school, with simple refresher classes provided in college for those that need/want it. I am going to stress the word need because not everyone needs to relearn how to write a paper. This goes back to my first example, where both students have all the skills needed to work in that job, but student A pays more for requirements that are not needed and takes a much longer time to finish with the education. While student A is wasting time with useless requirements student B can be getting real world experience by working. Student B can even go to a different technical school and gain skills for a different career in the time it takes student A to finish college. But even when student B has the skills to do two different careers he/she would be seen as inferior to student A. This is a major reason why the system is flawed.

Now I propose a solution to this problem, I am proposing an idea for a new system to take over how people get degrees. The first thing that would need to be done is to disassociate all degrees from colleges. The next thing to be done is to set a system of exams that would determine whether a candidate is qualified for a certain degree. These exams would be similar to the bar examination and the divers test. The bar exam is a great example because you do not need a college degree by practicing attorney for an extended period of time. Another reason this is a great example is because it should not matter where or how you gained the skills needed for a career, being able to perform the tasks needed of you is all that should be important. I also say these exams would be similar to the driver's test because the driver's test proves that the exams do not have to be limited to pen and paper, but can be a physical exam based on the career the exam is for or even a combination of the both. Think about it, for the thousands of people working that do not have a degree but have the skills necessary for the career they want to spend one day or a week, however long the exam is, and take an exam that would give them the degree or certification that states they are qualified to pursue that career. This allows less fortunate families to find alternate ways to learn the skills needed for good careers. This also allows colleges to keep their study programs and requirements for people that are financially able to pay for, but after graduating from college they would still need to take an exam toward the career they want to be recognized as qualified. With this system everyone can follow their career with enough hard work and not just people financially stable.

This new system sounds great on paper but will mean nothing if it remains on paper. Nothing will change if society does not acknowledge the flawed system we have now.

If you agree with what I have said then please pass this on to others and help them understand what is happening. We are the people and the people have power when we act united as one.

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