The Patriot Post® · Good News: Higher Ed Is Learning

What is the ultimate purpose of education? That has been the subject of debate in the United States since the inception of public schools. Is it to provide America’s children with the necessary tools to succeed? Is it merely to produce mindless workers who will follow orders? There are two really amazing developments in higher education that are providing unique opportunities for learning and also cracking the code of the post-college job search.

Because so many schools at all levels have started to fall into one category — i.e., train students to think one way and not tolerate any diversity of thought — it is refreshing when a major university defies that status quo. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has opened a new school called The School of Civic Life and Leadership. The inaugural courses include studies of American political tradition and the art of civil debate. UNC was able to establish this new school despite its ultra-liberal professors.

This school came into being because the Board of Trustees had the idea that if students are going to have strong political opinions, it’s best if they learn how to debate intelligently without hating one another. Novel idea, I know.

UNC Chapel Hill was the campus where brave fraternity brothers intervened when raging anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas protesters tried to take down the American flag. The frat bros held the flag high and protected it. This might be just the place to start a movement of campuses with diversity of thought.

Another interesting development in higher education concerns a different approach to training students and producing higher-performing workers. Universities like Northeastern University in Boston, Drexel University in Philadelphia, and Georgia Tech in Atlanta have developed co-op programs designed to give students practical career field experience. By participating in these programs, students garner months of hands-on experience (and actually get paid for it while they learn). The program is basically like an apprenticeship but for more white-collar jobs.

The benefits to this type of approach are numerous. One, they have the financial benefit of receiving a paycheck from their practical work experience. Two, they are much more likely to land a job post-graduation — and an even higher likelihood of that job being with the company they co-oped with. Three, these practical work experiences help students narrow down precisely what career they’d like to enter.

This might be the key to the ever-growing question of the necessity of college. If a degree isn’t worth anything without work experience, a new graduate is left floundering for a position. The only problem for colleges offering these career-focused programs is how to make their schools more affordable.

Higher education is getting the memo. It must adapt to the needs of students lest it become obsolete as affordability slips ever out of reach.