OPINION —
Several years ago, my wife and I interviewed several house painters for a major project. Most had the required experience, but we received high praise for one particular painter. Unlike some applicants, this 40-ish man did not have a college degree. We hired him anyway and he did an amazing job. He learned the skills when young, and his education ended in the eighth grade.
There is discrimination against people who do not have the right sheepskin for certain jobs, if such a degree is available. Many well-educated people wonder what stopped others from a four-year journey through a college education. I have a college degree and two university degrees. Yet I would be lost without a mechanic for my car or a landscaper keeping our yard. Some have degrees; others do not. But not going to college did not hurt them much, or at all.
I recently learned that Yale University, an Ivy-League institution, reversed its position and will again require students to submit standardized test scores when applying for admission. Such tests are controversial. But I recognize that without these tests some students will benefit more, as some high schools grade more leniently than others. A negative is that on standardized tests some students test poorly. They know the material but freeze up while testing.
“The change to standardized tests comes after officials found that the scores were the single best predictor of student’s academic performance and that not considering them could be a disadvantage for those who have already faced daunting classes,” wrote Susan Syrluga in The Washington Post last week.
Last year, the U.S. Census Bureau released new Educational Attainment Data. Some 23% had a bachelor’s degree as their highest degree, 14% had completed advanced education such as a master’s degree, professional degree or doctorate. Many people assume the percentage of bachelor’s or higher degrees is more than half. I’m sorry but that’s a fallacy.
As an undergraduate, I read that only 24-28% of the population in 1979 had a four-year college degree or beyond. Now the figure is 23%, plus 14% with advanced education, which amounts to 37%. From part one of this series, recall the upset graduate Neil Patel, now successful in industry but still critical of higher education. In 1996, Patel wrote, “Just about everywhere you go, people tell you ‘Go to college! Get a degree!’ Don’t listen to them! It’s not worth it. At least it wasn’t for me.”
Danielle Gagnon of Southern New Hampshire University wrote a public relations piece that mentioned seven distinct ways attending and graduating college can mature and improve a student. She states college graduates earn more on average than people with associate degrees, who on average, make $7,000 more a year than those without college. A person with a 4-year degree usually makes more money, and those with advanced degrees, significantly more.
The six other benefits of a college degree: increases chances for employment, expands your opportunities, prepares you for the future, builds new relationships, achieves your personal goals and makes a difference in the lives of your family and friends. Many of these activities can also be attained by people without an academic bent. All or many of these benefits of attending college are right at your feet, as you move about on the campus.
Critical thinking, in its correct usage, refers to the ability to interpret, evaluate and analyze facts and information and to decide if something is right or wrong. Some people get disoriented when they begin graduate school and there is not largely rote teaching as at the undergraduate level. When asked by college students, I describe the class material for a bachelor’s as 40% tougher than high school work. (Again, this depends on the professors; some are more demanding than others.)
The decision to go to college is something you should talk over with mature friends or supportive family members. A good listener, not an enforcer, is needed. The list of famous and successful people who never graduated from college is long — Sean Connery, “James Bond” actor; John D. Rockefeller, billionaire banker; Abraham Lincoln, president during the Civil War; Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft; and Will Smith, Oscar-winning actor.
People who graduated from college, notably those over 40, generally will have good practical life suggestions. Continue to read and use critical thinking to vet political candidates. Critical thinking gets you closer to the truth and enables you to find solid answers. If you need a painter, scour Facebook and Instagram searching for the man who left school in eighth grade. He never went across a stage getting an undergraduate degree, but sure impressed his customers.
Greg Markley moved to Lee County in 1996. He has a master’s in education from AUM and a master’s in history from AU. He taught politics as an adjunct in Georgia and Alabama. An award-winning writer in the Army and civilian life, he has contributed to the Observer since 2011. gm.markley@charter.net.