A COLLEGE education is important. Parents and guidance counselors say that, but more importantly, income statistics do. In 2004, the Census Bureau found that the average annual salary for someone who earned a bachelor's degree was over $20,000 more than that of someone with only a high school diploma. This is inevitable in an advanced economy like America's, but the problem is that the options for obtaining a college education in our country are so few. There are community colleges and Advanced Placement courses in high school, of course, but most American students have little choice but to go through four more or less expensive years at a traditional university. Those looking for innovative ways to improve America's higher education system should look to see what can be learned from the direction recently being taken by the European Union.
American liberals tend to respond to rising college costs with typical "throw more money at it" proposals. They would increase loans and grants for education, which would help more individuals to pay for college merely by shifting the burden onto taxpayers rather than addressing the fundamental problem. Unbeknownst to most Americans, a reform plan called the Bologna Process is reshaping European higher education. The Bologna Process is a plan, currently being implemented, that will move Europe towards a standard three-year undergraduate degree. In the past, different European countries have had widely varying formats and schedules in their universities, which have made mobility between them very difficult. By 2010, every university degree earned in the European Union will be considered standard across the continent.
Milton Adams, vice provost for academic programs, said in an interview that the American "system is very diverse and handles a wide range of student needs, from students coming out of high school to adults." However, there is a need in America for non-traditional, good-quality bachelor's degrees at lower prices for students just graduating high school. Many of the best universities in the country cost over $30,000 a year, and even mid-level schools can be very expensive
One industry that has grown in recent years is the so-called "for-profit university." These schools, which often feature online courses, present themselves as good educations without the general requirements and fixed schedules of traditional universities. Theoretically, Adams said, a good online course "could work for someone in the workplace who's 35 or 40." However, many of these "for-profit universities" are nothing more than diploma mills. Some of them, like the University of Phoenix, are respected in the workplace, but in general there is a bias against these schools. Nevertheless, their popularity shows a need for undergraduate degrees with alternative schedules but quality equivalent to that of a traditional university.
A likely criticism of a three-year plan is that it encourages specialization and does not provide a general education. Indeed, these three year plans would not provide a well-rounded liberal arts education. But the liberal arts model, which dates back to an era when it was uncommon to attend college, is not necessarily the best one for every student. If students of lower intellectual curiosity desire a bachelor's degree quality education in a certain field, but without the general requirements of conventional four-year degrees, that opportunity should still be available to them. Adopting three-year undergraduate degrees would not mean the end of traditional four-year plans. Students with enough intellectual depth and the economic ability should still be encouraged to study a broad, challenging liberal arts curriculum and have a traditional college experience.
The Bologna Process provides a good model for the American higher education system. A standardized three-year undergraduate program would help to educate segments of America who, for financial or intellectual reasons, are not well served by traditional four-year plans. With the economic dominance of the United States being challenged by European and Asian countries, improving our population's education is crucial in the age of the information economy. Not only the income of individual Americans, but the very future of the American economy hangs on our ability to maintain a well-educated populace.
Stephen Parsley's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sparsley@cavalierdaily.com.
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