This topic inadvertently came to mind while I was writing another post, which seems to be the genesis for many of my articles here recently. I began to articulate in the other post the idea that classes and not degrees actually enhance the person. The more I think and contemplate this, the more certain I am of it. Below I will try and explain what I mean and provide stats and experiential info reinforcing this claim; namely, that classes – not degrees – enhance an individual.

How do you measure personal enhancement?

Classes – not degrees – enhance an individual

So what exactly do I mean when I say classes – not degrees – enhance an individual? Think about it for a moment and let us reason so we can see the forest for the trees. Imagine you were able to pick the classes that not only interested you but also were pertinent to your career. By extension, this would mean you could eliminate some classes that often serve as fillers. Or, if you prefer, with the exception of a few necessary (i.e. mandatory classes) the vast majority would become electives. What this does is allow the individual to select the classes they want which will enhance their lives and careers while sidestepping what is unnecessary.

Now, as sure as the seasons come and go this would never happen. But what if it could? More importantly, what would this mean/reinforce? I believe there are a few things it would illustrate:

• Classes would see a dramatic change in enrollment (math classes, for example, would dramatically decrease)
• There would be a large increase in the number of people obtaining degrees
• It would demonstrate that classes, not degrees, were enhancing individuals in the current setting we have

It is this last point I want to expound a bit and for good reason. Countless voices are silenced by needless hurdles in “higher education.” Andrew Hacker has co authored a stunning critique of the college education system in place today and I urge you to check out my review as well as the book. Yes, it’s worth it.

Higher Education? – My book Review

In addition to the above he penned another, “The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions,” that I found addressed this point more specifically, albeit dealing with mathematics. Still, it is WELL worth the read. Is the most informative book I’ve read this year.

 

 

The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions – My Book Review

Allow me to be frank here: nestled in degrees are useless classes. Almost everyone who has pursued a degree has experienced this first hand. It’s as if the entire college industrial complex has inflated the whole degree process to keep students in longer and for more money. Ask yourself:

• What does an aspiring art student need with college algebra?
• What do you say when a sociologist needs statistics but is required to take even higher mathematics?
• How many engineers have told you they use NO higher math in their everyday careers? (Hint: for me it has been the overwhelming majority I’ve questioned)

This vein of argument, then, is in line with my post about college class hazing.

College class hazing – Yea, it’s a thing

This post is essentially an extension of that article; the other side of the coin. IF college class hazing exists (it does), and IF we recognized the importance of specific, focused learning (we can), THEN we can conclude classes, not degrees, enhance an individual – which is the heart of this post.

Consider

Now that I have laid a little groundwork, allow me to postulate a bit further.

From a Construction Manager perspective, what is more important: a track through higher mathematics with classes like Calculus or Contract Documents and Construction Law? How about Construction Planning and Scheduling as opposed to Chemistry? Perhaps we would fare better taking Project Management vs. Physics? What class is more likely to address the growing technology on the job site: Psychology or a Materials for Industry class?

Yet, for all of the examples above, the required classes are exactly that: required, whereas the more important ones offered are electives – and not all of them are optional for the same career path. Imagine that.

To continue our example, the aspiring Construction Manager seeks out classes that are beneficial to their career, instead of the required classes they usually would have to enroll in. They take Contract Documents and Construction Law, excel in Construction Planning and Scheduling, become adept at Project Management, and take other interesting and relevant classes to their field. In our postulated example, they could compile their own degree with more important classes. But with our current environment and degree track, the above will result in not only no degree but – and I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH – a more enhanced individual. A loss of potential if ever there was one. Moreover, I believe this happens all across degree tracks.

As Andrew Hacker writes in The Math Myth, “there is no more reliable way to kill enthusiasm and interest in a subject than to make it a mandatory part of the school curriculum.” Yet this is precisely what’s done all across the country proffering the vaulted college degree. In fact, I’d take this a bit further and say his quote is applicable to college itself, since it is rigid in it’s application of classes on a degree tract which have no bearing.

Consider the person who attends college to “take some classes.” Their reasons may be many, but for sure one is to educate themselves. Contrast this with someone who also is “taking some classes,” but they are wrapped up in a degree program. Is it not likely they will have to take classes which have little to do with their career track? Who is being enhanced more here: the person merely educating themselves or the one who is educating themselves but also has detracted value because of unnecessary classes? Is this not example enough of how specific classes – and not degrees – enhance individuals?

There is a line of argument that says a person with a degree is enhanced by opportunity and as such are more enhanced overall. In our current environment, this is something lamentable in my opinion because what this does is prop up a system that shouldn’t be. Instead of valuing education for the sake of education we value instead the completion of a degree. This has been the norm for decades now. Just the other day my neighbor told me he was going to have to go back to school to finish a degree since he had topped out where he currently was. The next position was open but only those with degrees were being considered – current skills and experience need not apply. It’s lamentable because this happens all across the country.

So with the above yes, there are many who are enhanced by the opportunity afforded them by having a college degree. But to make that puzzle piece fit we have to do some semantic somersaults. Instead, let’s take it in a more pure stance and say enhanced is simply at the individual level – the personal level – which means someone is getting something out of the class, not the byproduct of a collection of classes – visa vie a degree.

What “higher education” is after

I typically take the line that college has tried to corner the market with job training and not what Andrew Hacker regards as “higher education;” but I’ll be honest: After some contemplating I don’t think either are quite right. Instead, I’m inclined to believe based upon my research colleges want the best of both worlds – to be seen as institutions who offer what historically has been deemed “higher education” all while increasing the number of degrees and certificates aimed at workforce training.

Is this far fetched? I don’t think it is. Consider the number of degrees an institution offers, for example, and see which ones are in the camp of each. At a local college near me, I counted 8 Associates of Science degrees, 1 Associate of Arts, 1 Associate of Fine Arts, 4 Associate of Applied Arts, 72 Associates of Applied Science, and a whopping 87 Certificates. This sounds to me like they want to be at the center of “higher education” AND the go to choice for career training.

I won’t quibble with those tracks which are traditionally considered higher education either; I actually love learning and believe you me I wouldn’t maintain this website, all the research, writing, and time it takes to create solid content if I didn’t. Instead, I’ll simply note what I consider the obvious: historically they haven’t done career training well. Requiring prospective students to hurdle a mathematical requirement is often counterproductive and for many a barrier which is but one example. A point Andrew Hacker makes quite frequently in The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions.

I have to admit they are getting better at it, though. I took a look at some of the career study certificates and was surprised to discover many of the classes were in line with the subject. This is a step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned. Whether companies view those certificates with a lens of usefulness or not remains to be seen. Perhaps an even better question is whether companies hold these career certificates in line with degrees. Time will tell, but I have to admit I’m not optimistic.

Still, it does little to address our countries love affair with the college degree overall and it’s wasteful classes built – in specifically. If the classes connected to the career studies certificates subsist on students intentionally enrolling in them why can that not be mirrored in degree programs, also? I for one, can’t think of a legitimate reason.

Going further

I suspect you can follow the train of thought here. However, let’s look at it from a little different perspective to see if we can’t augment the point a little more.

I know scores of people who have graduated college and have a bachelors degree. As I’ve stated in other articles, the main vein of thought while in school has always been you have to go to college to get a good job. Many bit down hard on it and followed the bad advice offered. Debt was accrued, launch into adulthood was delayed, and many discovered their chosen field of study – independent of actual worth in a career track – was not what they wanted to pursue. So much for purported workforce training done at the college level.

In fact, that is one of the main arguments Andrew Hacker makes against colleges in his book “Higher Education;” namely, that many students are incapable of choosing a career path whose trajectory is likely to be lifelong – rendering the college experience expensive and less worthy. Instead, he advocates a return to higher education, the liberal arts, for an actual education that ENHANCES the individual – NOT the career path. As someone who loves to learn something new, I think this is a great stance to have.

Many of those who I know have a degree do not work in their respective fields of study. Indeed, I’ve always kind of chuckled to myself when I see some of these individuals in a trade. I have personally seen more than a few who possess a degree yet their livelihood was to be derived form the skill trades. It’s not their misfortune but the underpinning of my argument which makes me smile. As student debt swells and scores of adults become disenfranchised, they represent a stark contrast to those who may pursue higher education later in adulthood – when the value is much higher. That is, they enjoy classes more because they’ve matured and understand that value of what they are doing better. Unless, of course, you factor those classes which they are mandated to take which have no bearing on what they are looking to get into. There is less joy, then, in those classes.

What if the above examples didn’t exist but in their place were stories of people who hand crafted their degrees – to suit their purposes? What if those classes augmented the direction the person who took it wanted to go? What if those degrees consisted of only applicable classes? How much time and money could be saved? How much more well rounded would the individual be? How much more enjoyable would the whole experience be?

“You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one.”

 

*UPDATE: I stumbled upon this post from the Wall Street Journal, which touched on a portion of what I’ve written about here. The author points out how colleges are going to have to adapt to the change COVID-19 is ushering in at a rapid pace. Coupled with a dynamic and changing workforce, they envision shorter paths to degrees, life experience being accepted more, and a revamping of colleges overall. I not only concur with their assessment but also think it’s going to improve education as a whole. That is, it will usher in an atmosphere where classes, and not degrees, enhance the individual. It’s an idea today but an opportunity tomorrow.*