Chapter 2 of Jeffrey Selingo’s College (Un)bound claims that there has been a transformation of colleges from a place of learning to a place of business. In many respects, I agreed with Selingo’s thoughts, though I did disagree with some of his more broad statements on current students of college. This chapter outlines several different issues in the current business model of higher learning, most notably the causes and effects of rising college tuition, part-time professors, and grade inflation.
When posed with the question of why college costs so much, many students would blame tenure and wages earned by professors. However, this is not the case (27). Most of students’ money is reportedly going to employee benefits, support staff, and amenities. Colleges of recent years have been hiring employees in all different fields to create a more personalized experience for students, from construction workers to advisers to dieticians. Selingo writes that one result of this price jacking is that, “once students are on campus, they put a price tag on everything, including the classroom experience” (20). This, in turn, creates entitled students who feel that they are customers of a business, rather than students of an institution. Also, the race to create better campuses to keep up with competition is a big consumer of funds. After reading this section of the chapter, I was left with a few questions that I think are central to our understanding of this dilemma. Which came first, students who were demanding customers or business-like colleges? Is this an evolution of society or of the way higher learning is organized? How can we return to a system where education is the primary focus when so much of any given college’s resources are not being directed towards areas they are needed most?
Selingo also mentions the plight of the part-time professor. According to his research, “about half of all professors at four-year colleges teach part-time as adjuncts… many adjuncts, however, have a PhD and would like full-time academic jobs with tenure” (20). Our college system is failing our professors who are unable to make a living wage as adjuncts alone. Because it is cheaper to hire many part time professors than to hire a full time professor, colleges often skimp on the area they should be splurging on the most. How can we expect professors to teach quality lessons when they may be focusing on personal matters, like how to pay for rent or healthcare, instead of the direction of the class?
Grade inflation is another issue sweeping the nation. In College (Un)bound, an adjunct professor named Deborah Louis comments, “Students tell me that they deserve an A because they did all their assignments” (24). This mindset in the contemporary student is not uncommon. Students of today are very grade oriented by the time they reach college because they are taught at a young age to base success on standardized tests scores. Some students feel they should be receiving higher grades for doing “less work” than their parents’ generation (24). However, grade inflation cannot be blame on students alone. Adjunct professors’ contracts are most often renewed on the basis of good reviews, and an easy way to ensure that this occurs is by being an easy grader (20). Grade inflation is harming our nation’s students, however, because students who are not being academically challenged in college are more likely to be overwhelmed by challenges in the “real world” (26). How can we reinforce the idea that an A is worthless if the A is no longer universally acknowledged as excellent? Can we teach students to “unlearn” the culture of GPAs and to focus on obtaining knowledge?
