As was very well pointed out, getting a BA has become a necessity for students who want to make a living sufficient to support themselves and a family on in today's economy in the US.
Yes, we do have different students, we have a many coming from the pipeline with great self-esteem but little in the way of skills.
As I have aged, I find myself adjusting better to the changes. I am sometimes appalled by the reality that with a high school education few students can get married, buy a house, have children and support them and a stay-at-home mom. yet, it was clearly the case in the late 60's, when I graduated from high school, that that was the case. So many students who probably would not have considered going to college then, are going now and we have to deal with the reality of a different mind-set.
Exactly -- demographics -- demographics -- demographics.
The top 10% who went to college 50 years ago are still getting a good high school education and going to elite colleges (who are enrolling more students now than they did 50 years ago!).
The big expansion has been at the regional/community college level.
With close to 75% of students going on for some form of post secondary education we are educating different students with different preparation and expectations for different jobs.
Our University president likes to talk about the 'modern university'.
The operational definition for this is 'corporate cannon fodder'.
The people who are increasingly paying the bills don't want a classical liberal education; they want job training.
Exacerbating this is the shift in funding from
State-supported
to
State assisted
to
State located.
Public education as we knew it is becoming a thing of the past.
With students paying more of the tuition bill and going into debt to do it, they are understandably more focused on an immediate payback. Unlike some, they don't have a rich Poppy to get them cushy jobs when they graduate </rant>.
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* PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* Psychology Dept Minnesota State University *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 *
* http://www.mnsu.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *
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