The
End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of
Everywhere
By
Kevin Carey
Riverhead
Books, 2015
Hardcover,
288 pages
ISBN-10:
1594632057
ISBN-13:
978-1594632051
List:
$27.95 Amazon: $19.45
Originally published in the Sturbridge Times Magazine.
Book
review by Richard Morchoe
`EVERYBODY
has won, and all must have prizes.'
So
proclaimed the Dodo after the caucus race in Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland. That would seem to be the ethos behind our nation's
attitude toward post-secondary schooling. There would be a place for
everyone to attain an education and a ticket to a middle-class life.
On
the surface, it would seem to be working. After The Second World War
enrollment in colleges and universities continually increased such
that today a third of the population have bachelor's degrees as
opposed to ten percent in 1960. By 2005 a college grad made 80% more
per hour than someone with a high school diploma, whereas in 1977 it
was 40%.
Not
all is sweetness and light. In The
End of College,
Kevin Carey puts contemporary higher education under the microscope
and finds that we have not entered academic nirvana, but there is
hope. It's just not in the current system.
According
to Carey, “Americans have long been told that
our colleges and universities are the best in the world. It turns
out that when it comes to college student learning, we are decidedly
mediocre.”
As
evidence, he cites a 2013 Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development study “that compared the literacy, numeracy, and
problem solving skills of adults in different countries. Fully 38
percent of American college graduates failed to meet at least the
third level on a five-level assessment of numeracy that involves
solving problems with math and performing “basic analysis of data
and statistics.” Only 19 percent met the forth level, compared to
the average of 25 percent in other industrialized nations.”
Why
is this so? According to the author, schools demand little from
their charges. In 1961 full time college students devoted 40 hours a
week to class and study. In 2003, it was down to 27 hours with 20%
reporting less than five hours outside of class. To the pupils
credit, they have been able to get higher marks with less work.
Grade inflation is such that the median at Harvard is A minus and
what college does not follow Crimson's lead?
Despite
high grades and light work, a lot of the kids still can't keep it
together. Fewer than two thirds graduate in four years. They may not
have a degree, but they can amass debt like the young man or woman
who does finish. The average liability is $30,000. Added together,
it has blown by credit card debt.
If
you are searching for a word for this system, you could do worse than
dysfunctional. Can it change? Carey is optimistic for many reasons
including money.
On
Page 130 Carey recounts his time at the office of Learn Capital.
Charts were displayed in circles that gave the total markets of four
sectors. They were Enterprise software, $0.3 trillion, eCommerce,
$0.8 trillion, Media & Entertainment, $1.6 trillion. Last, in
the largest circle is Education, $4.6 trillion. Ed is the only
sector that has not gone digital. Who would not salivate at the size
of that market.
So
what form will the revolution take? According to the author, “The
University of Everywhere” is already happening. The most common
form is called a Massive Online Open Course or MOOC. There are
famous ones such as Khan Academy and Coursera. Will they succeed?
What is necessary is for employers to accept completion as a worthy
credential?
As
an entry into the MOOC world, MIT and Harvard have all their courses
online for anyone to take. The author enrolled in Course 7.00x:
Introduction to Biology-The Secret of Life, a
mandatory course for all MIT freshman. It is taught by Eric Lander
who helmed the Human Genome Project. Clearly, this was not going to
be a gut course.
Mr.
Carey did not get a diploma for his effort, but did receive
verification that he had successfully completed the course at the
most prestigious research university in the world. Not bad for a man
who has a political science degree awarded in 1992.
Now
will the world accept MOOC credentials? That is the big question.
The
End of College included a wide ranging treatment of what education
is. Interestingly, at least to this reviewer, Carey, discusses
Cardinal Newman. The prelate's series of lectures on education were
made into the book, The Idea of a University.
According
to Carey, “True liberal
education,” Newman believed, “was not a matter of merely
accumulating knowledge in a specific subject. The most important
goal was to understand how all the different aspects of the world are
connected.”
At
my Papist college, The Idea of a University was required reading the
summer before freshman year. I got little out of it other than the
knowledge that I did not belong anywhere near a serious educational
institution. My focus, when actually making some effort, was on my
major. My guess is that for most of my contemporaries it was
narrower. A good career was the goal.
In
truth, if every college and university disappeared from the developed
world, that would not stop someone from getting an education. As
long as libraries were still extant, and the resources on the
internet had not evaporated, the intelligent and serious scholars
would be able to educate themselves. The most important quality
necessary would be the burning desire.
We
should be honest and admit that thirst for an education, in the sense
Newman meant it, rarely exists. Even so, most people desire some
learning either out of a genuine curiosity or for career entry and
advancement. It is difficult to say if Carey's University of
Everywhere is inevitable. Its desirability is not arguable.
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