Why Colleges Are Losing Their Value In 2023

Colleges have been a transformational phase of people’s lives for centuries. Society worshipped the degree, and students gave their blood, sweat, and tears to obtain one because it was the only way to achieve status, income, and a quality lifestyle. However, in recent years, colleges have drastically lost their value due to modernization.

In this post, you will discover why colleges are losing value in the eyes of students and why it is still a necessary establishment by proxy.

The History of Schools and Colleges

There were schools in the 1600s, but they were divided by caste and class. The first normal school in the USA was founded in 1839 in Lexington, Massachusetts. Public and regular sectors required a two years course which was later converted to a 4-year study beyond the secondary level in the twentieth century.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the need for a trained, disciplined, reliable, and reproducible workforce grew exponentially due to an economic industrial revolution. Therefore, trained individuals (teachers) were heavily in demand to manufacture individuals who could participate in the workforce and help the industries grow.

Thus, a curriculum was curated and assigned to teachers so they could tutor individuals, prominently men, training and educating them to join the workforce. Today, multiple courses and modules are available for students to learn and choose their own paths.

Why Students No Longer Value Colleges

The timeline of social media is short and still overruled the world. The technological advancement of devices and the internet enabled every individual to get in touch with social media platforms like Meta, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. As the world modernized, people discovered multiple ways to use the power of the internet and make money.

As history dictates, people at large were closed on the idea of school and college because they perceived it as a way to live a quality life. Since the rise of internet influencers and entrepreneurs, the youth has discovered a shorter path that promises them the same quality of life by eliminating the need to attend schools and colleges.

Entrepreneurs share their luxurious lifestyles on social media platforms, flaunting fast supercars, mansions, friendships, and money that people never imagined. Young people are brainwashed into living the same crazy lifestyle by ditching college and starting their own businesses. It worked for some, while others soon realized that the path was not entirely paved for them.

Nevertheless, they still refused to attend college and learn the fundamentals important for people’s development. However, the fault doesn’t lie purely on students; the establishments that manage the curriculum are also to be blamed. Here are some of the primary reasons why students are skipping classes:

1. Making money on the internet is more accessible: There are unlimited ways to make money. People can develop skills and immediately start getting paid. Some options include freelancing, online service, YouTube, blogging, affiliate marketing, product review, etc. If students can start earning at 13, they see no value in studying till 25 and wasting precious years.
2. The fast mentality: The younger generation has developed a quick mentality; they no longer wish to wait ten years to see a cheque because they have seen 13 year old’s making more money than their parents ever did in their lifetimes. Thus the idea of learning the old-fashioned way is far-fetched for them.
3. Unchanged curriculum: The schools and colleges haven’t changed their curriculums for decades. The students of today are learning the same thing the students before them. Thus, a mass exodus of students with fresh college degrees and no befitting jobs exists. The things students learn in school or colleges have no value in the real world.
4. No available jobs: Thousands of students graduate from college every year. Companies can only employ so many people; thus, a large contingency of graduates have no jobs despite working day and night to obtain that glorious degree.
5. Rise of entrepreneurship culture: Everybody on the internet wishes to become entrepreneur and make millions of dollars. When people look at someone with a car worth 500 thousand dollars, they instantly realize that no college degree could ever buy them this car. Therefore, the only possible way for them to afford something that extravagant is through business.
6. Education loan: Education has become ultra-expensive in recent years. According to bestcolleges.com, “Over 40 million Americans share $1.75 trillion in student debt.” (1) Students take massive loans and then work a vast portion of their lives to repay the loan amount. Students are getting smarter and deliberately choosing to start at 0 than thousands of dollars in debt.

These are some of the most prominent reasons colleges have become unattractive to students. However, despite the downside, there are a few things only school or college can teach you.

Important Life Lessons You Can Only Learn In School or College

School is a phase of life that every youth should face as it increases your odds of learning valuable lessons if you pay attention. Conversely, life can teach you the same lessons the hard way. Here are some of the important lessons:

1. Timeliness: Attending classes at the set time makes you value the precious asset. You manage yourself well and ensure that you attend classes. It is a valuable skill that will make you more attractive to important people. Never make people wait unless you’ve made it to the top.
2. Networking: The people you find in school might be with you for a long time. You can make good friends easily when you’re 10 or 15 compared to when you’re 25 with no friends.
3. Communication skills: It is the highest priority skill in the world that you can learn in school. When you communicate with your peers and teachers, you develop your vocabulary during classes. By the time you get out, you are well-versed in your language.
4. Discipline: A disciplined person is a successful person. You learn the discipline to listen and complete tasks as instructed.
5. Ethics: Every day, you must wake up and get in good shape to reach your school/college. Clean nails, mouth, outfit, shoes, etc. School directs you toward proper hygiene and etiquette.
6. Responsibilities: In colleges, you are batched into groups and given assignments that must be completed in a certain way and on time. You are responsible for your presentation; the more you do it, the better you become.
7. Interacting with people from diverse backgrounds: In school or college, you meet people from all parts of the world with various cultures and backgrounds. It teaches you to communicate with each one without being disrespectful.
8. Coping with failures: You will be given tests and exams to evaluate your knowledge base every term. Sometimes you pass, and other times you fail. When you fail, you learn to overcome, study harder, do better the next time, and pass. Coping with failures is the most critical skill that will help you in your life. No matter how good you are, you will fail sometimes, and when you do, how quickly you cope will dictate your level of success.

Many skills and lessons are learned in the protected environment of the school, and it is not a waste of time. Regardless, you have to make a choice for yourself to learn things that benefit you and discard others that take you away from your purpose.

There are certain occupations, like Lawyers, Doctors, and Engineers, that you could only obtain by going to college and getting a degree.

Which skill are you looking forward to learning in college? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Resources:

Student Loan Debt Statistics | BestColleges. (n.d.). BestColleges.com. https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/average-student-loan-debt/