Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
Well I'm a data driven person, and I can tell you that we have a lot of assessment mechanisms to evaluate incoming students. The numbers don't lie. Writing is generally mediocre or poor coming in, and much improved when they leave. It doesn't mean they're expert writers, but it is much better than when they start.
I also attend conferences where information on post-secondary education effectiveness is presented, and while there is a problem with deliverables on the career-readiness aspect, and yes some young people still struggle to achieve much even with a degree, the alternative is usually much worse.
Now, obviously I'm a little biased because I believe in the value of higher education, otherwise I wouldn't do what I'm doing. However, the numbers support my argument by and large.
The larger issue, as always, is how do we pay for education and is the debt load too burdensome. Those are fair questions to ask, and there should be better answers. But the value of an education cannot be understated.
To your point: Are there outliers who don't fit the model? Of course, obviously. However, proper analysis requires us to ignore the outliers and focus on the bulk of the data. To which, higher education consistently provides more opportunities for jobs with higher starting salaries. Those are facts.
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I don't doubt the data supports greater outcomes for those that attend post-secondary. However, I have a hunch that those achieving greater outcomes would likely do so regardless (/irregardless) of post-secondary education... Clearly, it's a theory that would be nearly impossible to prove or see play out, but I feel, at the most basic level: The cream will rise to the top... The world needs ditch diggers... And all that...
I want to clarify that obviously there are many cases where a post-secondary education is a
necessity to excel in a field... I like my neurosurgeons and bridge engineers to be highly educated in the technicalities of their profession, thank you very much. However, I would imagine that someone with the intellect and work ethic to make to the point of specialization such as a neurologist would likely find a way to succeed if another path was taken.
On the flip side, there sure are a lot of people with a lot of letters behind their names that seem to indicate nothing more than convenient memorization and the ability to pay for extended post-secondary.