Thursday night, I started my final year of my Master's program. I am really grateful for the opportunity to go to college and not have to worry about funding. This allows me to be able to focus more on my studies. While talking with a few people though over the past couple of days as well as seeing a few statuses on social media sites, I am little concern.
One of my first concerns, especially with people coming into education or just choosing a school, is students who attend for profit colleges and universities. With some people I know who have gone through some of their programs do not seem as well versed in knowledge. It is almost as if they are paying money for the paper only and not the knowledge they can truly acquire. It seems the schools only care about the profit they can make. Please make no mistake, I understand this is not all for profit schools. I also think it is very important to recognize that some of these schools do not have proper accreditation and are extremely expensive. One of my friends is a admission counselor at a well known public research university. She mentioned recently how it breaks her to have to tell incoming students that their credits will not transfer because many of the for profit schools are nationally accredited instead of regionally accredited. I have even learned of a situation where someone I know won't get hired because of where they obtained their degree from. The main reason many people choose these schools is because they are supposedly "convenient". But is convenience always a good thing? Is easier always better?
I understand that everyone has different experiences; however, the purpose of going to school to obtain a degree rather at the undergraduate level or graduate, is to acquire more knowledge. Yes obtaining the degree is great and so is the compensation that comes along with it, but it has to be more than just the money. I was speaking with someone the other day and they did not realize how much work would be going into a Master's. They did not realize how much they would need to read, research, and write as well as complete other projects. The problem I think I had (and actually still have) was so many people think that graduate school is like undergrad. And for those who don't see a difference in the undergraduate experience to their graduate experience, I question the quality of the program as well as the person. For some people I know they honestly thought their Master's program would be just busy work so they can get the degree quickly.
Hey these are some of things I could not help but think about over the past few days. It has been on my mind and I thought hey why not share my thoughts. I guess ultimately my question after reading what has been written thus far, "What is the goal of going to further an education?" Is our culture in such a disarray that we are only going to post secondary school to "just get by"? It just made me wonder at what point are we going to hold ourselves to a better standard?
One of my first concerns, especially with people coming into education or just choosing a school, is students who attend for profit colleges and universities. With some people I know who have gone through some of their programs do not seem as well versed in knowledge. It is almost as if they are paying money for the paper only and not the knowledge they can truly acquire. It seems the schools only care about the profit they can make. Please make no mistake, I understand this is not all for profit schools. I also think it is very important to recognize that some of these schools do not have proper accreditation and are extremely expensive. One of my friends is a admission counselor at a well known public research university. She mentioned recently how it breaks her to have to tell incoming students that their credits will not transfer because many of the for profit schools are nationally accredited instead of regionally accredited. I have even learned of a situation where someone I know won't get hired because of where they obtained their degree from. The main reason many people choose these schools is because they are supposedly "convenient". But is convenience always a good thing? Is easier always better?
I understand that everyone has different experiences; however, the purpose of going to school to obtain a degree rather at the undergraduate level or graduate, is to acquire more knowledge. Yes obtaining the degree is great and so is the compensation that comes along with it, but it has to be more than just the money. I was speaking with someone the other day and they did not realize how much work would be going into a Master's. They did not realize how much they would need to read, research, and write as well as complete other projects. The problem I think I had (and actually still have) was so many people think that graduate school is like undergrad. And for those who don't see a difference in the undergraduate experience to their graduate experience, I question the quality of the program as well as the person. For some people I know they honestly thought their Master's program would be just busy work so they can get the degree quickly.
Hey these are some of things I could not help but think about over the past few days. It has been on my mind and I thought hey why not share my thoughts. I guess ultimately my question after reading what has been written thus far, "What is the goal of going to further an education?" Is our culture in such a disarray that we are only going to post secondary school to "just get by"? It just made me wonder at what point are we going to hold ourselves to a better standard?