In this article, we will do a little bit of cost analysis to determine whether students, parents and schools should continue to aim for college placements. We will also look at how financial aid works with some guidance on how to navigate a fairly complex set of factors that determine the actual cost families pay.

Unlike admissions, where one can look at a few sets of numbers to determine whether a student meets the admissions criteria, the financial picture is highly individualized. Each school approaches awarding differently and each family represents a unique financial situation. With this in mind, guidance counselors ought to be wary of a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to the financial component of college guidance. That being said, hopefully this article will provide some insights and perspectives that will help you with both students and parents.

Does Rising Cost Mean Lower Value?

It is incontrovertible that the cost of college tuition – not to mention fees, room and board and books – have increased substantially over the past half century. An abundance of sources tracking college tuition costs from the mid-1970s to the present find that college tuition has tripled. A college education has become one of the most expensive items one will pay for in life, with only a house being more expensive according to financial planners.

One question to be asked is whether college has retained value as in investment. To answer this, we must consider two facets of what a college education is. The first facet looks at the role a college education plays as a lever for economic mobility. This facet takes into consideration the earning potential of college graduates in comparison to students holding only a high school diploma. A recent study done by the Postsecondary Value Commission was reported in Inside Higher Education. This study analyzed the comparative advantage of college graduates over high school graduates. “Institutions meet Threshold 0 if their students earn at least as much as a high school graduate, plus enough to recoup their investment in college, within 10 years.” In other words, the study is asking whether graduates are finding a return on investment within a decade of graduating. The study found “that threshold is within reach for about 83 percent of colleges, according to the report.” This indicates that most colleges see their alumni realizing a greater economic advantage only a decade after graduation. In terms of actual dollars, “The typical postgraduation earnings for alums of such institutions are about $8,981 above the threshold minimum.” (“Is College Worth It? Recent Analysis Says Yes,” Inside Higher Education, June 22, 2023)

The second facet has to do with economic adaptability. This concept is similar to economic mobility in that it encompasses how an individual with a college degree can move upward in terms of earning power. However, economic adaptability has more to do with the ability to change direction in light of changing economic circumstances. The concept here is that a college degree opens doors otherwise inaccessible without a degree, in some cases substantially more lucrative opportunities. A significant factor that contributes to these economic opportunities has to do with the network effect of joining a college community, including fellow students, professors, alumni, donors and companies that might prefer graduates from certain colleges. Ivy League schools immediately come to mind when we consider the network effect. However, many smaller schools enjoy similar advantages. So, it is not the case that attending a lesser-known school impinges upon this network effect. Instead, many of these smaller schools enjoy highly active networks.

These facets indicate that colleges and universities have retained good value as an investment despite the rising costs of tuition. Understanding the true value of a college education can be a very personal consideration. Multiple factors can contribute to what one genuinely values in life. Be careful about college rankings or marketing that emphasizes superficial aspects of college life. If a student truly values Christian formation, fellow students who are intellectually engaging, and professors who care about student learning, then finding a school that has these traits will end up being more valuable than a school that has a higher ranking or costs less.

Before moving on, it is important to be aware that the advertised tuition for colleges and universities—the “sticker price”—is rarely what typical families actually pay. Most students receive some form of financial aid, which can substantially change the price comparison between colleges. Even when we factor in financial aid, some families may still find that the cost of college outweighs their estimate of the value of a college education. There are some significant alternatives to higher education, a topic we will cover in another article.

Funding the College Dream

With a few exceptions – such as Hillsdale, Grove City, New Saint Andrews and Patrick Henry who do not accept federal funding – the first step to funding the college dream takes the form of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or the FAFSA. This form determines eligibility for financial aid based on a family’s income and assets. Colleges may use alternative or additional forms to determine institutional aid, but the FAFSA has become the norm for the vast majority of college applicants because it is tied to federal aid such as grants, loans and work-study. Because everyone’s financial situation is unique, providing guidance to students and families wanting advice on college planning can be tricky. This brief overview should help advisors think through the different categories most colleges are operating with.

Let’s think about financial aid as filling up different buckets. All of these buckets will contribute to the total cost of attendance at a college. In other words, we need to pour all of these buckets into the larger pool of the cost of attendance (COA), which comprises tuition, fees, room and board, and miscellaneous other expenses. The FAFSA determines an index number that is used to assess the financial need of a family. This index number used to be called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) but will now be called the Student Aid Index (SAI) starting in 2024. The financial need of a family is then the COA minus the SAI.

The two big buckets that go towards a family’s financial need are need-based aid and non-need-based aid. Non-need-based aid is often referred to as merit-based aid. In other words, these are scholarships or grants that are awarded based on a student’s performance in some area, such as academics, athletics, leadership or some other category. Often these are awarded by the institution, but some scholarships are available by independent organizations such as denominations, private trusts, or guilds.

Need-based aid is another big bucket in the financial aid picture. Here we have grants, loans, work study and institutional funds. These funds are distributed based on the need assessment that is generated by the FAFSA. Since many of these funds are sourced by federal programs such as the Pell Grant, Federal Work-Study, subsidized and un-subsidized loans, and PLUS loans, they are regulated by federal policies. This means there are limitations on how much of any source a student will be eligible to receive. These regulations and policies can change over time, so families with multiple children may find it confusing and frustrating to keep track of all the details of their award package.

Knowing about these two big buckets provides a substantial orientation about what families can expect in terms of paying for college. Most families will not pay full price for college. However, the full price still needs to be paid from some source or another. So typically, a family will receive a financial aid offer letter outlining multiple sources of funding contributing to the total cost of attendance, with a bottom line that expresses the remaining amount to be paid by the family.

An aspect of this picture is that colleges have different processes for how they determine the aid eligibility. Some colleges emphasize merit-based awards. Some colleges are need-based only. Some colleges offer guaranteed four-year packages. Some colleges issue new awards each year. Some colleges begin with merit-based awards and then fill in the remainder with need-based sources. Some colleges issue their final offer in their award letter, while other colleges expect some amount of negotiation. All of these factors make it so that comparing offers from different colleges can be comparing apples to oranges. Because of this, it is important for parents and students to develop open dialogue with both the admissions office and the financial aid office at the colleges they are applying to.

This is a complex picture, but hopefully it also provides a positive outlook that funding is available for students to be able to access colleges that fit their profile. I have seen over the years that the financial component of college guidance is complex and at times frustrating. Yet, when we prioritize the student’s vision for what God is calling them to, and then finding the right institutions to support them on that journey, I have found that the financial picture comes together nicely. In some cases, families choose to send their child to the more expensive option because they have been convinced that the school is the best place to develop their child. In other cases, I have seen ways that God has moved in mysterious ways to make a financial pathway available for a student to attend a great school that seemed a remote possibility during the early days of the application process.

If a family has special circumstances that the FAFSA does not accurately represent, or if the amount the family has to pay after receiving aid is still beyond their ability to pay, they should contact the financial aid office. There may be an appeal process where adjustments to the FAFSA can be made or additional funding the student may qualify for. It is always worth asking and having a conversation with the college to see if there’s anything more that can be done. As college guidance counselors, knowing that this process is available can be a way to enable families to speak up for themselves, especially when they have found a college that is an ideal fit for their child.

Thinking Differently about the Cost of College

Having looked at the value of college versus the cost of college, I think it remains the case that a college education has retained its value as an investment. When we consider how there is funding that can go a long way towards defraying the cost of attendance, it still seems like there are great opportunities for families to identify schools that fit their financial profile.

Here is where I think it is worth considering a different perspective on the cost of college. All too frequently, college finances pit a family against a college. The family wants to keep as much money as possible. And the college wants to receive as much money as possible. This framework actually makes the whole college journey about money and not about higher values. Now let’s be clear, we’re talking about a lot of money. So I don’t want to be flippant about how important a life decision it is for a family to choose a college for their child.

Yet, I believe there is a different way to think about the relationship between the family and the college. If we have begun the college journey by identifying the student’s gifting, passions, vision for their future, and God-given calling, then what we want to do is back that mission-driven impulse with a partner college that will enable the child to flourish in carrying out this mission. What this means is that our search process becomes less about how a school ranks on the US News and World Report rankings or about the relative costs of the school. These numbers become far less important if we’ve found a location where a child will be mentored, nourished and trained to enter the world well supported on their journey.

What I am talking about here is a framework where the college becomes a partner. We’re looking for schools where the family would feel like they would want to donate to their cause. That the tuition cost makes sense as an investment not only in their child, but in the institution that is going to promote the wellbeing of their child. This framework does not pit the family against the school, but instead sees a high degree of alignment. It is my firm belief that there are schools out there that families will find that fit this framework once we cut away some of the marketing around colleges and some of the fears families have about the college search.

Speaking to college guidance counselors, it may be that your most important work is to uncover for families some hidden gems that really fit what they are looking for as a college experience. In some cases, it is the role of a college guidance counselor to help change the perspective of a family who might have cheered on a college football team for generations, who actually need to fall in love with a new college that will do a better job of cultivating their child’s talents. In some cases, it is the role of a college guidance counselor to get the student and parents talking with each other about values, goals and expectations. I think the vision of college partnerships is sound and compelling, and this idea will help you to provide good counsel.

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For some students, they adeptly navigate these rules of the game from the outset. They understand that getting good grades contributes to their college entrance profile. These students often approach teachers about their grades and have a decent understanding of their cumulative GPA. They often prep themselves for standardized test either by watching YouTube videos, attending a Khan Academy class or find a local tutor who might promise to boost their test scores by a certain amount. More often, however, students enter high school unaware of these pieces of the puzzle, and they need the support of a guidance counselor to understand how these fit into the big picture of college entrance, college choice and career ambitions.

What this article aims to do is equip college guidance counselors with a good understanding of the typical rules in the game of college admissions. These come down to the big three items: the cumulative grade point average (GPA), test scores on standardized college entrance exams (SAT, ACT, CLT), and the application essay. For each of these items, I will offer some advice for how to coach your students.

The High School Transcript and Calculating GPA

Let’s begin with the high school transcript, the place where college admissions counselors will find the first item of interest, the cumulative GPA. Every grade received in high school is calculated on a scale, multiplied by the amount of credit that class is rated for, and averaged amongst all classes.

Here’s an example of a typical Freshman courseload:

The B+ this student received in her humanities class is equivalent to 3.3 points on a 4-point scale. This 3.3 is multiplied by 1 credit, the value of this class during fall semester. The B+ in biology is likewise earning 3.3 points, but this time is multiplied by 0.5 credits. The C in geometry is then calculated as 2.0 times 0.5. The A in Latin multiplies 4.0 times 0.5. The same happens for the rest of the classes for fall semester. The product of each calculation is then added up, totaling 11.95 grade points. This total is then divided by 3.5, to total credits earned during the semester to arrive at a grade point average of 3.41.

If you were able to follow all of those calculations, you’re doing well. Over the years I have taken time with many students and parents to walk them through those calculations, and there are always questions about how the calculations work. Calculating GPA is not an intuitive process. Just like any other game, you have to immerse yourself in the rules and conditions. Consider how these calculations compare to the rule sets for, say, chess or cribbage. All of this to say, as a college guidance counselor, it is worth your while to provide students and parents with basic information about your grading scale, how grades are converted into grade points and the calculations involved to arrive at GPA. And, having gained their audience, help these parents and students avoid fixation on GPA, instead show them that quality of classes and quality of work are what really matters.

Notice how the GPA of 3.41 tells us very little about the quality of courses taken during fall of freshman year and is disconnected from the rest of this student’s academic performance over her four-year career. Here’s where you come in as a college guidance counselor. You can tell the story in your letter of recommendation. Is this the typical freshman year for students at your school? Is this an academically challenging courseload? Did the student improve over time? Insights like this are ideal points to make in your letter of recommendation because it sets a context for an admissions committee to make sense of the numbers. In other words, a transcript tells a story of an academic journey. But it requires explication in order for that story to come across to the admissions counselors who receive the transcript amongst hundreds of transcripts from different high schools who all have differing grading scales, point scales, course options and calculation methods.

Telling the Story through the Letter of Recommendation

Speaking of admissions counselors, it is worth knowing that despite all your hard work to accurately calculate GPA, many colleges recalculate GPA. They have to compare many diverse expressions of GPA received from high schools across the country. This recalculation attempts to level the playing field so that they can get as accurate a point of comparison as possible to assess their incoming freshman. As a college guidance counselor, you can help these admissions committees understand your transcript by writing letters of recommendation that tell the academic journey of the student as well as how challenging the overall program is. For instance, does a transcript tell the story of increasing GPA each year? In the example provided above, you can already tell that the student has increased her GPA from one semester to another. If that trend continues, then there is a story to tell of increasing aptitude and college readiness. Parse out for the admissions officers reading your transcript courses that might be new or different to their ears, such as rhetoric, humanities, Bible or theology classes.

As you are writing your letter of recommendation, go above and beyond the academic transcript. Tell the admissions counselors about opportunities students have for leadership and mentorship in the school. Were there service projects or events where this particular student demonstrated tangible qualities? Did this student participate in any sports or performing arts? Even for courses that are core curriculum such as fine and performing arts, mention their participation in shows or on the crew. Tell about how this student is a well-rounded individual who will be engaged in the wider community of whatever campus they step on next year.

Now, you cannot possibly remember all these details about every student. So one of the items I have all juniors complete is a bullet-point resume of all of the activities they have participated in during their high school career. This includes school activities, but ought to go beyond school to include jobs, clubs, music or dance lessons, sports, missions trips, church participation, volunteer work, scouting badges, etc. I will come back to this bullet-point resume in the future, but for now it is important to see how this document will help you write a letter of recommendation that really captures the qualities of the student beyond what the transcript can say.

A Very Basic Overview of Standardized College Entrance Tests

The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) first appeared in 1926 as the first test to incorporate intelligence testing as a means of verifying the innate ability of students entering top universities. The College Board, originator of the SAT, had been providing essay exams for the previous two decades. These were hand-written and hand graded, taking weeks to complete and assess. Now with a single test, students could be compared to other test takers across the nation, with the hope that colleges could assess the merits of entering students in an unbiased manner.

Prior to the founding of the College Board in 1899, universities in the United States had students sit entrance exams either on site or at testing locations in major urban centers across the country. As an example of the rigor of exams at the time, the Prince University Archives notes in an example of a typical exam from 1880 that, “the exams included English grammar and composition, world and U.S. history, geography, Latin grammar and literature, Greek grammar and literature, and mathematics” (Course Examinations Collection (AC054), Box 1). It is interesting to see how fundamental a classical education was at the time.

After World War II, the was a rapid increase in the use of the SAT, reflecting the influx of new students taking advantage of the G.I. Bill. An alternative to the SAT was created in 1959 called the American College Test (ACT) administered by ACT, Inc. Even more recently the Classic Learning Test (CLT) was created to provide an alternative utilizing classical literature and historical texts for its reading selections on the test.

Today, students are able to take any of these tests or all of these tests. In fact, students are permitted to take these tests multiple times. Unlike the original vision of the College Board in the 1920s, these tests are far less markers of individual intelligence than they are about the ability of students to achieve scores in keeping with the amount of work they have put into preparation for these tests.

The Scoring of College Entrance Tests

Beginning with the SAT, a student takes three subtests: Reading, Writing and Language, and Mathematics. The Reading and Writing components receive a combined score out of 800 points, which is then added to the Math section with a score out of another 800 points totaling 1600 possible points.

The ACT comprises four subtests: English, mathematics, reading, and science. Each subtest is calculated by taking the raw score as a percentage and then scaling that score in a range of 1-36. The composite score is the average of the four subtests, with a 36 the highest possible score on the test.

Finally, the CLT provides three subtests: Verbal Reasoning, Grammar/Writing, and Quantitative Reasoning. Each subtest is scored taking the percentage correct and then scaling that score in a range of 0-40. The overall score is the sum of each scaled subsection, with 120 begin the highest possible score.

All three tests offer an optional essay that is graded separately, meaning that the essay results are not factored into the composite or overall score. Because the subtests and scoring are so different for all three tests, each test offers concordance tables to show the equivalencies between the tests. For instance, a student earning a 110 on the CLT has achieved the equivalent of a 1520 on the SAT or a 34 on the ACT.

When it comes to guiding students, know that each test has its own peculiarities, making it such that some students perform better simply as a factor of the mechanics of the test. Students can take all three tests are allowed to take any of the tests multiple times. Many colleges offer “super scoring” which means that they will take the highest score of each subtest and create a super score from those multiple test results.

Since COVID, many colleges have made test scores optional. I think this has revealed the limited value of test scores in the decision-making process for many admissions committees. Gone are the days when you could chart GPA and SAT on the X and Y axes to determine both the admissions standards and the scholarship award. Still, the entrance test remains one of the essential tools used by schools to differentiate applicants. As you advise students today, the optionality of the test might mean that a student is better served by not submitting their scores. In the next article, I will help to build a framework for guidance that will enable you as a guidance counselor to provide insight into whether to submit scores. In most cases, they should still submit scores. And in all cases, they all should take at least one test.

Telling the Student’s Story on the Application Essay

The final component of the standard college application process is the essay. The essay must be well written, personable, authentic, and help the applicant stand out amongst thousands of candidates. It needs to convey the qualities of the student’s personality, his or her academic potential, and itemize some of the accomplishments achieved during high school. The essay obviously needs to showcase the writing abilities of the student, demonstrating the capacity to engage in college-level work. In addition, it needs to show awareness of the programs and characteristics of the college to which the student is applying. An excellent essay even develops themes about life and meaning. All of this in the space of 300-500 words.

When we develop a framework for guidance in the next article, we will return to the application essay to capitalize on this opportunity to say something meaningful to an admissions committee. For now, it is important to understand that most applications provide an essay prompt. Popular prompts might ask a student to share about learning from an obstacle, or to describe a person he or she admires. Christian schools might ask for a personal testimony. Non-Christian schools might prompt a student to describe a situation where they challenged a belief. Often these prompts are open-ended and general in nature. This can be very frustrating for students who find that the prompt gives little guidance on what the committee is actually looking for.

As an individual providing guidance, have your students write sample application essays during their junior year. Give them a few typical prompts so that they get a feel for what will be asked of them. Provide feedback about how they can convey the story of their life’s journey and how the potential college will be the next step on their journey. In essence, this is the simple maneuver of the application essay. It’s a succinct piece of communication between a student and a college. It needs to speak in the language of the college. And it needs to tell the college why this particular student would thrive at that location.

A good portion of the time you will spend with students during the application process is reviewing application essays. Coaching students in this way can be a great moment of connection as you help them craft their story and envision themselves at the next stage of their career. Sometimes these personal details are the hardest for them to express in terms that are authentic but not overly vulnerable. So carve out time to meet with your seniors early in the school year to go over application essays. If you have a large senior class, you may need to deputize some of your faculty to do some essay coaching. These moments of guidance are critical to the success of their applications. But I have also found that these moments also strengthen their relationship with the school.

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As we go into this historical review, we will keep in mind that much of what our educational renewal movement has been about stands against the erosion of values that came with industrialized education. I think there are great opportunities once this history is understood to guide students to colleges and universities that will be excellent destinations for students to build on their educational foundation at our schools and homeschools.

Universities Prior to Industrialization

Let us begin by considering how higher education became what it is today. We can go all the way back to the medieval universities. With the founding of the University of Bologna in 1088, numerous intellectual centers were established throughout Europe including Paris (1150), Oxford (1167), Cambridge (1209) and St Andrews (1413), among many others. These universities were representative of the Aristotelian scholasticism of high middle ages. Our understanding of the trivium and quadrivium within the modern classical education movement is significantly shaped by the medieval universities. Renaissance humanism, far from being a break from the universities, was an outgrowth of these universities which became centers of scientific and humanistic thought.

The word “university” is a composite of “unity” and “diversity.” The goal of the liberal arts curriculum was to find unifying principles across the diverse arts and sciences learned at these institutions. This unity of diversity was also seen at places like Oxford where multiple colleges were federated as a university, something that modeled the federation of states, such as the United States. Taking Oxford as an example, the career of a student began with oral examinations. All students entering Oxford were required to know both ancient Greek and Latin (this was true even into the early 1900s). The first year ended with an examination on the classics. Most students then went on to study degrees that would place them in law, politics or the church. In essence, they received the education of a gentleman as they were the sons of gentlemen who were to be placed in the positions of civil leadership.

The university model struggled to keep up with changing times, as advances in technology and medicine occurred largely outside these centers of learning. Thus Spencer Walpole took a dire view of the education on offer at Oxford, writing:

“‘The education imparted at Oxford,’ wrote the Oxford University Commissioners in 1852, was ‘not such as to conduce to the advancement in life of many persons except those intended for the ministry of the Established Church.’ Few medical men, few solicitors, few persons intended for commerce or trade, ever dreamed of passing through a university career.”

Spencer Walpole, History of Twenty-Five Years, Vol. 4: 1870-1875 (Longmans 1903), 136-137.

From Walpole’s perspective, the old medieval model was not suitable to meet the demands of a more technical age. In many ways he was correct that advances in scientific research were neglected in favor of the liberal arts, which had eroded into a status-confirming exercise for the aristocracy. Walpole was expressing the prevailing opinion in British society as educational reforms substantially overhauled the system from the 1870s to the 1940s.

As an aside, the widespread educational reforms in Britain set the backdrop for authors such as Dorothy Sayers, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton and others who lamented the loss of the liberal arts. Chesterton, for instance, lamented how modern reforms gutted education of any philosophical insight when he wrote, “But there is something to be said for teaching everything to somebody, as compared with the modern notion of teaching nothing, and the same sort of nothing, to everybody” (Chesterton, All I Survey, 50).

The same story as laid out here for the British educational system can be repeated as it regards American education. Harvard, Princeton, Yale and any number of schools underwent similar kinds of reforms, leading colleges to shift their emphasis from liberal arts education to technical job training and scientific research. To be fair, there is certainly a place for science and job training. However, as Chesterton astutely recognizes, the loss of the liberal arts was not simply about a change in the curriculum, but about sweeping social changes that emphasized secular atheism, gutting education of its life-giving ideas that empowered learners to consider what it means to live with meaning and purpose.

The Emergence of the Educational-industrial Complex

Already in the mid-1800s higher education saw significant reforms shifting colleges and universities towards research in medicine and technology. As mentioned above, this came at the expense of the liberal arts. Then in the first half of the 20^th century, higher education exploded. According the census data, the number of college degrees awarded in 1950 (432,000) were over ten times the number in 1910 (37,200). There were several factors leading to this massive expansion.

During the great depression, colleges and universities struggled with finances as did the rest of the economy. Roosevelt ignored the pleas of leaders in higher education to offer federal aid to colleges and universities, but he did create a New Deal program offering federal word-study grants to students. This opened the door for a new segment of society to enter higher education, bring greater economic diversity into American schools.

After World War 2, the G.I. Bill enabled millions of returning veterans to gain access to higher education. Just this influx of new students alone accounts for the massive expansion of colleges and universities in the mid-1900s. In addition, college campuses began to expand from small institutions to massive campuses with some state universities hosting tens of thousands of undergraduates.

Finally, the Great Society under Lyndon B. Johnson set the expectation that a college education was part of the American dream. Federal grants and loans subsidized this expectation in the Higher Education Act of 1965. From this point forward, higher education saw in influx of hundreds of thousands of new enrollment each decade.

The sheer size of higher education meant that it represented a significant sector of the economy with a huge federal budget allocated to support it. Combined with the reforms of the late 1800s, higher education was no longer about the lengthy process of forming students for leadership positions in society in the liberal arts tradition, but was now centered on technical job training. The industrial economy needed workers. It also needed consumers. Thus, going to college became a hallmark of American life where teenagers would expect to live in dorms, eat cafeteria food and tick the boxes of graduation credits. The combination of technical training and consumerist mentality. In his manifesto to change our conception of education, Seth Godin critiques what higher education had become by the latter part of the 1900s, “The mission used to be to create homogenized, obedient, satisfied workers and pliant, eager consumers” (Godin Stop Stealing Dreams).

It was Dwight D. Eisenhower who warned Americans of the “military-industrial complex” in his 1961 farewell address.

“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . .Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Farewell address” (January 17, 1961).

The threat of an education-industrial complex mirrors Eisenhower’s warning. True, it doesn’t wield the same kind of destructive power, but an educational-industrial complex places its citizenry under the “unwarranted influence” of “misplaced power.” It raises the question as to whether it is worth placing our children in the institutions of higher education. What is the value of a college education? Have the rising costs of undergraduate education matched our perception of its value?

A New Post-industrial Economy

I have probably painted higher education in a rather poor light thus far. It is true that I have benefitted from my college education and regularly guide our high school graduates in the college selection process. I do not want to leave you without hope in what is becoming a rather bleak landscape when it comes to higher education broadly. There are two reasons that I am hopeful as it regards higher education for our students.

One, there remain numerous colleges and universities that offer excellent liberal arts programs. Students graduating from high school are not without great options whether they want to pursue specialized degrees or desire certain kinds of campus environments. It is actually an exciting time to be searching for colleges as classical school kids and their homeschooled compatriots are highly attractive to these colleges and universities. They know that generally speaking these are students who write well, think deeply and care about their learning.

Two, the demographic cliff colleges and universities are facing means that there is a simultaneous winnowing of small colleges and improvement of quite a number of collegiate programs. The recession in the early 2000s has meant that there are fewer students graduating in the 2020s. With lower enrollment, many colleges are needing to tighten their belts and make themselves more attractive to the smaller pool of applicants. While this might not mean savings for families paying for college, it can mean that tuition dollars are being invested in programs offering better value.

Conclusion

Having looked at the history of universities and capturing a sense of the current state of affairs, we are now better positioned to understand many of the mechanisms that exist in higher education today. In the next article we will delve into the way the game has been played for the past eighty years or so. Ultimately, we will promote a program of guidance that plays a different kind of game. Yet, understanding these rules will enable us as guides to understand the processes and procedures of higher education as it currently stands. We cannot go into college guidance naïve to the inner workings of topics such as federal funding, standardized tests and grade point averages.

For now, hopefully I have left you with a strong sense of how important the liberal arts tradition has been within the history of higher education since the middle ages. Figures at the start of the 20^th century cried out against the erosion of the liberal arts, figures such as Dorothy Sayers and C.S. Lewis. Yet, situating the liberal arts within the broader framework of scientific research and technical training remains a significant question today. For instance, the debates between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois addressed this very question. While this question may remain prominent in our minds today, new questions are emerging with the rising costs of a college education. Is it worth spending so much in tuition only to have significant loan debt for decades afterward? Is the value of a college education worth the cost? I think these are actually significant questions parents and students today are asking when they begin asking for college guidance. Hopefully with the perspectives gained in this historical overview, some answers have emerged that address all of these questions.

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