Anthony Mueller
ENG 110-J
1st Writing Assignment
The Mystery of Higher Education
In today’s world, millions of kids apply to college without even considering another option. Many would consider attending college an expectation of today’s society. But has anyone ever wondered why? Some typical answers are “I need a degree for a job”, “I’ll make more money if I go to college”, or even “ my parents are making me go”. So what is the purpose of higher education. Authors Ronald Barnett and Martha Nussbaum share their thoughts on the matter. Barnett argues that it is to prepare students for the real world. Similarly to Barnett, Nussbaum says higher education is to prepare your mind for the world. Each author takes different stances on the purpose of higher education, but they are both arguments connected by explaining higher education as a crucial transition to prepare for the real world.
Barnett views higher education as a bittersweet experience. He states that “ higher education is unsettling; it is not meant to be a cozy experience”. At first glance it may seem like Barnett is against higher education but he follows up with “ultimately, the student comes to see that things could always be other than they are”. Barnett explains that college is not a “fun” experience, but rather an experience to introduce young adults to the real world. In Barnetts eyes, children are innocent, they have no experience in the real world and take everything for granted. They don’t truly understand the struggles or problems of the real world. Higher education teaches these young adults that life is much more complex than they once thought, there are no longer easy answers to everything.
Nussbaum views are similar to Barnett in the sense that higher education is to prepare the individual to succeed in the real world. The difference is that Barnett focuses on changing the young adult’s perspective completely, while Nussbaum’s views focus on developing their perspective. Nussbaum explains that the United States higher education puts a focus on humanities in order to shape students into thoughtful citizens. Higher education is also to teach students to have critical thought in order to succeed in today’s “complex world”. Nussbaum explains that we can’t teach students every fact they must know, so instead you must teach them to learn and think for themselves so that they can continue to learn what they must know, even after higher education is long in the past.
In my experiences, I have come to agree with both authors points of view. First, with respect to Barnett’s view, I have lost that childish innocence. Perhaps a child’s life isn’t as easy as Barnett makes it out to be, but it is nothing compared to the real world. As a child I had less responsibility and less to worry about. There were no bills to be paid, no crucial decisions to make. Higher education begins to introduce young adults into a world of consequences. Students must manage time, money, and resources in order to succeed, otherwise they must face the consequences. These consequences only get bigger after leaving college and entering adulthood. On the other hand, I also agree with Nussbaum. College courses have taught me to think for myself, work with others, and access my resources. These are all skills that will help me to continue to learn and succeed years after college. It is true that some topics covered in college will be outdated in a matter of years, but the skills you learn never leave you. However to contain my thoughts of higher education to these two views seems absurd. Higher education is also important to me in order to network, to advance my studies, and to discover my passion. To me higher education is much more than what Barnett and Nussbaum sum it up to be.
Barnett and Nussbaum offer two compelling arguments for the purpose of higher education. But are either one of them right? I would have to say no. To define one, two, or even three main purposes of higher education is impossible, because the purpose of higher education is dependent on the individual. If you surveyed people on the purpose of higher education, you’d get many different responses, but none of them are wrong. Some people attend higher education to party, some for a degree, some just to make friends. In the end there are countless purposes for higher education. So when asked the purpose of higher education perhaps Barnett said it best, “There are no final answers”.
