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 its is to prepare 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 very connected leading us closer to discovering the purpose of higher education.

Barnett views higher education as a bittersweet experience. He states that “ higher education is unsettling; it is not meant to be a cozy experience” (Barnett). At a 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). Barnett basically explains that college is not a “fun” experience but rather to introduce youth to how the real world is. Is Barnetts eyes children our innocent, they have no experience in the real world but rather 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 though, in Barnett’s words, “there are no final answers”.

Nussbaum views are similar to Barnett in the sense that higher education is to prepare the individual to succeed in the real world. However instead of teaching them that the real world has no final answers, like Barnetts said, it is to change their mind from a passive state to an active one. Nussbaum explains that the United States higher education puts a focus on humanities in order to shape students into thoughtful citizens. However 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