Elite View

Posted by on Jan 26, 2012 in Education Online, Featured, Portfolio | 31 comments

Is it really “elitist” to suggest that not every warm body pushed through the American public school system is college material?  Of course not.  You don’t think so, and no one reasonable thinks so.  The current president’s idea that every child can or should go to college, and that taxpayers should foot the bill, is not just preposterous, but also would destroy the entire financial class system that naturally exists in our country.  You can’t just push people through a system because they are “at risk” and need more attention and give them more resources, then pretend they performed up to standard later when in fact they did not, and wave a magic wand that transforms them into professionals.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the future financial giants, doctors, attorneys, and other professionals to be people who earned college degrees just because they were paid for.

A college degree is an important document:  it affirms that the person who earned it actually was of above average intelligence and studied in his or her area of expertise, and is qualified to assume his or her role in society.  Online education threatens this, because anyone with a credit card can basically “pay for a college degree.”  They don’t have to be stellar at their studies.  There is no instructor present to evaluate their actual abilities.  And in some industries, these degrees are just as accepted as those earned at traditional college campuses.

I don’t believe that is a good thing, except that, for now, it remains cost prohibitive.  That means that many people who just want to buy into the world of the educated would chose to attend less expensive brick and mortar schools, where they could be adequately evaluated.  They will not just be performing a list of tasks outlined on a syllabus for online learning, but actually having to perform.  Advocates of online or distance education for the college student will argue that there is plenty of rigor in the coursework for online classes, too — but even they cannot deny that the possibility exists that people can slip through the system either fraudulently (by getting someone else to do the work for them) or as a result of neglect.

Most professions still do not give as much preference to degrees earned entirely online as they do to actual college degrees earned in classrooms, and within industries continuing education is permitted online, but not the entire course of study.  What do you think?  Leave us your comments.