New Hope for Less-Selective Colleges. Vocational learning may save tuition-dependent institutions from themselves.

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | April 26, 2024 | Walt Gardner

[karpov]

It’s hardly front-page news that trust in higher education is at an all-time low. But what is overlooked is just how dire the situation is for small, private colleges with meagre endowments. Last year, for example, 14 of these institutions closed, the victims of plummeting enrollment. In the New York metropolitan area, some institutions have been forced to sell off portions of their real estate to stay alive.

Such colleges’ plight is partially attributable to the falling birthrate since the Great Recession, but the far more important cause is the disconnect between what these colleges offer and what students want. A Gallup poll found only 26 percent of those surveyed believed that what transpired at such schools was “relevant to their work and daily life.” As a result, young people are bypassing them.

Reversing the bleak future for these schools will require a radical transformation that many fear will undermine the very purpose of higher education. Converting them into vocational colleges, they say, merely trains young people to be replaceable cogs in this country’s economy. It unavoidably means fewer good citizens. That assertion, however, assumes that college graduates today possess the wherewithal to think critically. But, as Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa made clear in Academically Adrift, 36 percent showed no significant improvement in this area after four years of higher education.

[V_TWIN]

I’m a high school grad that was in the aviation maintenance trade one way or another my whole career and I was able to retire before i reached 60 and I’m very proud of all that.

I’m not rich but I never wanted to be in the 1st place....but my wife and I very comfortable living in Florida in a home and have 2 vehicles that are all paid for and our retirement income really more than we need.

[technically right]

Spot on. There will always be a need for electricians, welders, pipe fitters, brick layers and other such skilled trades. It’s what makes stuff work. Folks with degrees in Minority Trans Women’s Menstrual Cycles, not so much.

[nopardons]

BTTT

[married21]

I just read a biography of Booker T. Washington. His Tuskegee Institute was a wonderful school of skills for both earning a living and living a good life.
More recently I have seen some smaller colleges foster more practical majors, particularly in medical allied health careers.
I would say enhancing the vocational skills curriculum with a few classes of general ed to help people have the joy of some humanities, history, philosophy is a good thing.
I have a friend who teaches a philosophy class at a trade tech school. He loves his students. They have already worked a full day by the time they get to his classroom, but are genuinely interested and engaged in the material. It’s an optional class. A lot different than teaching bored young people.