Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.
There are a lot of people out there who want to fully subsidize colleges and forgive student loans. These ideas are built around one seriously flawed belief, that colleges are for everyone. These policy ideas only benefit those who allow colleges to control their educations. This effectively punishes everyone who learns elsewhere.
Despite the narrative, a vast majority of the population would learn better outside an environment that tightly controls and restricts what, where, when, why, and how we are allowed to learn. The collegiate push does not take this commonsense fact into consideration. We want to ensure as many people go to college regardless of whether or not they should go to college.
Tuition is widely regarded as an obstacle to attending college. On the surface, it might sound nice to remove this barrier. In reality, we are looking more to shift the barrier rather than eliminate it. The proposals in question are very expensive, and that money has to come from somewhere. In one form or another, we all have to pay. This can potentially hinder educational pursuits for people who learn best elsewhere. These ideas also strengthen the flawed and inequitable concept of credentialism, making success more challenging for those who put the value of an education above the value of a degree. Some people will likely abandon educational pursuits due to our collegiate push.
This is not about smart people versus stupid people. There are a lot of bright individuals who should not go to college. If these people act based on what's best for their development, we treat them as a lower caste. This needs to stop. Rather than push misguided policies surrounding the idea that it's wrong to learn outside of a collegiate environment, we need to support alternative pathways to success. Highly capable individuals should not be prohibited from making meaningful contributions to society. We need to be more supportive of this segment of the population, not more hostile.
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