On March 12, fifty people were charged in “the college admissions scandal.” Unless you have been asleep this month, you know what I am talking about.
Wealthy people bribed and cheated to assure their kids a path into elite universities. Among those scooped up in the net were actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, so they have become the faces of the scandal. It’s a complicated mess and has brought various reactions from all kinds of people with all kinds of perspectives on college, wealth, and work.
Angry people are using it as an excuse to bash the wealthy, again parroting the notion that it is inherently evil to be among the 1%. But let’s be honest. The fifty on the list aren’t corrupt because they are wealthy. Corruption doesn’t require money. Money was just a means to do the wrong thing.
And then there’s the group of voices using this scandal to reinforce claims that colleges are overpriced (true), that a college education is not necessary to succeed in life (also true), that college isn’t necessary to make us valuable as a person (still true), and that, therefore, we should steer our kids away from college altogether (not true).
Still others are rightly insulted by the parents who mowed a clear and work-free path, producing entitled kids and using wealth to shield them from the harsh and healthy realities of personal achievement. They broke the rules designed to level the field, and they even managed to disrespect athletes and disabled students in the process. All this, so that their kids could skip over the hard work it takes to get into a college, stay there, do well, and apply what they learned.
And in all this mess the college degree itself has been bruised. Is it still a good idea? Yes. Here’s why.
If done right, pricey or not, college is still a good idea, especially from a biblical perspective. By assuming college is all about getting a better job, or, as the elite seem to think, the institution’s name on the degree matters more than the degree itself, we have lost the value of it. We now view college as a factory for producing marketable skills. In doing so, we have diminished much of the value of college and created a false and detrimental dichotomy that pictures skilled labor and a college education as opponents rather than partners.
I know, and agree, that college isn’t for everyone, but I am an advocate for a college education (especially at a Christian college).
So here are three reasons college is still a good idea:
First, college is still a good idea for the same reason it has always been a good idea—the education. The Bible teaches that Christians should nurture the life of the mind just as we would cultivate physical and emotional health. We are stewards of the mind God has given us, and, rightly done, college is an investment in that stewardship (Matt. 22:37; 2 Tim. 2:15).
A college education, especially a liberal arts education, is not just about learning stuff. It’s about learning to think (Prov. 9:9). It’s about learning to solve problems, living a disciplined life, and bettering humanity. And it is about having a context for burgeoning ideas, about knowing the flow of history and human thought, and about making connections and integrating ideas for a positive outcome.
Without that context, we make disastrous mistakes. Unethical mistakes. You know, like assuming that cheating will have no long-term impact. Like that.
Second, college is still a good idea because it teaches self-discipline. When college is done ethically and correctly, students are graded on their own work, and, in theory at least, must learn to be responsible for their own time management. The only other option in college is to cheat, which should be discouraged–and have costly repercussions. The Bible teaches the value of self-discipline and makes it clear that a lack of discipline incurs consequences, but self-discipline produces productive human beings (Prov. 25:28; 1 Cor. 9:24-27).
College challenges the student constantly with character development, ethical choices, and moral decisions. Cheat or don’t cheat. Waste time or study harder. College gives every student a chance to grow in character. Some pass, and some fail.
And third, college is still a good idea because it focuses on the long look. A central biblical teaching is that growth over one’s lifetime matters more than immediate gratification (Ps. 90:12; Prov. 16:9; Eph. 5:16). One reason we have lost the value of a college education is that we have lost the value of time itself, the growth of wisdom, and the concept of a developing and thriving life. We focus on immediate marketability and forget that a person isn’t necessarily better simply because he or she is marketable.
However, studies consistently show that a college education does, in fact, make a person more marketable. And that in the course of a lifetime, a college educated person earns around $800,000 more than a person without a college education. But that’s not just because of the degree. It’s also because the student has proven to be responsible, self-disciplined, and reliable, and has also learned to make choices that are, well, wise and even ethical.
One day, someday, the parents among those fifty people who were indicted in this “college admissions scandal” will depart this beloved life. And they will leave behind their wealth. Wealth which, most likely, they worked and sweated to earn.
And who do you supposed will inherit their fortunes? The same kids they taught to cheat to get by.
Bet they didn’t think that through.
“Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle, but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it” (Prov. 13:11).