Why a Debate on the "Rising Cost of Education" Brings the Word Misnomer to Mind

Colleges and universities and the term 'Education' are generally thought to be synonymous. To be honest, I have never really seen the direct correlation everybody else does, especially since i entered university myself. Education is about knowledge, learning, growing and broadening your horizons to whatever extent you wish to push yourself to. What is needed for that is a curious mind and a will to find answers to the questions devised by that curious mind by whatever means possible. Sitting in class and half-heartedly listening to a lecture or cramming for examinations does not necessarily imply getting an education in any sense of the word.

So why do we go to university and pay handsomely to do so? Because a university degree is societal recognition, albeit recognition of expertise you may or may not have acquired. The brand name of the university that awards the degree is the mark of the standard of expertise acquired by the degree-holder. Those societal recognitions are what we empty our pockets for, thinking otherwise is probably delusional. Until we find a better way to recognize expertise, the current university system will have to do.

The recent debate about the American Higher Education System, covered comprehensively in an essay by Christopher Shea entitled "The End of Tenure?", does not in my opinion cover any of the above. Professors are highly paid because we assign a high value to the recognition that comes along with a degree. We support research in universities because we want to expand our societal knowledge base. "Too much" specialization is just a by product that we can choose to accept or weed out, although weeding out will require the Congress to frame a bill - "Standards of Acceptable Specialization", which should be a hilarious affair all in all.

It is ironic that in an era supposedly characterized by freedom of information access, namely the Web 2.0 era, we are worrying about the increasing costs of education. Because education was always free for the taking, although admittedly less accessible than it is now. The cost that has risen - that of the societal contractual recognition of expertise and the brand name supporting that recognition.