Colleges across America are facing tough decisions. These schools are more expensive than ever at a time when the average parent and student are stretched to the bone. Enrollment is down on average. Small colleges are closing, while majors and classes are being slashed everywhere.
Ouch.
It's a painful reality. Students like Christina Westman had their dreams crushed when her music therapy program was eliminated at St. Cloud State. She's now scrambling to transfer schools.
Why is this happening?
It's never one thing.
COVID relief funds are drying up, as relatively high-paying jobs and a growing minimum wage are luring borderline college students directly into the workforce. Online courses and tutorials are new flexible options for potential college students.
Then there’s the culture war.
Year after year, fewer young men choose college, especially black men like my self. It’s been that way for at least a decade. All this, as these uneven, campuses became hotbeds for a new generation of protests, and their well-documented widespread adoption of safe spaces, trigger warnings, and speech codes.
You may think these are good things but if you’re not a progressive, you might not be comfortable in a world with them.
Then there’s the economy.
Add the looming AI revolution, which many believe will kill a lot of entry-level jobs, a decreasing birthrate, and watching your parents and older relatives struggle with student loans for decades, all while, most of us don’t get to do what we went for and this all seems inevitable.
I’m still paying off my student debt by the way.
With all that, no wonder kids are saying no to college.
As Chris Rock once put it, “I wouldn’t do it but I understand.”
I have mixed feelings about this. I benefited greatly from the college experience. Niagara University is a big reason I escaped multigenerational poverty. It’s partly responsible for my career in media and marketing. I’ve got to work for companies I grew up watching, reading, and listening to. And more importantly, going to college got me away from where I grew up. It was expensive but I needed all that.
But even 20 years ago, when I stepped on that campus, it was obvious that college wasn’t for everybody. Too many of my friends and fellow students were there because they didn’t know what else to do or were not given a choice.
That’s what we have to get better at.
We must tailor education, especially pre-college education, to the wants and interests of every young person. If college makes sense so be it, but for the 2025 version of James Brown, perhaps they would be better off burning $100,000 in grants and loans learning at the feet of writers, journalists, radio talk show hosts, and salesmen, instead of on dorms and cafeteria food.
What do you think? Are you sending your kid to college? And how should our education system work?
Big questions. No wrong answers.
Share your thoughts in the comments and support my work at JamesBrowntv.substack.com.
On that note, I'm James Brown, and as always, be well.
Share this post