Chapter 2: What’s College For?
Alise Lamoreaux, Dave Dillon
“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.”
– Chinese Proverb
What’s college for? That’s a little question with a big answer! A college education comes in many shapes and sizes. In 2020, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 3,982 degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the United States[1]
Associate degrees may be obtained at a community colleges or technical schools and usually require approximately 60 credits. Bachelor’s degrees are most often offered by four-year colleges or universities, although some community colleges may offer bachelor’s degrees. Most bachelor’s degrees will require the completion of approximately 120 credits. Some students may begin at a community college and transfer to a four-year college or university to pursue a bachelor’s degree while others may start and finish at a four-year college or university. Both associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees usually require general education courses and courses focusing on a specific major. A master’s degree is an advanced graduate degree that shows a high level of mastery concentrated in a specific subject area. Many master’s degree programs require completion of 30 and 60 credits. One distinction between colleges and universities is that colleges do not offer graduate degree programs while universities offer both undergraduate (associate and bachelor’s) and graduate degree (master’s and doctorate) programs. A doctorate degree is the highest degree available to earn in many fields. Also called a “terminal degree,” this signals achieving the highest level of academic mastery in some disciplines.
Colleges and universities may be public, private, religious, small, large, for-profit, community colleges, junior colleges, regional universities, research universities, or international universities. In addition to a degree and an “education,” students often pursue college for options, opportunities, knowledge, curiosity, and guidance.
How do you view college?
What will define college success for you?
People go to college for a variety of reasons. The type of college you select will help set parameters and expectations for your experiences. Before jumping into the details of going to college, it’s important to stop and think about the purpose college has in your life. Traditionally, college was a place young adults went after high school to explore courses and majors before settling into a job path. According to a 2015 University of California at Los Angeles survey, most people currently go to college for one or more of 7 main reasons:[2]Kevin Eagan et al., The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2015 (Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA, 2015).
Video: Don’t Just Follow Your Passion: A Talk for Generation Y, Eunice Hii at TEDxTerryTalks 2012
What impression does this TED Talk leave you with? Which generation are you?
A Forbes article from 2019 says t