The Devaluing of Higher Education in America

It’s been about six months now since I finally graduated with a B.A. It was a difficult journey in many ways, and seemed like it was only getting harder with each semester. Not because of tougher classes, although I had my share of those. Rather, it was because of a persistent problem that every student and every professor seems to recognize. It’s talked about among friends, among family, on the news, in entertainment, in politics, by social scientists, by employers, by corporations, by unions, and it’s virtually everywhere in the United States. Yet the general reaction often continues to be one of reluctant surrender. Let’s have a moment of silence for our poor students.

Poor indeed. But this kind of poverty isn’t all it’s frequently imagined to be. It’s not the sort of scrape-by-on-the-skin-of-your-teeth poverty that challenges you while it builds character. It’s not voluntary poverty for the sake of some greater good. It’s not even simple financial poverty. In my opinion, many students face something much deeper — a poverty of needs, values, aspirations, and opportunities.

Before you dismiss my use of the P-word as a ridiculous exaggeration, allow me to make a point that should be, but rarely ever is, obvious. A lot of students live below the poverty line. Using data collected between 2009 and 2011, the Census Bureau reports that 63.3% of…