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Leaders of public colleges and universities in Ohio are feeling the heat, as the crushing burden of student debt combines with the realization that the number of jobs requiring certificates, apprenticeships, associates degrees and other non-four-year credentials is on the rise.
So, they have joined forces in a campaign called Forward Ohio to attempt to regain the upper hand in being the first choice of high school seniors and other seeking a higher education. To do so, they are attempting to remind Ohioans they are undereducated, that there is a "talent gap" in the state, and that attending a public institution of higher learning in Ohio is "worth it."
"There has been a sentiment more recently kind of questioning whether or not baccalaureate degrees have value," Bruce Johnson, president of the Inter-University Council of Ohio, told the Columbus Dispatch. "We just think there needs to be some restatement of the facts. The truest pathway to the middle class is through a baccalaureate degree."
There is little doubt a four-year degree can have value -- and, in fact, a public college or university is probably one of the best places to attain one. The question is whether that value measures up against the years, maybe even decades, of student loan repayment; and whether that degree prepares graduates for the job market.
Not to worry, the schools participating in Forward Ohio are spending money on an economic-impact study on the value of Ohio's public universities. It is not difficult to guess what results the study being funded by the public universities will yield, but those results are expected to be available next month.
Predictably, the universities are also asking lawmakers for more money. They say they need it to keep the cost of a four-year degree from soaring even higher.
Anyone who has set foot on a college campus knows that while there is a great deal of good being accomplished, there is also an incredible amount of money being thrown away that does nothing to prepare our young people to be productive citizens in the real world, let alone find good paying jobs. It may be too much to hope that these schools, as they ask for more money and try to convince us of their worth, will also be looking for every possible way to cut their own spending -- to make themselves the value to students they claim to be.