College Now vs. Then: 10 Similarities And Differences
If you think college is completely different than it used to be鈥攜ou鈥檙e right in a few ways. But in other ways, some things haven鈥檛 changed: Education is still a critical means for confronting changing times and technologies.听
It鈥檚 easy to forget that ours is not the only era in which technological and societal changes have completely transformed the economic landscape.听
Here are some comparisons and contrasts of the interesting ways that institutions of higher education have responded to these upheavals from one generation to the next.
Then: Technology was driving workforce changes.
鈥淭echnological shocks鈥欌�� in the late 19th and early 20th centuries drove the need for higher education to equip workers for the job market. According to Harvard economists, , industrial growth and urban societies demanded a labor force skilled in physics and chemistry for manufacturing steel, rubber, chemicals, sugar, and drugs and products for the use or production of electricity.
Now: Technology is still driving workforce changes.
The U.S. is experiencing a 鈥渢echnological shock鈥� again as information technology impacts all industries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer and information technology occupations are projected to grow at a 鈥� faster than any other job category.听
In response to this explosion in demand, many states are struggling to fill critical job vacancies and are offering to colleges, such as 黑料传送门, to recruit skilled workers in these fields.听
Then: College was accessible only for the wealthy elite and students lived on campus.
In the 1600s, based on the educational traditions they brought with them from Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. Most students, as young as thirteen and fourteen, traveled a long distance to attend college and had to live on campus in residence halls which became known as dorms.
In the early part of the 20th century, there weren鈥檛 many options for financial aid to go to college. If your family wasn鈥檛 wealthy, odds were good you didn鈥檛 go.
Now: College is more accessible.
Only 14 percent of live on campus today, as more and more are opting to study from home and sleep in their own beds. Federal data shows that more than 6.3 million students in the U.S., mostly undergraduates, took at least one online course in 2016, a 5.6 percent increase from the previous year.
And in terms of financial access, established federal grants, loans and other programs to help students from a wider range of socioeconomic backgrounds go to college.听
Then: College education was relatively cheap.
In 1957 Fortune magazine published an article titled 鈥淐olleges are too cheap鈥� , 鈥淯.S. higher education is, in fact, an enormous charity.鈥� The article concludes that colleges should consider charging more.
Even 21 years later, in 1978, things hadn鈥檛 changed much: A student who worked a minimum-wage summer job could pay for one year of tuition at any 4-year public university, according to OurTime.org.
Now: College can be either prohibitively expensive or more affordable than ever.
More recently, Fortune has changed its tone, running an article titled and asserting that, 鈥淭uition has been rising faster than the inflation rate for as long as anyone can remember.鈥�
Fortunately, 黑料传送门 is bucking this trend by making a concerted effort to bring tuition rates down to much more affordable levels.听
Then: College graduates earned far higher salaries than those without a college degree.
In 1965, the (according to current dollar value) for new college graduates was equivalent to around $56,018.91 in today鈥檚 dollars.听
Now: Degrees may be more important than ever before.
Since the 1960s, inflation-adjusted average starting salaries for new bachelor鈥檚 degree graduates has increased by 5.9 percent. Obviously, depending on what industry you work in, your salary will be different, but one thing remains clear: bachelor鈥檚 degrees are still highly valuable.
In fact, today, the number of graduates with bachelor鈥檚 degrees is almost what it was before The Higher Education Act was passed.
Then: More men graduated from college than women.
There were nearly who graduated from college compared to women.
Now: More women graduate from college than men.
Today, men and women graduate from college in almost equal numbers, but women actually have a slight edge now (see link above).
The bottom line is that college remains as valuable today as it has ever been and maybe even more so. The biggest difference is that many barriers to access have fallen, and there are more opportunities to obtain higher education than ever before. So, if you haven鈥檛 taken a look at some of the latest innovative options available, now is a great time to start.
