College enrollment for students of all ages is increasing, and students now have the option of attending school in person, using television, through their jobs, or on the Internet. Yet this emphasis on college education does not address the question of whether everyone should go to college. This research considers the reasons that people attend college, the advantages to society for having a highly educated populace, and possible disadvantages.
There are more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States, ranging from the most elite û such as Stanford and the University of Chicago û to community colleges offering two-year degrees and courses that can transfer to four-year institutions. Increasing proportions of high school students are entering colleges, which now offer diverse degrees in ever-narrowing specialties. Where students once received a degree in business, they can now receive degrees in leadership, management, business administration, organizational development, economics, finance, international business just to name a few (Symonds 88).
In addition, colleges and business have formed partnerships so that major research projects are often funded by companies working with a specific college or university. This approach not only raises questions regarding possible bias in the studiesùis the university likely to publish results that are not favorable to the company funding the study?ùbut also drives the need for colleges and universities to attract the best researchers in their field. This, in turn, drives up costs, and puts pressure on the colleges and universities to attract ever more students in order to cover these and other costs now associated with higher education.
People go to college for a variety of reasons. Some are interested in personal enrichment of the type that formerly accrued when colleges granted degrees in "liberal arts". A
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