Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 65
aren't getting onto an educational dead-end road but, rather, onto a bridge that can lead, with a little more schooling,
to a bachelor's degree. But for these alternatives to become
widespread, higher education will have to rethink some unquestioned-and highly questionable-assumptions about
what a BA is or should be.
I
f you ever need to strike up a conversation with a group
of academics, a surefire way to get them talking is to ask
about their graduate training. Where did they train, in
what methods, in which lab, under what mentor? People will
speak with great pride about their training as an economist,
historian, chemist, philosopher, or classicist. If, on the other
hand, you need to make a quick exit, try sharing the opinion
that undergraduate education should include a lot more vocational training. You'll soon find yourself standing alone or
responding to accusations of classism and questions about
your commitment to social and racial equality. You might
even hear that "training is for dogs," a common refrain in
higher education that carries the unpleasant implication
that skills-based education is the equivalent of teaching students to sit, stay, and shake hands.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, in the United
States training is widely understood to be the end, not the
beginning, of an educational journey that leads to a particular job or career. Undergraduates are supposed to get
a general education that will prepare them for training,
which they will presumably get once they land a job or go
to graduate school. Any training that happens before then
just doesn't count.
It is because of this belief that general education requirements are the center of the bachelor's degree and are
concentrated in the first two years of a four-year program.
The general education core is what distinguishes the BA from
a vocational program and makes it more than "just training." It is designed to ensure that all degree holders graduate with a breadth of knowledge in addition to an in-depth
understanding of a particular subject area. Students are exposed to a broad range of disciplines and are pushed to think
critically about the social, cultural, and historical context in
which they live. It is supposed to guarantee that all graduates
can write, have a basic understanding of the scientific method, have heard of the Marshall Plan and Maslow's hierarchy
of needs, and know that iambic pentameter has something
to do with poetry.
While few would challenge the importance of general
education, both to students and to a well-functioning democracy, there is good reason to question why it has to come
at the beginning of a BA-and just how general and theoretical it needs to be. The pyramid structure of the bachelor's
degree, which requires that students start with the broad
base of general requirements before they specialize, is what
makes college unappealing to so many young people.
It doesn't have to be this way. There is no iron law
of learning dictating that students must master general
theories or be fully versed in a particular historical or cultural context before learning how to do things. Some students will do well under this approach, but there is solid evidence that some students learn better through experience. For these students, theory does not make sense
until it is connected to action. Putting a lot of general or
theoretical courses on the front end just leaves them disengaged or, even worse, discouraged. They will do better if
they start by learning how to master certain tasks or behaviors and then explore the more abstract concepts behind the actions.
State and community colleges in the state of Washington figured this out years ago and offer a variety of options
for students who want to begin their college career with
technical training. Evergreen State College allows students
to earn an upside-down bachelor's degree, with the technical education coming first, followed by two years of broader, general education. The program is designed for students
like Jeffrey, with a more flexible approach to learning that
honors the purpose of the general education requirements
more than a rigid set of rules around exactly how many credits a student must have to graduate, and when. Under this
approach, students can use the last two years of college to
round out their education with courses designed to give
them a broader understanding of the historical and social
context in which they live and work, along with addressing
any gaps in writing, analytical, or math skills. For many students who have been out in the world working and applying
their skills already, the opportunity to pull back and see the
big picture can be very appealing.
Other community colleges in Washington offer a bachelor's of applied science, or BAS, a four-year degree designed
explicitly to build on a two-year technical degree and provide a seamless pathway for students to continue their education. Some of the programs, like the BAS in manufacturing operations at Clover Park Technical College, add business
and management skills to a two-year program teaching students how to operate and repair complex machinery. Others,
like the BAS in radiologic technology at Bellevue College, allow students to continue deepening their technical skills in
a particular field.
The programs are still relatively new, but early outcome data is encouraging. According to a 2014 impact
evaluation, 75 percent of graduates were employed two
years out, with average earnings ranging from more than
$80,000 for graduates of the radiology programs to $27,000
for those earning an applied management degree, with an
average of $37,000 across all programs-comparable to the
earnings of students graduating with traditional four-year
degrees. Some students had transitioned successfully into
graduate programs. The BAS degree is proving popular and
growing: since 2010, when the degrees were first launched,
enrollments have gone from just over a hundred students
to nearly 1,000 in 2014. The colleges are planning for continued growth.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Monthly - September/October 2015
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