Is College Worth It?

Every year around this time, the same question is asked  and debated on between academics, college administrators, officials in the public/private sphere, and students--is college worth it? The question is of the utmost importance for recent high school and college graduates, along with their parents, who often participate in paying for the college education. They generally want to know if the experience is actually worth the cost, and if the time and money spent will increase the chances of finding a better job in an expanding economy. No doubt that students currently attending or planning on attending UT Tyler have asked this question during their time here.

The answer, according to David Leonhardt from the New York Times, is an unequivocal yes. Leonhardt looks to the college wage premium to make this determination. The college wage premium is how much more college graduates earn than everyone else, based on changing job requirements and overall economic health. Leonhardt finds that the premium is the widest it has ever been, meaning the benefits of a college degree outweigh the potential benefits of finding a job straight out of high school.

Leonhardt also note that, despite mounting fears about student debt levels in the United States and their potential deterrent effect on matriculation, the average student's loan burden pales in comparison to the long-term benefits of a bachelor's degree. That effect is strengthened with more time spent in the higher education setting; i.e. obtaining an MBA, PhD, M.D., J.D., etc.

However, one should not assume that attending college grants the same premium effect as graduating from college. Leonhardt finds that the wage premium for people with some college experience but no degree has been stagnant for years, even as debt levels has been rising. The result is that college dropouts may be worse off than people who never even enrolled. Thus, when one asks themselves "Is college worth it?" they must evaluate both the potential of a college degree and the likeliness of obtaining said degree.

FiveThirtyEight Blog's Ben Casselman breaks down the numbers for the chances of graduating from college in today's social and economic environment. He finds that less than 60 percent of full-time students enrolled in college for the first time graduate for six years. This number decreases for part-time students, racial minorities, and older and low-income students. This means the potential to work within the college wage premium decreases based on various demographics, but it does not mean that the effort to obtain a college degree should be changed. Leonhardt argues that these numbers are not reasons to decide against college; they are an argument for strengthening programs aimed at improving graduation rates.


For future and returning college students reading this post, refrain from reading this in a skeptical or pessimistic lens. Take this as motivation to finish what you started, or what you are about to start. If you have decided on attending UT Tyler, or if you are questioning your return in the Fall of 2014, keep in mind the benefits of a college degree in today's economic climate versus dropping out or not enrolling in the first place. College is a great catalyst for future success, but the only way to achieve that effect is to graduate.

The Adventure of World Building Part #2

In the previous blog I spoke about one of the foundational elements of world building - weather! Weather is more than just set dressing, it allows us to explain food and crops, religion, and it can also impact the mood. This next blog will deal with another foundational element - money! While you don't need to completely grasp economics, the following thoughts might help you along ...

So, this one might seem a little weird, but bear with me. In settings that rely on a re-creation of the modern world economy, the US dollar or other forms of currency might be used. This is only logical. Still, other kinds of settings might not only require different fashions of currency, they might also not even use money at all (ala Star Trek) or they use things we might not consider 'money' at all.

The larger point here is that you need to understand what it is your characters do, how they justify their living, and (if you are doing a non-typical setting) you need to account for what/how things get done. Does your awesome photo-journalist investigator drive a Focus or a Jaguar? Do we actually see your main character, the free-lance captain of a space-ship ever get paid when we keep hearing he is debt? For all its faults, Star Wars at least showed what happens when you default on your loans to criminal space slugs.

EXAMPLE: Seeing as how I mentioned I was basing some of my own novel's ideas/plots on a setting very
much like ancient china, I had to be aware of how people paid for ... anything at all! I found out (very interestingly) that silk was so prevalent at a certain point in the history of the Han Dynasty that people actually used it as payment. Sheets of silks were historically a kind of "bond" people paid to other people for goods. I decided an interesting plot point was two different kingdoms use different dyes for their silks (red and blue) to distinguish one kingdoms "money" from another. Each kingdom guards its silk production facilities and the trees that feed the silkworms. This sets up awareness of where/how money is set up. It's not meant to be the biggest point but it is meant to afford the setting some kind of verisimilitude.

In the end, focus on knowing how your characters and how money works. I can't work for free and unless your character happened to inherit a staggering fortune which is held in a goblin bank, know how he/she gets paid. Work from there to see how your character acts when he/she looses his or her job, or when their globe trotting adventure to save the world from space ants has them return to an eviction notice.

The Adventure of World Building Part #1

As an English Major one of the things I am confronted with is the dreaded question - what do you want to do with your life? I long ago decided on Academia as my passion, but I have other passions to vent desires and needs that grading papers and academic level writing cannot fill. What might that be? Writing books!

Ranking World Universities- Helpful or Harmful to Academia?

On October 2^nd, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings were released by Thompson Reuters, listing the most prestigious universities around the world based on education prowess.  Specifically, the universities undergo evaluation based on teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook, which most institutions believe to be their core missions.  The top school on the list is the California Institute of Technology, followed by Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and other highly prestigious universities. 

While some view academic rankings as beneficial to growth for the higher education and university systems globally, others find them to be detrimental to the validity of universities not considered for ranking.  I have been at this university for over two years now, and I am fully aware of the sheer potential this institution has to not only support and educate the students that pass through its doors, but also benefit society as a whole.  However, we are not on the Times Higher Education list, nor do we appear often on other university rankings.  Does this diminish the validity or success of UT Tyler?

Institutions often rank universities not as a whole, but based on different programs or fields of study, creating a new sense of competition for the programs that are low on the list, or not ranked at all.  For example, U.S. News University Directory offers a list of what they deem to be the Top Political Science Schools & Colleges in the United States (which is specific to graduate and doctoral programs).  They also offer a similar list for graduate and doctoral programs in Economics.  While these lists are beneficial for students who wish to have a career in a particular field, the lists are often very similar in rank.  Harvard University is on the top of both of these lists, even though some political scientists or economists would disagree with the list results. 

The main question for most skeptics is this: do these rankings allow for a true evaluation of ALL universities and colleges in the United States, or do they only evaluate a certain group of schools that consistently rank high in academic prowess.  I know that UT Tyler does not have the same student population or net worth as Harvard University, but that should not diminish its potential to educate students, or to provide opportunities for graduate school or doctoral programs after a student graduates.  The calculation of “top schools” seems to include only elite universities with high name recognition, and not often enough do they acknowledge smaller universities with a similar potential for success.

It will be impossible to abandon rankings outright, as the impulse to grade things seems hard-wired into human nature.  They also serve some bureaucratic purpose, since the metrics of performance and decisions regarding resource allocation often stem from these rankings.  The only real concern I hold is that an academic institution like UT Tyler--which does not carry as heavy of name recognition as universities like Harvard, Georgetown, or UT Austin—is not removed from consideration by graduating high school seniors simply because it is deemed “less relevant or competitive” in comparison.  This could create a binary for academia that labels institutions like Harvard as “elite” or “competent,” and considers schools like UT Tyler to be “lesser.” 

Why UT Tyler Students Should Embrace Academic Literature

While trying to find a topic for this blog post, I was inspired by my co-worker Michael's post, “Habits, Practicing Self-Control, and Reading Lists,” in which he discusses his use of reading lists and their implications on time management and creating good habits. While reading this entry on the UT Tyler Student Blog, I realized that my blog post could discuss what makes up my personal reading list: academic literature. 

     Now, before I sound too pretentious to the readers of this student blog, let me clarify what academic literature really is, and discuss why it would be relevant to an undergraduate or graduate student.

Working Hard ... or Hardly Working at UT Tyler?

   When somebody in college says, “I am in an Honors class,” what do you think that means? When I was little and in High School, I took it to mean that [ insert person here ] was smarter than me. I thought, “Man, they must know everything!” and it was certainly true that these kids did different work than me.