Five Reasons Higher Education in the U.S. is Flawed

First, education costs too much for what you get. Why should you pay $100,000 or more for an MBA degree at Universities like Columbia, Harvard, or Yale? (Poets & Quants, 2011). You shouldn’t have to pay so much. Granted, if you get a Harvard, Stanford, or University of Chicago MBA, you have access to the alumni. You have access to the “prestige” of the school. But then, how much do you have to earn per year to pay back your student loan (Should You Get an MBA, n.d.)?

Second, who is teaching the students? How many professors at the prestige Ivy League Schools know more than real business people about real business? Who taught Steve Jobs? These institutions carry prestige, but why? If an instructor writes a textbook, is he or she considered a better instructor, or a better writer? What about the classes taught by assistants, while the tenured faculty is doing research, is that a better education style (Liakos, 2015)?

Third, the government is at fault for allowing students to borrow more money than they need (Carey, 2011). Yes, the student loan program prohibits the universities from advising students that they should not borrow more than they absolutely need. The Title IV people state that if a student is eligible for “x” student aid, he/she can legally ask for it, and the duty of the institution is not to dissuade the student from taking out a maximum student loan. But wait! What’s all this in the news about the rising student debt—and the resulting concern about future failure of student debt repayment. Dynarski (2015) stated that those with higher debt, are more likely to repay it, because they spent the money on degrees that pay more. Who is the government trying to kid now?

Fourth, the government imposed a rule on all for-profit schools, namely that students had to find employment upon graduation that would be substantial enough to pay off the student loans. The government calls this Gainful Employment. Somehow these same restrictions do not apply to public or state institutions who may charge double what a private for-profit institution may charge. For instance, a librarian earning an MA degree costing about $22,000 per year, may not earn enough to be considered “gainfully employed. Most MA programs are geared to complete in 2 years, meaning a $44,000 investment by the student. A librarian in mid-career can earn $57,000 per year. Do the investment and the salary fall under Gainful Employment (Career Igniter, n.d.)? The government does not care, if the degree is earned at a state school—once again student debt increases.

Fifth, most MBA schools teach by using case studies, sometimes up to 50 cases per course or program. Is this a good way to learn about how real business operates? Some say it is. Some disagree. For instance, Cain (2016) stated that Business Schools need to reduce the number of cases and put more intensity into these, rather than cramming so many into a course or program. The President of Pepsi, Indira Nooyi, was quoted as saying "We have these kids who don't know anything about business in great detail...Well they come out saying they've got an MBA and they've got an education but not knowledge. I think there's a better way to teach these courses."

Perhaps there is a better way to prepare students for work. What if real work experience were made part of the learning curriculum, would that improve the “experience” that Ms. Nooyi claims students do not get? C.I.A.M. offers 12 courses in its MBA curriculum and each course has field experience, in the form of a consulting project, as part of the course. Students learn on the job, putting into practice what is taught in each course (C.I.A.M., 2016). But, what do you think?