American colleges and universities are rightly the envy of the world. By many measures, they set the gold standard for higher education globally. They draw millions of students from abroad and serve as one of the best ways that the United States promotes itself and its values internationally. Higher education is one of the industries at which the United States particularly excels. Although many other countries also have excellent colleges and are making important gains in competing with U.S. schools, the U.S. will likely remain the global industry leader in higher education for the foreseeable future. That American colleges are the best in the world is perhaps most obvious if we consider its highest ranked colleges and universities. Among the twenty best-ranked universities in the world, sixteen are in the United States.[1]
But the surpassing quality of America’s most prestigious schools is only one of the factors that makes American higher education truly unique and unmatched in the world. A more important and rare achievement of America’s higher education system is the fact that almost every person in America can go to college if they are motivated to do so. Of course college is not for everyone, and some people become quite successful without attending or completing college. But a quality college education is available to almost everyone in America with the motivation and focus to strive for it. This contrasts with many developed countries in which access to a college education is allocated to only an elite few. Even when other countries do offer comparable access to higher education, they often do so based on the model of the American system.[2] To be sure, the American system of higher education has deep flaws, especially with respect to equal access to college. A lack of preparation, guidance and funding impedes access to college for many students from low-income and even middle-income families. But
Another achievement of the American college system that is more important than the unmatched quality of its elite colleges is the generally high quality of so many of its lesser known, lesser ranked colleges. It is a persistent myth among college applicants (and the American public more broadly) that a high quality college experience is something that can only be found at highly ranked colleges. This myth is not only dangerous, insofar as it greatly increases the stressfulness of the application process, it is also patently false. Motivated students can find great professors, great classes, great experiences and great friends at almost every college in the United States. In fact, many lesser known colleges do a better job providing these things than the most prestigious colleges. (This should not be surprising since the factors that go into a college's rank often have little to do with the quality of its undergraduate educational experience.) Moreover, to a very great degree, college is what you make of it; unmotivated students could fail to have a good college experience even at the best schools and motivated students can find a good college experience at almost any school.
Admittedly, there are colleges in America that do not serve their students well. However much it is the case that high-quality colleges are more numerous and widely available than most people realize, there is certainly a problematic “low end” to American higher education. This low end is comprised of institutions at which students are generally not challenged, supported or educated well. This territory is increasingly the domain of for-profit institutions.
Some colleges serve their students poorly despite their good intentions, e.g. through financial failures. But many low-end institutions are so-called “predatory colleges.” Named in reference to their reliance on predatory loans, these institutions exploit students, especially low-income students who hope to improve their lives with a college degree. These for-profit institutions generate sizable profits by getting students to take on unsustainable levels of student loans, funds which are then paid to the institution, often in exchange for very little by way of instruction or degree. These institutions thereby defraud both their students and American taxpayers, sometimes to a degree that is criminal.[3] Many of those who graduate from these institutions find themselves saddled with crushing levels of student debt and a degree that does not add to their income.
One clear conclusion is that, for most people, college at one of these predatory or low-end institutions is not worth it. Perhaps a more important conclusion is that for almost everyone else going to the rest of the colleges in America, college is worth it. For those who find a good match with a high quality college, college is very much worth it, which is the topic of the next fact to discuss.
Citations:
[1] 2017 list of “Best Global Universities Rankings,” U.S. News & World Report, [https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings]
[2] See John Thelin, A History of American Higher Education, 2nd Edition, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011. p. 372-4.
[3] Editorial Board, “Late in the Fight Against Predator Schools,” The New York Times, Sept. 8, 2016.