2008 Woodie Awards
Preoccupied with occupation
The PSU experience should be more than just job preparation
Jeremy Johnson, SGA President
Issue date: 8/23/07 Section: Opinion
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When I began my college career, I wanted only to prepare myself for a job. However, a few exceptionally good general education classes persuaded me to see college as something different, not so much a means to an end, but an end in and of itself.
I took courses in different departments that had nothing to do with my major, simply because I wanted to learn about those subjects. And the list of classes I wanted to take (but didn't need) grew until it soon became apparent that I couldn't take all of them without serious delays in my graduation.
I wouldn't have minded so much. But I found one university policy particularly frustrating. This policy, called "The Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress Policy," states that any student with more than 186 credit hours will no longer be able to receive financial aid - including loans, grants, scholarships - through the university system. If they want to seek further education, they'll receive support only in the proverbial, philosophical sense.
Naturally, one can appeal this decision in order to keep getting aid, and thus continue one's education. But this policy brings to mind several very serious questions about the purpose of a university.
Many will say that a university serves the purpose of preparing students for the "job market," and that students should be "in and out" as efficiently as possible (4 years being the current standard). It is commonplace for students who "take their time" or "dawdle" with their education to be looked down upon, often with a sense of disappointment, as though they could allocate their time to more worthwhile activities.
I stand behind the view that it is a university's job to give students an all-encompassing education. This will enable students to participate in their community in spheres beyond "the job market." It will also enable these individuals to view their world from varying perspectives, to think about it abstractly and enhance and enrich that world with their own talents and ideas.
I took courses in different departments that had nothing to do with my major, simply because I wanted to learn about those subjects. And the list of classes I wanted to take (but didn't need) grew until it soon became apparent that I couldn't take all of them without serious delays in my graduation.
I wouldn't have minded so much. But I found one university policy particularly frustrating. This policy, called "The Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress Policy," states that any student with more than 186 credit hours will no longer be able to receive financial aid - including loans, grants, scholarships - through the university system. If they want to seek further education, they'll receive support only in the proverbial, philosophical sense.
Naturally, one can appeal this decision in order to keep getting aid, and thus continue one's education. But this policy brings to mind several very serious questions about the purpose of a university.
Many will say that a university serves the purpose of preparing students for the "job market," and that students should be "in and out" as efficiently as possible (4 years being the current standard). It is commonplace for students who "take their time" or "dawdle" with their education to be looked down upon, often with a sense of disappointment, as though they could allocate their time to more worthwhile activities.
I stand behind the view that it is a university's job to give students an all-encompassing education. This will enable students to participate in their community in spheres beyond "the job market." It will also enable these individuals to view their world from varying perspectives, to think about it abstractly and enhance and enrich that world with their own talents and ideas.
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