John Merrow’s documentary film addresses a very poignant issue in the American society today, namely the state of higher education, which has become extremely expensive, and which is perceived as less qualitative than it used to be a few decades ago. The state of higher education is important from a sociological perspective because this institution represents an important socialization agent, and it has a crucial importance in the formation of young people as members of the society. Therefore, understanding and addressing the problems of higher education is a current necessity, because this issue is likely to affect the future of the American society.
As an agent of socialization, education has many functions, and one of the most important ones, is that of assimilation. Schools help young people to integrate into the larger community, and education allows young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to find a place in the society. Thus, poor, immigrant or otherwise disadvantaged youth have a chance to become part of the middle class due to education. The higher education system, through its historical social contract, described in the film, should offer equal opportunity to disadvantaged youth, to pursue higher education. However, as shown in “Declining by Degrees”, the access to higher education becomes more and more conditioned by financial resources. Therefore, higher education fails to accomplish its assimilation function, because many young people from poor backgrounds have to drop from universities and colleges because they are unable to pay the fees.
The film presents many cases of inequality, by showing that talented young men are forced to drop out from universities and colleges, despite their willingness to work hard, because they simply cannot afford to pay the fees. The film showed that there is a lot of discrimination in higher education, particularly in public institutions, where the ability to pay the fees is much more important than a student’s dedication and effort. For example, African-American student Ceylon Hollis’s story is impressive, because she is a truly hard-working student, who did her best to succeed and yet, she was defeated by the system and had to drop out. Her effort and the defeat she suffered are significant, particularly when compared with the experience of many students who come from privilege, and who pass through college without putting any effort, and focusing on parties more than study. The film shows that the commitment to open higher education to everyone equally started to fade (“Declining by Degrees”). This means that federal financial aid was reduced. Today 68% of all undergraduates work at least 15 hours per week (“Declining by Degrees). This causes them to miss classes, not to take full advantage of the college experience, and not to be able to use their full potential in class. Young people who come from privilege have more chances to finish college than disadvantaged youth, which is a type of discrimination.
As a college student, I believe that the greatest threat to American higher education, is that it becomes too commercialized, and that in the higher education, the young people stop being ‘students’ and start being perceived as ‘paying customers’. As customers, students hold too much power because they are treated too softly. They can earn a degree easily even when they are not prepared enough, simply because the universities and colleges need to retain them. However, students who are not able to pay for their studies easily have a much different college experience. Higher education quickly discards them, even though they may have potential or the will to succeed. One of the roles of higher education should be that of identifying, encouraging and preparing the next generations of innovators and bright minds of the society. However, higher education seems to care less about supporting hard-working students, and rewarding the efforts great teachers, and from great students, and more about raising money. As a college student, I am worrying that the quality of education is decreasing, particularly because of the financial factor, which causes everyone to treat higher education as an industry, more than a social good to which all those who deserve it should have access.
Works Cited
“Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk”. Perf. John Merrow. PBS. 2005.Film.
