College Education vs. Technical Training

College Education vs. Technical Training

A few years ago, the DeVry technical institute released a commercial that compared two brothers in their educational pursuits. The younger brother started school at DeVry and graduated in two years. The older brother had chosen college and was still stuck in his dorm room studying history while his younger brother worked on the future. The question this commercial presented was obvious, why waste all that time in a university learning trivial facts which don’t apply to the real world when you can bypass it and still learn an important skill. That is an interesting question to consider, especially in such a hi-tech world. But is job training all one needs to know to be successful? What are the advantages of a college degree versus a technical degree? I would like to consider some advantages a college graduate might have in the areas of employment, family and community.

For this paper, I would like to define a university education as that which enables students to expand their communication skills, evaluate problems using critical thinking, a general broadening of cultural awareness and a knowledge of history in relation to how their surrounding world came to be. A university education also provides students with a chance to appreciate and understand the arts, ponder philosophical questions and discuss the significance of works of literature. Students learn the relationship of science to the body, the Earth, the universe and role mathematics plays in all of this. Every student that obtains a university degree should be able to lay claim to a little knowledge in all of these areas. The definition of a technical education as given by DeVry reads, “To provide high-quality career-oriente...

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...he United States, including the fundamental relationships of the federal system. Courses in economics study contemporary economic problems such as inflation, unemployment, poverty, and pollution. These courses help students better understand their place in the community and how to change their situation. They are less likely to feel helpless about their problems they facing Americans.

College gives students the means to teach themselves long after their formal education is complete. At best a college education teaches us to think outside of the box.

It gives us an appreciation of others differences, instead of a fear of it. College graduates should be able to digest the information around them and formulate their own opinion. Students should come away from their education with the ability to instigate change in themselves, their family, and their community.