College : What It Was Is, And Should Be By Andrew Delbanco

Studies have suggested that post-secondary education is helpful in securing better futures for students. In most cases, this education is received from a non-profit institution such as college or university. The goal of such institution is to provide skills that would allow a student to achieve employment. More importantly, colleges and universities have to allow students to be exposed to the reality of worldly contention and learn from their struggles to create educated citizens. In current time, colleges and universities are merging these ideas and some institutions are making a way for students to experience the two ideas. One university that has been teaching its students the two ideas is the College of William and Mary in Virginia. It is a university whose history shows how a college can truly prepare a student for the reality outside of school.

The conflict on how students should be taught and how well is addressed in the book, College: What It Was, Is, And Should Be by Andrew Delbanco. The book addresses what college is for, describes the origins of colleges, and explains who goes and who does not. Colleges started with a religious aspect and have formed the foundation of contemporary, liberal education. Colleges are also meant to help an individual understand what inspires them and understand the social implications of ideas. Delbanco says that learning should bring to bear in a situation where students have to respect, consult and aid each other. This point is highlighted when Delbanco declares, “A college should not be a haven from worldly contention, but a place where young people fight out among and within themselves contending ideas of the meaningful life, and where they discover that self-interest need not be at ...

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...from the scientific study of man and nature (Colleges). This shows that the university was separating from the English college system of study, where education was more religious and about the classics to the German university, where there was greater freedom for the student and based on a more scientific view. It can be seen in the study of the languages, which was still allowed but was not considered important for the general population to study (Colleges).

The need for professional training was important to the new country and the demand for it was growing. It did not require a knowledge of the classics. With the arrival of a new country, the demand of professionals required the rejection of the liberal education. In order to keep the university relevant with the new country, Jefferson proposed a charter change where the College would become a state university.