Louis Menand Live And Learn Analysis

Louis Menand’s “Live and Learn” talks about three different theories of why we have college. The first theory called college a four-year intelligence test designed to sort people by intelligence and aptitude. The second theory states that college is a useful instrument of positive or negative reinforcement and what matters is what the students actually learn. The third theory refers to college as specialized training, where people are taught what they need in order to enter a vocation. I believe the main reason why students attend college is because the society requires them to and not because they want, therefore I believe theory three is correct.

Students do not attend college because they want to learn something for themselves and about the world, where they cannot learn anywhere else. Students attend college because they’re required to in order to survive in this world. At the end of college, graduates are given a score known as G.P.A that professional schools and employers use to measure the intellectual capacity and productive potential of someone. This is

where theory one is found within theory three. Both theories are stating that students attend college only for the grade. However that does not conclude that theory one is the reason why students attend college. Theory one conclude that “it doesn’t matter which course students take, or even what is taught in them, as long as they’re rigorous enough for the sorting mechanism to do its work. All that matter is the grades.” (44)
Theory three states that “advance economics demand specialized knowledge and skills, and, since high school is aimed at the general learner, college is where people can be taught what they need in order to enter a vocation.” (48) In this society, citizens are encouraged to pursue the career paths that promise the greatest personal or financial awards.

People will only learn what they need to know for success. Students attend college because the degree is a job requirement and acquiring that degree will promise an advantage in the job field for students. According to Menand “sixty percent of American college students are non liberal-arts majors… The No. 1 major in America is, in fact, business.” (48) Employers demand more people with specialized training because work is becoming more high-tech. This demand for work leads to the explosion of professional master’s program and non-liberal education

sector.
Students are required to take some liberal-art courses in college in order to achieve their vocational degree and therefore they will only succeed by receiving a passing grade from those courses. This connects back to why theory one is in theory three. Menand said “the academic motivation of the students at these school is utilitarian. Most of them are trying to get jobs that require a college degree, and they only want one thing and only thing only from Professor X: a passing grade.” (49) Professor X believes that students shouldn’t attend college if they’re looking for a vocation degree because they’re investing in something that they can’t afford and isn’t needed. He believes you shouldn’t have to pass a college-level literature class in order to become something that isn’t related to the course.