Land Grant Challenges

According to David Leonhardt in his article titled “The Assault on Colleges - and the American Dreams,” the average college student isn’t fresh out of college “The typical college student is also not fresh out of high school. A quarter of undergraduates are older than 25, and about the same number are single parents. These students work

Land Grant Universities were an immense influence on American society. Individually, students are allowed to contribute, while land grants provide the collaboration and the means to achieve our society’s goals. Justin Smith Morrill dedicated his life to starting and improving the Land Grant Universities. Morrill’s contributions led to the success of the land grant institutions.

There are about a hundred land grant universities. The mission of these universities is to take research and education and share with the communities through extension agents. The extension agent is a professional educator that develops and delivers educational programs to assist the needs of youth and adults in a designated county or region. They no longer only work in rural areas. With the extensive growth of urban cities agents have extended their services to include programs in large cities.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream.” This quote, written by C.S. Lewis describes the motivation of college students around the world. Students attend college to broaden their knowledge in an environment dedicated to education and research. There are hundreds of colleges and universities around the country that provide great programs to strengthen one’s education. Choosing a college is found to be extremely difficult, considering it is the first step of adulthood and forming a career.

“On the Uses of Liberal Education” written by Mark Edmundson offers this notion that the college network is becoming something more of a pay-n-go than an institute of higher education, students are more disconsolate and looking towards the professors for entertainment. It is becoming less about the education and more about filling seats and acquiring money. Parents could be partially blamed for their children who grow to be too scared to stand up or be criticized, they would rather stay quiet and let the professors be their entertainment. “I want some of them to say that they’ve been changed by the course”, this made me realize that this doesn’t happen enough and I agree with Edmundson that it’s somewhat due to imperturbable students since

“3 Reasons College Still Matters” by Andrew Delbanco 3) “Surely, every American college ought to defend this waning possibility, whatever we call it. And an American college is only true to itself when it opens its doors to all - the rich, the middle, and the poor - who have the capacity to embrace the precious chance to think and reflect before life engulfs them. If we are all serious about democracy, that means everyone.” 4) In this part of the writing Andrew Delbanco tries to persuade his audience by using the pattern of logic that agrees with the overall argument but also considers another striking point of view to strengthen the argument (While these arguments are convincing, they must also consider…).

In the article, The Trouble with Coeducation: Mann and Women at Antioch, 1853-1860, Mann is viewed as the creator of one of the first coeducational colleges in the United States that promoted educational reform in women’s education. Women, who sought a liberal education, gathered from all over the country to attend Antioch College, but eventually, some became disenchanted as they felt limited in the subjects they could choose. Consequently, the women held demonstrations, demanded the right to speak in public about their cause, and fought against discrimination and inequality. Antioch College closed in 2008, as it had been poorly managed and went into debt; this is what I had read. However, Robin mentioned that it was not the first time Antioch

For the purpose of this paper I will be addressing the Federal Government as one entity. This briefing will address the issue of an aging federal government workforce and how to attract and retain younger employees as evidenced by available research. As a federal government worker at the Department of State, my organization’s mission is to promote American foreign policy throughout the world. To ensure the continued serves to our nation, it is imperative that we plan for the future workforce. Aging population across the world will continue to pose a challenge for organizations.

Well, as the economy has been a hot topic of discussion in many ways, including politically, there must be a need to continue the growth of our economy. The more people we can get college education to, and the more people that can contribute to the workforce at a high level, the more chance we have to fuel that into our economy. To nurture the non-traditional student culture, is to nurture the economy that will benefit the American society at large. On the flip side, beyond trying to avoid the middle class from disappearing, there is a need to push the lower class out of the horrendous state it is in. Lindsey M. Jesnek discusses these issues in the article Empowering the Non-Traditional College Student And Bridging The ‘Digital Divide’:

The questions that arise center around what is the most beneficial for students and agriculture, as well as what is the most profitable. Even though the FFA is guided by their desire to do well for each student within agriculture, “scarce resources and incompatible preferences cause needs to collide (p. 201). It is precisely these “scarce resources and these enduring differences that put conflict at the center and power as the most important asset” (p. 194), which is the fourth principle as defined by Bolman and Deal. This can take the form of differing opinions between Agriculture teachers and their local administration, as well as officials at the top of the National FFA and state officials. Fortunately, the FFA has successfully navigated these difficulties thanks to the power given to the students.

The Value of a College Degree Having a college degree is arguably one of the most important things you can achieve in your lifetime. In today’s society, it is getting much more difficult to survive without one. Most places of business that offer substantial wages and benefits require some sort of college degree. This is a problem for most people in the United States due to the fact that only 17% of the U.S. population has earned a college degree (Odland).

In the 'Financial Advice Column ' it states "college graduates are more likely to find job opportunities and be employed. " These young adults also have more job security than

“As college students head back to the classroom this semester, a harsh reality confronts them - the rewards for the time, energy, and money that young people put into college are less than they were a decade ago”(Source C). Young college graduates have seen wages, deteriorate. This lack of wage growth has been surprising to those who have read about the ast unfilled need for college graduates. After gains in the 1980s and 1990s, hourly wages for young college graduated in 2000 decreases. For young college-educated men in 2000 hourly wages were $22.75, but almost dropped a full dollar $21.77 by 2010.

Henry Bienen, president emeritus of Northwestern University disagrees with the premise that too many kids go to college. To support his opinion, he says that we should not use the anecdotal records of those select few like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, no matter how compelling, to generalize about the population as a whole. He professes that the argument about too many people going to college was made in the 70’s and was wrong then, and it is still wrong. He asserts that we now have lots more information and studies to support why it is wrong.

If this does not change, the number of college or university dropouts will increase tremendously, leaving doctors, lawyers, and scientists rare to find. Even professors and teachers who are trying to educate students will have no one to teach since few people can afford it or they dropout due to monetary stress. Merely envision todays’ society with every citizen doing brilliant deeds because of the education they received and the foundation that they built