As much as people like to make jokes about the United states primary education system, the nation undoubtedly ranks as the best in terms of higher education around the world. Times higher education puts eight of the top ten universities in the world in the Unites States(source). So what makes a university rank well and why does the United States seem to rank so well.
In the U.S., ‘higher education’ refers to postsecondary education, which is offered at institutions such as colleges, universities, community colleges, and vocational-technical schools. No matter which type of postsecondary school you attend, there are several common characteristics of higher education. Usually there are required pre requisites such as the ACT/SAT as well as holding a diploma or equivalent. You will receive some degree or certification for completing. Finally, it tends to open up more job opportunities in fields, generally which you are now specialized in.
The US has more than 4,000 colleges and universities — the “best” universities may be in the US but so are some of the worst(source). Rather than actually having a better higher education system the US higher education system is more effective at concentrating resources such as top students, money, grants, and the best faculty members in a small number of universities at the top than any other national system. In terms of scientific publications the United States ranks pretty average per capita(source). Thus, the result we are looking at being that the united states higher education system is not inherently better, but just better at concentrating the best minds. There is no difference in the end results. This now leads to the question of what makes a university better.
Stanford is arguably the best university in the world. Every source ranks it in the top five for nearly everything, if not number one. Its name is extremely well known all over the rest of the world. There are many reasons Stanford ranks so highly. Stanford rose to the top, in large part because the university provides substantial financial assistance to low- and middle-class students. On top of this there is a very high yield of financial success post education, and a high rate of doctoral and post doctoral degrees. The United States has many universities that fit this bill. MIT, Harvard, Yale, Princeton along with Stanford are colloquially referred to as HYPSM. They are the big five universities, and while it may not be entirely true to include some of them, they are certainly all amazing universities. These are private institutions and, as such, are decentralized, meaning they have incentive to grab those top students. The system illustrated at Stanford is generally true for all such universities, leading to great minds going to these places.
The higher education system in the world leads to the creation of some of the best and some of the worst universities. What do you think of the system and how it works? What changes would you make?
I think it extremely important that we pursue having the best universities and higher education programs. Having a college degree is extremely helpful in long term career success, including financial security and job specialization. Even besides the HYPSM that you mentioned, there are thousands of other universities across the nation that produce exceptional students. I think that higher education is one thing that our country needs to focus on in the near future in order to help solve the problems that plague America. I don’t think the answer is to make it absolutely free to attend college, but being able to incentivize more Americans to further their education and learning would yield great benefits to last a long time.
Higher education in the United States has become almost a thing that everyone who graduates from High School does. Honestly, I believe that the system tricks kids to believe that everyone should seek a higher education, and that it is needed for almost every job out there. I find this to be completely untrue, and that we should encourage trade schools and other sorts of education for kids who wish to partake in jobs such as an electrician, mechanic, etc. These students are accumulating so much debt to get a degree that they will never use, and I would change the system to make sure that students avoid taking on this big amount of debt.
I think it is interesting how overwhelming the top 1% in anything can swing the results or the average. If you think about wealth, the top 1% owns 19% of the wealth in the US, and similarly, the top 1% of best students and educators outweighs by far the rest of the bunch. It is interesting, though, to see how success can come from almost any college, and you don’t have to go to the big 5 to see success.
Although I agree that the US higher education system has a tendency to concentrate talent at the top, it also provides plenty of opportunities to students who don’t go to schools as selective as HYPSM. 93% of applicants to Harvard have a GPA of 3.75 or above, and most of them are in the top 10% of their graduating class, and the vast majority of them (95%+) get rejected. However, it’s not like these kids’ lives are over if they don’t get in; to the contrary, according to some studies, kids who apply to selective schools and get rejected do just as well as kids who get in. I think the bigger issue is focusing on the students who aren’t in that top 10%- compared to other countries, I feel like the US pushes its adolescents to pursue higher education even when it is not in their best interest to.