The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would tie the availability of Pell grants and student loans to the earning potential of degree programs. This proposal is beyond terrible for a multitude of reasons.
First, it ignores the actual reason for education in the first place. This ignorance is not simply a Trump administration problem but a misunderstanding reflected throughout our society. We have a collective amnesia about the purpose of education.
Charlie Fuller
Second, a rule of this nature will decimate a variety of careers that are crucial to the functioning of a healthy society. We are fortunate in our country that we still have people willing to fulfill a calling that isn’t tied to the accumulation of riches.
Teachers, health care workers, ministers, social workers and many others are doing holy work caring for others in spite of a culture that doesn’t properly value their work. When the government itself makes the preparation for these careers financially impossible, we all will suffer.
The value of a career simply can’t be measured by the numbers on a paycheck. People of faith should understand that more than anyone.
In addition, here’s the part they won’t say out loud: Steering college students into specific careers will inevitably create gluts of potential employees, thus lowering the cost of labor for those same white-collar careers that currently pay well. This policy won’t steer students toward trades like plumbing or electrical work. The societal pressure toward college is simply too great. This glut of potential employees will inevitably drive down costs for our corporate billionaire oligarchs.
“The value of a career simply can’t be measured by the numbers on a paycheck.”
And here’s the kicker: When earnings drop for these once-profitable careers, those college majors likely also will end up on the chopping block.
The consequence of all this will be a downward spiral for the entirety of higher education, not just the small schools. Even large institutions will be dropping major after major due to the lack of Pell grant and student loan support. After a few student generations, only the most highly endowed institutions will be left standing, and the United States will ultimately end up with a much less educated populace than we have now.
Back to the purpose of education: The purpose of universal education — higher ed, secondary ed and elementary ed — never was originally about careers or making money. The purpose of education was the creation of an educated citizenry.
The Founders’ assumption was that an educated society would be a healthier society, a society made up of people who could think and communicate clearly. They rightly determined a democracy would only be sustainable if those who vote are able to think critically and be knowledgeable enough to vote in ways that promote the common good.
The writers of our founding documents warned of the danger of demagoguery capturing a populace that didn’t have the tools to be responsible citizens.
Our weak collective response to demagoguery already has led us to one of the most divisive eras in our history. Rules like this will finish off the job.
Charlie Fuller, a professor emeritus of music and a former dean, is director of Pathways to Ministry and coach-in-residence for Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.
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