As I have indicated before, I love my college experience mainly because of what it exposed me to and the kind of woman it has allowed me to become. My life has been enriched immensely because of the mentors and friends that I met and I wouldn't trade the last four years for anything. However, there is a growing demand for more concrete examples of the importance of college. In the end, people are asking, “Is college necessary for us to become competent and competitive citizens?”

When it comes to job related skills you never learn how to do a job until you actually do it. No amount of schooling can show you how to become a lawyer, doctor, teacher, or any other profession until you are on site getting your hands dirty. But school has rarely been about tangible skills—it has been about capital; acquiring the networks, credentials, and mannerisms necessary to give you a foot in the door. People (not just employers) use it as a screening mechanism to assess intelligence. This practice is done with good reason: while two-thirds of all jobs require a college degree, a little more than a quarter of those who start school actually finishes, making a college degree seem that much more impressive.

At the same time, I can think of no other place where skill development is easier than in college. My alma mater practically threw money at us to secure internships, start clubs, and implement programs (locally, nationally, and abroad). The job I landed in New York never once asked for my transcript; rather they asked me about experiences where I was in the lead, where I had to take control of an issue, or where I was creative and innovative when addressing a problem. I had amazing experiences in college because I took my college’s money (and networks) and got my hands dirty as much as I could. Unlike the “real world” where failing projects and programs cost tons of money and time, in college the consequences are less dramatic making it an ideal place to cultivate leadership through trial and error.

College seems useless because the emphasis is on the content, rather than the process and the application of knowledge. I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with theory, for example. However, requiring me to memorize a theory and recite it in a way that is pleasing to the professor is pointless. Why not take that theory and require that I apply it through an internship at a local organization? Or have me critique a theory using data and field work? And if the goal is to have me develop important skills such as critical thinking, then historical events must be examined next to current events to assess patterns and thus making knowledge more relevant.

At the end of the day, the world is changing and colleges must redefine their role in it as we as a nation struggle to redefine the importance of education overall. On the one hand, we view education as the “great equalizer”; yet if this is true the exorbitant prices of a college education must be addressed. If college is crucial for a successful future, then the discussions need to focus on retention, not just recruitment. There seems to be resistance and a desire to stick to older notions of the importance of the academy, like knowledge for the sake of knowledge or college being a place of camaraderie and fun. The former are important yet must work well with a sense of preparation for the world that lay ahead.