It has been a tumultuous year in education due to the COVID-19 virus. Colleges have sent students home and switched to online learning while K-12 institutions have done the same. This will likely lead to a shakeup in the world of education and possibly parents questioning what, exactly, they are paying for.

Current seniors in high school and their parents should consider the quality of education they desire and require when they pick the institutions they will devote four years, thousands of dollars, and hundreds of hours to.

May 1st is traditionally the day when high school seniors decide which college they will attend. There are several factors that should be considered when committing to a college: the purpose of education, the difference between technical and liberal education, knowledge of the western heritage, rigorous standards, debt, and career prospects.

1. Remember the Purpose of Education

The purpose of education, in its highest form, is to prepare individuals to live flourishing lives as contributing members of society able to rationally debate and serve the common good. This requires that they be taught to think and reason well. It also necessitates strong content knowledge and familiarity with the western heritage. This strong content knowledge and familiarity with the best of this tradition will enable them to discriminate regarding what is of excellence by providing them with a standard to judge with.

2. Differences Between Technical and Liberal Educations

There are two types of education, technical education and liberal education. The two types of education reflect our classical heritage. In the ancient world there was education deemed suitable for a slave and education necessary for a free man. This reflected the types of duties they were expected to perform.

A technical education prepares an individual to do a specific task and to do it well. Think of an automobile mechanic, nurse, or plumber. Each one of these individuals can do his job but is probably unable to switch between careers and roles because of the narrow education they received. The other type of education is one that prepares an individual to live the life of a free citizen, independent, full of the manly virtues, and able to deliberate in the public sphere about the common good. This education equipped them to do a wide variety of things rather than a narrow vocation.

3. Knowledge of the Western Heritage

The western heritage is part of American history and necessary for educated individuals to know if they are to understand where we have been and where we are going, what have been our greatest successes and our glaring failures. It will provide the context to understand current events (how can one understand the United Nations without knowing about the League of Nations, the world wars, and Churchill’s hope in collective action?) but also provide a standard of judgment. Discrimination is not a word often used these days, but a knowledge of the classics and the western heritage allows the discriminating mind to discern the best in art, letters, history, and the deeds of men. For instance, the words and actions of the Founders are a high bar against which to judge today’s politicians but it serves to remind citizens that more can and should be expected of our elected officials. Hillsdale College expects its student to acquire such a familiarity through its rigorous common core.

4. Rigorous Standards and Content Expectations

The quality of a college degree has declined as federal loans incentivized accepting more students, providing additional amenities, raising tuition prices, inflating grades, and creating a bloated administrative bureaucracy. Today, it matters both where you go and what you study. Some institutions still require students to study an extensive common core of rigorous classes in the classical tradition that will provide students with the broad basis they require to be well-educated individuals, not simply cogs prepared to do one task over and over and over ad infinitum. Others, however, have low standards and no common core. Additionally, whether you choose to major in women’s studies or chemistry, English or accounting will impact your income. You must decide what you want to do, what is necessary to achieve it, and if your choice of major will prepare you to do so. If you are wondering what institutions still provide this quality of an education I suggest looking at the University of Dallas, Ave Maria, and Thomas Aquinas College.

5. Moral Tone of the Student Body

Families, especially religious ones, should be aware of the moral tone of the student body. Many “Christian” schools, for instance, are little better than public institutions. While we do not expect students to live like Puritans it is necessary to recognize that what is praised and rewarded is behavior that will be imitated. Who do you want to be in four years? What type of son or daughter do parents want to graduate?

6. Debt

Let’s talk about the big D -- debt. The percentage of college graduates with student loans for the Class of 2019 is 69%, the median amount individuals owe is $17,000, and the 2016 federal student loan cohort default rate is 10.1%. A 2018 Brookings Report tracked data from the 1996 cohort and applied them to the 2004 cohort to suggest the default rate could reach 40% by 2023. This report was issued before COVID-19 impacted the economy and the actual situation may be worse. This money will have to be repaid and it will retard saving for a house, investing for retirement, marriage, and family formation.

7. Job Prospects

While the end of a liberal arts education is not mere technical knowledge and a well-paying job, parents and students must be realistic regarding job prospects, debt, likely income, and how these will influence the individual’s future prospects. This is only prudent and requires a somewhat complex calculus because it involves the reputation of the institution and whether the content of the degree is rigorous, the family’s circumstances, the drive and ability of the individual, the reality of what jobs are in demand, and the vagaries of circumstance.

8. Know What You Want, What You Need, and What You can Pay For

Choosing an undergraduate institution is a significant decision for students and parents. From the student, it will require four years of time, effort, commitment, the opportunity cost of going directly into the workforce instead of college, and the assumption of any debts necessary to finance a college education. For the parents, they are entrusting the child they have devoted thousands of hours and hundreds of dollars to other men and women to prepare them for a career while not destroying their morals. Beyond all this, parents and students hope for a fun and exciting time where students will become adults and assume the responsibilities of it. In light of the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 in education and the expected economic impact, students should choose an institution that fits their needs, their budget, and that provides a rigorous education worth paying for.