Faceoff: College v. High School

Earning a bachelor’s degree by age 18!

By Joseph Moss

Back in the early twentieth century, now legendary innovator Henry Ford revolutionized the production industry by using an assembly line to manufacture automobiles. This has had a profound effect on our economy and society. Everything from breakfast cereal to airliners is now produced faster and cheaper—in many ways this is a change for the better. The problem arises when we assume that education benefits from the same approach.

Assembly Line Education

Last month, we touched on the reality that current education methods apply the same conveyor belt model to primary and secondary schooling that Henry Ford developed for producing automobiles. Teachers cram information into students through a regimented grade based system over a several year span and then expect them to be prepared to handle the real world. A change is coming, however. A return to the principles of education that produced some of our nation’s greatest leaders is gaining in appeal: the combination of high school and college with an emphasis on personalized education.

High School: A Recent Creation

High school is a relatively recent initiative of the early twentieth century. Before this, students went directly from grade school to college. Some have attributed the introduction of the four year process we now call high school as a system specifically created to meet the personnel needs of industrial magnates such as J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.

At that time in history, there was nothing wrong with America’s system of education. However, based on the heavy amount of funds they invested in education (more than the US government spent itself during the early 1900s) and the radical transformation they implemented, some have suggested that these men knew that in order to produce an employee that would settle for a position on an assembly line, they had to start training him as a child. Accordingly, they invested heavily in education to create a workforce that was content to repeat mundane tasks throughout their career.

Ironically, what we consider to be traditional is in fact quite radical. Most of the world’s students have learned their history, mathematics, sciences and grammar through a personalized mentor or apprenticeship method—not within the confines of a classroom in close context with contemporary classmates. Not only is individualized schooling possible, but considered from a historical perspective, it is normal.

College Is a Repeat

Today, much of students’ studies, particularly the general education requirements, are the same in high school and the first two years of college. Why should they do something twice when once is more efficient and effective? There are several options now available allowing students to gain credit for their college-level knowledge during their high school-age years. One is credit by exam, a means of proving on a comprehensive test that the student already possesses the information covered in a college course.

Education, One Course at a Time

This credit by exam approach not only encourages an efficient and practical use of a student’s time, but also provides the opportunity to place their undivided attention on one subject at a time. Studying one subject at a time rather than splitting their efforts between as many as five subjects (as is done in the traditional system) has been proven to improve both absorption and retention of information while significantly increasing the quality of learning

The steel mills of Rockefeller and Carnegie did have a positive influence on this country’s economy and provided many jobs to generations of diligent workers, but we should not equate success in business with success in educational theory. The fact that by 1915 Carnegie and Rockefeller were funding more educational change than the entire U.S. government should give us pause before we unreservedly assume schools were created to teach and not indoctrinate. Yes, they teach, but those who assume they do not indoctrinate still have a lot to learn.

An Effective Education

True, there are many excellent schools to be found, but the evolutionary system in which they operate severely hampers their effectiveness. Consider the possibilities when students are given the opportunity to study at their level and are not held back or forced forward by their peers. The later high school years offer students the perfect time to earn college credit for their knowledge—CLEP and DSST tests are some efficient ways to accomplish these goals.

These tests are less than one hundred dollars per exam and are valued at three to twelve college credits. Additionally, all of them are endorsed by the American Council on Education and are accepted at hundreds of colleges across the country, meaning students can study at home while working towards a degree from an accredited college or university. Students using this approach are able to take advantage of internship or mentored positions simply unavailable to those with less flexible schedules.

Many students are smarter and more capable than they realize themselves; when put in a position to prove their abilities, they not only amaze themselves but their audiences as well. Earning a college degree while technically in high school is easily within the grasp of students willing to consider some truly traditional methods of education. Not the ones from the turn of the century—but rather the traditions of the Founding Fathers many of whom were completing their education by age 18.

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See last month's topic Getting Off the Conveyor Belt!

Joseph Moss recently finished a yearlong internship at CollegePlus! and now resides in South Carolina where he works as a CollegePlus! coach.

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