Much has been said about the dwindling fortunes of college education in the United States. Despite the huge tuition fees, it is saddening that the standards are plummeting, and students are still taught obsolete and archaic courses which have little or no relevance in this 21st-century world of ours. The value of the college degree has been greatly undermined, and a lot of people have lost whatever trust they had in the system. This is a fact that is reflected in the reduction in the rate of college enrollment in recent years as reported by reputable institutions such as the National Student Clearinghouse Center and National Center for Education Statistics.
This trend is worrisome, and a lot of academic experts have tried to look for ways of curbing the decadence which has now become the order of the day in our colleges. The implementation of the values which make an ideal university has been suggested as a way forward. It should be noted that while the ideal university does not exist, the more colleges implement more of these suggested values, the closer to perfection such colleges will be. Some of the values include:
The ideal university should be technology-rich
Technology is indispensable in this present world of ours, and as a result, there cannot be an ideal university which does not make use of technology. Furthermore, it is not just about using technology, but more about combining technology with the traditional face-to-face method of teaching to produce a highly effective learning system.
The ideal university should make use of adaptive learning tools that will enable the students to take their courses at their own pace and convenience rather than imposing strict and rigid academic schedules on them. This should be supplemented with the organization of physical, academic meetings, and tutorial sessions where students can share their knowledge among themselves and receive guidance and help from professors.
The ideal university should pursue the truth
The pursuit of truth must always be at the core of any vision and objective of the ideal university. The professors in a college must always strive to gear their research towards discovering truths that will explain global phenomena and how the world works. This should be the priority of university academics.
The ideal university should provide quality education at a reasonable cost
One big problem with American Universities is that they cost too much to attend. At the end of their undergraduate programs, many students are often left in debt to the tune of several thousands of dollars. It takes several years to complete the loan repayments, and many people have opted against a college education as a result of this. An ideal university will maintain a good educational program while keeping costs down. This will increase the number of enrollments in our colleges.
Conclusion
The points mentioned in this article are a few out of the numerous values that are germane to the realization of the ideal university. Implementing them will go a long way in rectifying the anomalies in our colleges.
