By Brad Beckstrom
It seems like our entire education process is backwards. I believe this is especially true of higher education. Much of the emphasis is put on educating ahead of doing. Many of us get through high school, and often several years of college, before choosing a major. That’s quite an investment of time, becoming “educated”, without a clear path or passion.
In high school, students often search for universities based on cost, location, and reputation that their GPA & SAT scores “align with.” Many universities encourage this GPA and test score focus by promoting the high GPAs of students they admit. Here in Virginia, the two largest state universities boast they are admitting students with 4.5 and 4.2 GPAs. Imagine all of the talent they are excluding from our public universities. We only need to look at recent history to see artists, entrepreneurs, writers, inventors, musicians, and entertainers often come from far outside the system or drop out of it in frustration.
Stellar Students
The stellar students and test takers who do gain admittance often never truly find their path, entering the job market searching for a position based on attributes like salary, location, and benefits. Only 62% of these stellar students will work in a job requiring a college degree or related to their college major. [Read more…] about Our Education System in Reverse. Learn then Do versus Do then Learn.