President M. Duane Nellis
Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis authored an article headlined “President Speaks: Helping students believe college is ‘worth the investment’” on Education Dive.
Despite some recent claims to the contrary, I still believe the United States is a land of opportunity and that higher education remains the key to upward mobility. Not sure? Ask one of the thousands of first-generation college graduates in this country whose incomes have the potential to exceed that of their parents without college degrees. But to these graduates, college is not simply a piece of paper that allows them to get a better job (though it is that, too). To these graduates, college truly is a life-altering experience.
America prides itself on believing it is a meritocracy, and many first-generation students must overcome obstacles, some very real and others perceived, to achieving a degree. But to quantify the value of a college degree to these students by citing statistics that they will make about 1 million dollars more over the span of their careers on average than those without college degrees is missing the mark. How do you quantify perseverance? Or intellectual curiosity? Or exposure to diversity in all its forms?
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