Argumentative Researched Essay On Ethical Issues In A College Education Essay Sample

Introduction

Education is an integral part of a nation’s development strategies; both for the developed and third world countries. It plays a very key role in the holistic development of a nation encompassing political, social, technological and economic spheres. Its importance as a contributing factor to economic growth is, however, subjective; some claiming education is of no need in a country where innovation is the core pillar of development. Systems of education vary from state to state, in the US and might not be similar to those in other nations either. A number of ethical issues surround the education system; particularly post-millennial era, where technological inventions and advancements in other sectors of the economy have created vast opinions on the need for education. Ethics is a philosophical concept; advocacy for what is considered good in a society. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board established core curricula in all the state’s colleges and universities. The intention was facilitation of easy transfer of students among the state’s institutions (Texas General Education Core Curriculum). Challenges have however been witnessed thus far; for instance, it would be difficult for a student majoring in Physics to switch to another major in a different institution despite the similarity in core curricula. This is because science-based majors demand specific courses therein.

“Five myths about college admissions”

This article presented five beliefs concerning student’s admission into colleges in the US. They may be applicable to other countries as well; not proven though. This paper mentions three of these issues; gauging them from an ethical point of view.
Kahlenberg (2010) observes in his article that admissions officers have found a new way of doing admission processes into college. In many colleges and universities, there was a previous preference given to respective college’s alumni. It was a matter of connection to find admission into college. To support his assumption, the author argues that this move was necessary to increase alumni’s funding of many projects in the colleges they were in. The author refers to it as legacy preferences' and cites examples such as University of Georgia and Caltech. The author refutes the role of SAT in student admissions. The initial role of SAT was to eliminate bias at the point of admission; to measure high school graduates on a level ground. Put in another way, it was to limit admission criteria to purely merit, eliminating other factors witnessed before its introduction such as race, income level, and social class. The system was incorporated into education in 1926.The author holds that, SAT has heightened discrimination in the admission process.
Selective schools and non-selective ones have different rates of retention with the former on the upper side. The author finds that selective schools are more likely to graduate a student enrolled there than a non-selective one; despite having similar initial admission requirements. After graduation, he adds, the chances of a graduate from a selective institution getting more pay than a counterpart from a non-selective institution are high. To him, however, selective schools are just expensive for nothing; the hefty fee charge is not reflected in the workplaces.

Hypotheses

Should SAT be uplifted as a tool for determining entry into colleges and universities?Do colleges and universities need a new admission criteria policy that will help eliminate racial and class bias?

Selective schools are worth the expenses incurred.

Rebuttal
Ethical issues involved
There are two evident ethical issues highlighted by Richard in his article “Five myths about college admissions”. These are: discrimination claims during admission processes and the preferential employment claims of students graduating from selective schools. Additionally, alleged hefty compensation package for selective institutions’ graduates.
This paper does not agree in totality with these assumptions. SAT addresses discrimination issues that were earlier witnessed before its introduction. Though it took more than decade for full implementation of the SAT system, the results afterwards was elimination of other admissions criteria previously used by colleges that undermined the blacks (spring, 79). Racial discrimination in all sectors of the economy in the US was at its peak in 1939 though a continuation until 1965 was witnessed in specific states to a lesser extent. Education was mainly for the whites, not until 1926, following the introduction of the SAT system. The system cuts across all countries; not entirely limited to the US and measures writing, reading, and speaking skills. It is therefore clearly a uniform admission platform and should not be uplifted. From this perspective, it is clear that colleges and universities need not adopt another alternative admission strategy. SAT has no racial and class bias in it.
Texas general core curricula programs that cut across all higher learning institutions was implemented to ensure uniformity during admissions upon student transfer. It can be comfortably argued that, it holds the same principles as the SAT system; the only difference being level of jurisdiction applicable. SAT is a global tool while the Texas system is only restricted to one state, Texas.
Selective schools release graduates into the ‘market’ that have met their academic standards (Barcia, Pg. 119); this is the reason a high compensation is given to such graduates. It is ethical to equate workers' compensation levels with their level of expertise. Consider Harvard, a highly selective school. Mark Zuckerberg did not even reach his final class, but the computing skills he had already gained was enough for him to invent a global social platform; Facebook. A good number of high-level corporate citizens went to selective schools, paying a high fee amounts. However, the high level of skills they gained in return justifies their hefty compensation package. Therefore, the high pay charged by selective schools is worth it.

Conclusion

Ethical issues surrounding admission of students into college are many; racial and class bias included. This paper acknowledged the importance of SAT as a tool for eliminating these, contrary to what Kahlenberg argues in his article. Selective schools charge more than non-selective schools; however, the pay is worth the take.

Works Cited

Barcia, Nina. International Handbook of Educational Policy. Dordrecht: Springer, 2005. Print.
"Five Myths about College Admissions." Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.
Spring, Joel H. American Education. N.p., 2014. Print.
Texas General Education Core Curriculum. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.