It's true that many materials are now readily accessible for a student to consume, but what will always be lacking outside of the college environment is the opportunity to produce something (usually in writing). Writing clarifies thinking in a way that reading alone cannot. Great point about curation.
I'd say there's also the value of the impact on a college student's Catholic faith. Even students who do not go to Catholic colleges often have access to Catholic student centers and sometimes ministry groups like FOCUS. It gives the student an access to Sacraments and quiet prayer time, go through Bible studies, go on retreats, etc all with people that are their own age. Still not always easy to be Catholic in college, but college was where I and others reverted back to the faith.
When I was graduating high school, you either went to college, a trade school, or Vietnam. All my children have at least one degree. Two of my grandchildren are attending. College needs to cut its costs as they have grown higher than the work one can get. The woke stuff is a whole other thing.
The marriage dilemma is real. I would like to send my sons to Catholic universities to find a Catholic wife so they can have big Catholic families… but what we’d spend by the end of it would prohibit their ability to support said family. The ROI isn’t there. It’s like a very expense matchmaker. I can’t make sense of it
Ah yes, the culture of death has come for the university. The enrollment cliffs will likely force a ferocious new equilibrium in higher education. A massive 500,000+ decline in students year after year will lead to the closure and shrinking of numerous schools. A new equilibrium is not all bad though. The right number of schools will have enough demand to allow the remaining schools to hopefully focus instead on the truth, teaching, and research and not so much on trying to grab that extra marginal student, expensive amenities, and appealing to various vanities of the culture. Maybe even the educated class might come to the realization that students are not mere commodities but actually come from families. Maybe they might stop promoting a culture of death but rather a culture of life based upon a respect for the family. (The Church needs the help of societal institutions with this.) At some point society will have to stop promoting the totality of self and materialism or there won’t be one. May the mercies of the Creator lead His creatures back into a loving co-creation with Him!
As a parent with a freshman in HS, this maddening decision does weigh heavy, looming in the distance. In fact, his dad is/was an adjunct at BHCC (& this, too, actually holds a bit of madness to it...) 🤣... So in honor of GWH, here is a song (by Bunker Hill) music.th-cam.com/video/u6Zxwda0Qsg/w-d-xo.html&si=rRocs6-fkbsciRhc&feature=xapp_share
It's true that many materials are now readily accessible for a student to consume, but what will always be lacking outside of the college environment is the opportunity to produce something (usually in writing). Writing clarifies thinking in a way that reading alone cannot. Great point about curation.
I'd say there's also the value of the impact on a college student's Catholic faith. Even students who do not go to Catholic colleges often have access to Catholic student centers and sometimes ministry groups like FOCUS. It gives the student an access to Sacraments and quiet prayer time, go through Bible studies, go on retreats, etc all with people that are their own age. Still not always easy to be Catholic in college, but college was where I and others reverted back to the faith.
When I was graduating high school, you either went to college, a trade school, or Vietnam. All my children have at least one degree. Two of my grandchildren are attending. College needs to cut its costs as they have grown higher than the work one can get. The woke stuff is a whole other thing.
The marriage dilemma is real. I would like to send my sons to Catholic universities to find a Catholic wife so they can have big Catholic families… but what we’d spend by the end of it would prohibit their ability to support said family. The ROI isn’t there. It’s like a very expense matchmaker. I can’t make sense of it
Fr Pine, none of the above!
Ah yes, the culture of death has come for the university. The enrollment cliffs will likely force a ferocious new equilibrium in higher education. A massive 500,000+ decline in students year after year will lead to the closure and shrinking of numerous schools. A new equilibrium is not all bad though. The right number of schools will have enough demand to allow the remaining schools to hopefully focus instead on the truth, teaching, and research and not so much on trying to grab that extra marginal student, expensive amenities, and appealing to various vanities of the culture. Maybe even the educated class might come to the realization that students are not mere commodities but actually come from families. Maybe they might stop promoting a culture of death but rather a culture of life based upon a respect for the family. (The Church needs the help of societal institutions with this.) At some point society will have to stop promoting the totality of self and materialism or there won’t be one. May the mercies of the Creator lead His creatures back into a loving co-creation with Him!
As a parent with a freshman in HS, this maddening decision does weigh heavy, looming in the distance. In fact, his dad is/was an adjunct at BHCC (& this, too, actually holds a bit of madness to it...) 🤣... So in honor of GWH, here is a song (by Bunker Hill) music.th-cam.com/video/u6Zxwda0Qsg/w-d-xo.html&si=rRocs6-fkbsciRhc&feature=xapp_share