Purpose of a College Education
studentPOLL: Research dispels Millennial theories
6. Millennials value college most for job and career preparation, with intellectual objectives close behind.
We read students a series of statements about the value or purpose of a college education and asked them to indicate how strongly they preferred that particular value or objective. Almost universally students strongly or somewhat preferred the statement that a college education "prepares you for a career or profession," with 83 percent indicating that they strongly preferred that statement.
Nearly three-quarters of students also strongly preferred a college education that enabled them to:
- Acquire values, habits, and skills that prepare you for many different opportunities (70 percent)
- Be exposed to new ideas, knowledge, and intellectual challenges (74 percent)
- Receive specific training and knowledge you'll need for a specific career (74 percent)
Doing better than their parents, often a concern of social critics, was not nearly as important: Less than half of the students surveyed strongly preferred a college education that would "enable you to become more successful than your parents." (Chart 6)
CIRP data reveal similar and consistent patterns over the past three decades. CIRP reports that "the top two important reasons in 1976 ('to learn things that interest me' and 'to get a better job') are the top two important reasons [students decided to go to college] 30 years later in 2006."
studentPOLL published by the College Board and Art & Science Group, LLC. Copyright © 2008 The College Board and Art & Science Group.