Questions Colleges Should Ask Themselves

A career officer asked herself this question after her President told her not to disclose the fact that for years not one student with a certain major had found work. He said, “Students will change majors and then what am I going to do with the department?” Do our student’s interests come before our own?

Rankings can be changed by increasing the number of small classes (while making big ones bigger), changing how benefits are reported as pay, etc. (See: here.) Should we play this game just because others do?

Do we have a duty to make public the truth about ourselves, or should we emphasize our positives and leave it to others to uncover the negatives?

Do we have a higher commitment to the truth than businesses? Are we selling when we should be informing?

Going to college can be much more expensive than buying a house. If the house you bought was a mistake you can sell it, and you can walk away from a non-recourse mortgage. Even if we need the revenue, should we refuse some students because it would be imprudent for them gut their family savings or borrow to attend?