by Brian Meyer

Created on: April 21, 2008

Why is the purpose of undergraduate school to prepare on for graduate school? Why is the purpose of graduate school to prepare one for doctorate school? Why is the purpose of doctorate school to prepare one for teaching undergraduate school?

Adam Smith wrote over two hundred years ago in his epoch work, Wealth of Nations, that the actual purpose of a government funded post-secondary institution was to either provide jobs for those who never did or no longer have the work ethic to compete in the private for profit marketplace, or as a repository of ideas that never were or no longer are competitive in the private for profit marketplace.

Such institutions can not develop in a student the knowledge, skills, and abilities to compete in the global labor market. Yet how is one to know if the instruction at Harvard is better than that at a small college? The current method is to research the college's national ranking in the accreditation system.

Is the current college ranking system reflective of a college student's ability to compete in the private, for profit marketplace? The answer is no.

Supporters of the current system in the United States argue if the quality of the instruction at the school was not good, the school would not be accredited. Is this true? Not within the current accreditation rules. Nor is it true within the current college ranking standards.

The current accreditation rules affect auxiliary services at the school. Auxiliary services include the number of books in the library and the number of PhDs on staff among other irrelevant measurements. Irrelevant measurements as students often do not utilize these services.

What if the student chooses not to use the library? What effect then does the library's holdings have on the students acquisition of knowledge? The answer is none. The current accreditation system does not measure the individual student's acquisition of knowledge above what she or he knew before entering the college.

What if the professor with a PhD does not engage the student in discussion to develop critical thinking? What effect then does the professor's alleged superior critical thinking skills have on the development of the student's critical thinking skills? The current accreditation system does not measure the individual student's development of critical thinking skill above what the student's abilities were before entering the college.

Never mind the questionable necessity that instruction in undergraduate school courses, particularly

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