by Wayne Douma

Created on: August 15, 2009

Many people will probably disagree with this statement, but college education should be reserved for the few. The fact is that college is accessible to the many, and there are many in college who simply do not want to be there. Why does college always have to mean a four-year high priced university as well? If someone wants a college degree, but wants to screw around in the process, there are many junior and community colleges that will take you in.

I attend Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana and it is a private Lutheran affiliated college with just over 4200 students. I personally know so many people that do not want to be there. Excuses from, "My parents forced me to go here" to "Well I'm a Lutheran church member and get a discount if I go here" have been thrown out to me. A large majority of friends I have actually hate the school, and cannot wait for a weekend home or summer vacation to get away. Me, I love being in college and cannot get enough of it. That is a simple reason right there why college should be reserved for the few.

The big decision in choosing a college usually resides over money. Many colleges have great loan programs and there is always government help to attend through the FAFSA program. A lot of students in college today are using these loans to attend their university. Why is that fair? Why should someone who does not really want to be here and spending more time goofing off on a daily basis then studying be using government money to attend? The answer is that they should not be.

There are too many people today who go to college simply to "get away from home". They see college as a way to just unleash and party all the time. I know a person who had the choice on a nightly basis to : Do homework or Smoke pot. They would go and get high, and then come back to the dorm floor lounge and brag how high they are. In the meantime us sitting in the lounge together enjoying some television did our homework and were prepared for the next day's classes.

I am not saying that students are perfect in college. In a four year education there will guaranteed be at least one instance where someone slacks on a worksheet to go to a basketball game or skip a reading assignment to drink with their friends. This will happen at some point to a student, but not on a nightly basis. It is these students who smoke pot and drink on a nightly basis, and then sleep through next day's class because they are too tired from partying the night before who do not deserve to be in college. They are a burden in the classroom, and more then often a burden on the university and its image.

Contrary to many student's belief - universities do not want an image as a "party school". Many colleges today have campus police/security forces and drinking regulations to uphold a higher education tradition. It is a privilage to attend college, and if someone does not want to be there to work hard and also have a good time along with doing homework, then they have no right to be there in the first place.

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