Unearned College Degrees

There was a brouhaha about wealthy New York high school students paying a college sophomore thousands of dollars to take their SAT's. One might think that this was such a rare and upsetting event it deserved national attention. The facts are that there are online businesses which are making small fortunes using professional writers to write essays for hefty sums.

Yes, it goes without saying that ESL students may turn to a pro to help smooth out their language skills (or lack hereof). But, all one needs to do is see what "jobs" are waiting for assignments by some of these online cheaters: Requests for personal statements to get into MBA graduate schools, people who need help in finishing their theses, nurses, for God's sake wanting someone to write their college essays. Can you imagine a practicing nurse asking someone else to handle their assignment, when you're the patient needing attention and care?

Why do college students cheat? The answer is simple: Higher grades get noticed and, even in this economy, more opportunities for jobs. There is also peer pressure and pressure from parents paying enormous college tuition.

Why has no college professor even bothered to notice that a bumbling student from, say, Taiwan, who can barely enunciate her English answers, suddenly turns in a professional essay that makes sense? Why has no district attorney or education commission or school board ever noticed how many internet companies are offering cheating services, all with the excuse that "we only write so you can then put it in your own words before you turn it in." Yeah, sure! Why has no one notice customer complaints about grammar or spelling or even paragraph spacing and page numbering.

This entire cheating in writing essays goes to a much more serious question which really has to be addressed: Is there really a need for everybody that wants to, to go to college? It is one thing for professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc.) but unless you plan to be a teacher, is there really a need for a liberal arts education? Can someone explain why studying Plato and Aristotle and Descartes gives someone a boost for a better career?

We all know the problems of elementary and high school education and how schools seem to be failing children far too often. But, one should expect more control, and oversight at the college level, yet sham degrees are handed out annually and the number is growing.