Welcome new and returning students to Newman University for Spring semester 2012! I am pleased that we continue attracting more and more students to our quality programs. Perhaps it’s because these students are discovering that we deliver excellence and we are “surprisingly affordable” (the title of a great video some of our students put together last semester – see our Financial Aid section of the website!). And this all at a time when there is much negative press about higher education. You may have seen an article such as “Is College Worth It?” or read articles about Arne Duncan and Vice President Biden calling for colleges to get our high costs under control.
Well, yes, college is still worth it and, yes, we do everything we can at Newman to keep our costs under control. I will discuss affordability in my next blog. Here I will focus on the first issue. While it is true that the current unemployment rate for college graduates seems high (9%), the rate for those with just a high school diploma is 35%! One recent study at Georgetown University indicated that on average college graduates earn 84% more over a lifetime than those with just a high school diploma (up from 75% in 1999). For example, median lifetime earnings for those with a high school diploma stand at $1.3 million compared with $2.3M for BA/BS degrees, $2.7M for MA/MS degrees, $3.3M for PhD, and $3.6M for professional degrees (in 2009 dollars).
But college is worth it not just because of a graduate’s lifetime earnings. College is worth it because graduates can have a better life, and they are better able to give back and transform society. College graduates tend to be literally healthier and happier. And we want still more for a Newman graduate, which is why we have implemented the new Newman Studies Program to provide what Blessed Newman called “enlargement,” through active learning and interdisciplinary, team-taught courses that will help our students to experience the integration of knowledge. Ultimately, we want our graduates (in the words of our Provost Austin) “to be able to work to transform society through their abilities to reason effectively, communicate effectively and make decisions effectively based on knowledge and a sound ethical foundation.” Let me expound a bit on this last point as this blog concludes.
We are a Catholic University, of course, and so a ”sound ethical foundation” must be part of a Newman education. We were blessed on January 11 to have our Bishop Michael Jackels present a talk to our faculty and staff on our Catholic identity. He highlighted a few of the Catholic “ideals” that help form a “lens” for a Catholic university: 1) we are part of others, not apart from them; 2) we take responsibility for one another; 3) we regard human life as sacred; 4) we are stewards not owners. Bishop Jackels pointed out that these also pertain to other denominations. These are ideals I want our graduates of all faiths to experience and adopt as their own.
At a national meeting for college presidents last week, we heard from a young national leader, Mr. Eboo Patel, on the importance of helping our students to understand religious diversity so as to foster civility and peace. Those of you who followed my blogs from the trip to Israel last fall, will understand how this call would resonate with me. Time after time throughout history and up to today, conflicts and war find their roots in religious conflict. Thus, could it be any more important to a college education than to teach, to model, to foster those Catholic ideals? Again, it is through such “enlargement” that our graduates will be able to work to transform society and help us to move toward peace. Yes, college is worth it. In this last context, a Newman University degree is especially worth it! Stay tuned for thoughts on affordability.
