By James O’Connor.
The advent of liberal arts education 2,000 years ago during Hellenistic Greece spurned an educational philosophy that many believe is nobly upheld in contemporary higher education’s coursework. However, this is not the case – for the philosophy that only a well-rounded education can prepare people to effectively partake in civic duties and responsibilities oftentimes does not require coursework in personal finance.
Yes, upholding civic responsibilities requires an individual to be responsible for not just the community to which they belong, but to themselves as well.
For instance, colleges do not require each individual student to learn about how he or she can reach financial independence – perhaps due to an oversight, or perhaps colleges and universities do not want their foremost source of revenue – college students – to finally learn how a college degree is becoming a poorer investment with each passing year.
Consequently, a four-year college degree is labeled a ‘necessary credential,’ inasmuch as it is a ‘unnecessary credential,’ and this paradox is facilitated by how universities do not require students to learn basic skills that will keep them afloat financially.
Many recent graduates, including me, will share this sentiment. As a marketing major, I spent seemingly innumerable hours studying biology, physics and math – none of which contributed to my professional toolkit today.
Furthermore, I’ve spent an equal amount of time learning about personal finance outside the classroom, without help, and it gave financial independence a steeper learning curve than expected. Imagine how recent graduates who did not take it upon themselves to learn about personal finance during their college years (the majority) are impacted by universities’ inconsideration of their financial lives post-college.
It is this lack of instruction in personal finance and the steep learning curve it creates for recent graduates that ensure poor financial decisions and financial dependence – both of which contribute to the existence of waning economic output and inability to uphold civic duty: two of education’s foremost indices for effectiveness.
The average home costs anywhere from $50,000 to $80,000 to build. However, it costs $500,000 to buy these homes not solely because of labor expenditures, but solely because of consumer credit. This line of credit, especially for our generation and much like the generation that fell during the great depression, creates credit bondage and financial subservience, a bondage not understood by recent graduates.
Arguably, this bondage also contributed to the great recession of 2008. People may blame advertising and culture for the greed they imbue within the population, and the credit bondage they place upon young graduates, but it is not advertising’s responsibility to teach us how to handle our money – it is education’s responsibility.
However, education is not inherently binding. In fact, its purpose is to give its participants freedom, and for more young adults than ever, freedom necessitates financial literacy – financial literacy which should become higher education’s staple of responsibility.
