Logic of College as it should be is to pursue higher learning. Logic of college as it is now is to acquire skills and knowledge pertinent to a desired job after college. In short, college nowadays is seen as a way to find a better job with better pay.

Plato in The Republic espoused the view of higher learning. Having higher education, he believes, is important in developing a person’s soul particularly those with the natural predisposition to govern or the philosophical-ruler types. The logic of college then was to develop the skills and knowledge of a person to make him/her better equipped to accomplish his/her tasks or responsibilities especially for those in position of influence. Pursuing college education then is an end in itself because it fulfills the mission it is intended for – the improvement of the mind and soul of a person.

Currently, because a college degree often assures the holder a better job, it is viewed as a way to have a better life or a better future. College is not pursued for the higher learning it offers but for the opportunities it will endow the person who gets a degree. Pursuing college education now, as a whole, is not an end in itself but a means to acquiring a desired end which could be a better future, social status or better pay.

This is where the main difference between the logic of college then and now exists. College is no longer pursued for the education that it provides but more so for the opportunities it offers.