The Value of (Liberal) Education
by Tom Tritton
Years ago I saw an intriguing poster that depicted an opulent mansion situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were several expensive automobiles in the multiple garages, and an ambiance of extravagance. At the bottom was a caption stating "The Value of Education." This seemingly simple statement is wonderfully ambiguous: does it mean that an education is valuable because it will enable one to attain such luxury, or that an education will help one to understand that life is not really about such material possessions?
In an age of dizzying impatience, instant gratification, and an overriding concern with the bottom line, it is certainly worth asking whether our approach to education is viable and can serve as a basis for a successful and rewarding life. This is particularly important for those of us who believe in the worth of liberal education, and who, like the poet Langston Hughes, know that being merely "colleged" is not the same as being "educated." At the same time we need to be able to respond to the people (frequently parents) who ask: "This liberal arts stuff is all well and good, but will my son or daughter be able to get a job?"
My view is that the value of an education is best measured by what graduates do with their lives. Believing that any assertions about quality require a well researched approach, Haverford has joined with about 90 of the nation's selective liberal arts colleges in a consortium called the Annapolis Group (after the city in Maryland where the first meeting was held). The group has just completed a comprehensive survey of its collective graduates and what ensues in their lives following college. The reference figure for all that follows is 3%, the fraction of all U.S. bachelor's degrees produced by these 90 schools.
Doctoral degrees are one indicator of passion for continued, often lifelong, learning and research. The Annapolis Group schools were the baccalaureate origin of more than 8% of doctorates awarded in this decade. Thus, we almost tripled the 3% that would be expected if we simply produced doctorates in proportion to our numbers. With respect to Haverford, in another study examining where the nation's Ph.D.'s studied as undergraduates, we were ranked in the top ten among all institutions. Those above us include Cal Tech, MIT, and Chicago, while those below us include Princeton, Yale, and Harvard. I'd say we're holding our own.
Another indicator of success might be excellence of performance in scholarship. The students in Annapolis Group schools -- which of course include Haverford, Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr -- produced 11% of the national merit scholars, and (from 1995-1997) a whopping 20% of Phi Beta Kappa inductions. After graduation, students from selective liberal arts colleges continue to excel, winning a disproportionate number of major awards. That includes 9% of Fulbright scholarships, 9% of Marshall scholarships, 17% of Truman scholarships, and 24% of Mellon fellowships in the humanities.
The Nobel Prize is generally considered to be the highest honor an individual can receive. In addition, this distinction is international in scope, with people from all around the world competing for consideration each year. Graduates of the American liberal arts schools have been awarded 4% of all Nobel Prizes, which is far beyond what student numbers would predict. (In case you were wondering, Haverford has three Nobelists among its graduates: Theodore Richards (class of 1885) in Chemistry; Philip Noel Baker '10 in Peace; and Joe Taylor '62 in Physics.
As for excellence of performance in business, Annapolis Group graduates comprise 5% of the CEOs of the nation's 70,000 largest companies, and 8% of the wealthiest CEOs (although wealth may not be the dimension of highest importance at an institution founded by Quakers!).
Public service and a commitment to the human community are among the cherished values of all liberal arts colleges. Since 1961, graduates of the Annapolis Group schools made up 8% of all Peace Corps volunteers. This same group of colleges has among its alumni 19% of the Presidents of the United States, as well as 7% of First Ladies, including the incumbent. The current Cabinet has more than 20% of its members who graduated from this group of institutions. Alumni from these schools make up 11% of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 5% of U.S. Senators, and 6% of current governors.
If politics isn't your particular interest, consider journalism, letters, drama, and music -- the areas in which Pulitzer Prizes are awarded. Since 1960, graduates of the 90 Annapolis Group schools have earned 3% of the Pulitzer Prizes in music, exactly matching the numerical percentage in terms of output of students. But in the remaining areas the Annapolis schools have distinguished themselves by capturing 5% of Pulitzer Prizes in general non-fiction, 6% in fiction, 8% in biography, 18% in poetry, 19% in history, and 23% in drama.
The list of achievements of liberal arts graduates goes on. The essential message is that people who go to places like Haverford are disproportionally represented in many areas of tangible success in life. Why is this? To be sure, our students are bright, eager, and accomplished when they arrive here. But then for four years, faculty, staff, and peers engage them in study and discourse that forms the foundation of their ability to think, act, and live principled lives. Such a fine-tuned approach can't easily be matched in larger schools with larger classes and multiple agendas, and a correspondingly diminished ability to personalize the challenge of exploration and discovery.
So the next time you find yourself in the position of defending liberal education, or of establishing that it is indeed worth the cost and the effort, remember that our graduates lead lives that truly demonstrate "The Value of Education."