Two Year vs. Four Year Universities

In todays society everywhere you look you can find colleges and universities. With thousands of universities and colleges in America, signs of their presence is often hard to avoid. Colleges and Universities have emerged in all sizes and qualities of education. It seems like their has emerged a college for everyone, whether it be the ivy league universities for those with brilliance or the local community college for those looking for a break. Whether you have realized it or not, their is a major difference between many of these educational institutions. The most notable difference being whether the institution is a non-profit traditional four year or a for-profit two year place of education.

For-profit universities have numerous benefits over their four-year counterparts. At these two-year universities students take only the courses which are necessary for their field of work, skipping classes which are not related to the chosen major. Many of these skipped classes have been traditionally required by four year universities. By doing so students earn a degree in half the time that has been traditionally required, often only two years. Also since these colleges are a business and care about profit, they typically have less waste than the traditional universities. At these institutions you won’t find wasteful multi-million dollar basketball arena’s or fancy under used libraries. This ultimately saves money and places students into the working world faster. However besides benefits, these universities lack many of the elements that come with the traditional four year universities. 

Four year institutions require students to take a large variety of classes, creating well-rounded students. These well-rounded students are often knowledgable outside of their chosen major, a major benefit in the eyes of potential employers. The most substantial element that four-year non-profit educational institutions bring is prestige. Prestige consists of everything from the name on the degree to the alumni networks that come along with the degree. These networks can be of great benefit when it comes to the post-graduation job search. Many schools with outstanding prestige, such as ivy league schools like Harvard, can just about guarantee their students jobs because of this prestige. The name of the school on their degree gets them the job rather than their personal traits. However, traditional for-profit four year universities have a lot of waste. These schools often have multi-million dollar athletic facilities, fancy internet connections, and extravagant landscaping, all which contribute nothing to the education of its students. This waste makes the cost of attending these places of study extremely high. An education at a non-state subsidized private university can often cost $40,000 a year. It is here where many believe that two year for-profit universities are a better choice. 

One of the critics of four year institutions is Reverend John P. Minogue. Within his essay titled “The Twentieth-Century University is Obsolete,” Reverend Minogue believes that all the waste within four year institutions is making them obsolete. John looks upon schools “factories”, where these two year places of study are more efficient. The Reverend believes that eventually people will grow sick of paying for the wasteful four year university. He also argues that the two year universities get students into the working world faster, where they gain experience that is more valuable then the experience gained with two more years of an education. 

I agree with Reverend Minogue to an extent. Eventually people will get tired of paying for the waste within four year universities. Four year universities need to be smarter when it comes to spending their money. They need to quit wasting money on building brand new and remodeling football and basketball stadiums every 20 years, especially when theirs nothing wrong with the previous stadium. However, I do not believe that the four year university will become obsolete and overtaken by two year colleges. These traditional four year universities must be doing something right, just look at the success of the graduates of each version of education. How many CEO’s have you heard of with a degree from a two year university?