GSC & Community Action

If you believe that a college education is important, is one that comes from an institution with 200 or so years of ivy covered history really more valuable than one from, say, a relatively young upstart like Granite State College? These provocative questions were raised in a recent article called  The Coming Meltdown in Higher Education (As Seen By a Marketer) by Seth Godin in the May 3, 2010 Chronicle of Higher Education.

As a member of the Granite State College marketing department I am willing to forgive Godin for his 2005 book: All Marketers are Liars — under torture I might even be forced to admit that his critical analysis of the marketing profession is a relevant and important one.

In fact, if this article is fortuitous and all indications would indicate it is, Granite State College’s educational (and marketing) approach is on the mark (OK, I’m a little biased. But I am a GSC alumnae too so doesn’t that count for something?!). I dare to say that Granite State College, as an open admissions state college, will never play the ranking game so disturbingly described by Godin. Have you ever wondered why so many “high ranking” colleges are so eager to get anyone and everyone to apply “easily,” “with just one click,” or “on only one page?” Answer: So they can deny you entry, and thus increase the ratio of rejected to accepted applicants. Disgusting isn’t it?

But that is not my point, nor his, primarily, in this article.

Godin got me thinking (almost always a good thing unless you are my wife who is waiting patiently for my perfectly designed-- in my head-- swing set to get beyond the design phase and actually built)- if I had the choice, would I have chosen Granite State College if Harvard or another ivy league school had lowered a bridge across their moats for me? The idea is enchanting- I mean think how many presidents and president’s advisors and CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies, leaders of think tanks and successful authors come from those hallowed halls? Then again, how many disastrous wars, economic collapses, moral, ethical & environmental horrors were gestated and brought to term by the same crew?

The biggest value from my experience at GSC was—as Godin correctly postulates-- my interactions with faculty, and the immediate and real world problem solving oriented application of the theory and concepts being taught. I could feel, see, taste (I'm talking metaphorically here- GSC does not offer a culinary arts curriculum) the results right away- I didn’t have to wait to discover if and how the lessons worked (or didn’t) in the real world. Could I have gotten that in a classroom of one, two or three hundred people?

So after spending a fourth or less of what it would have cost me to go to an ivy league school, I am deeply satisfied with my choice. I went on to complete a graduate degree (unfortunately deleting much of the aforementioned savings), and a variety of opportunities has thusly been made available to me. But what do you think- am I just making myself feel better because as a high school drop-out there is no way I would have been allowed near those esteemed and world renowned institutions (my 10 year old daughter's imperiously charged voice comes to mind: "Oh yeah, I didn't even want to go to your stinkin school anyway. Na na na-na-na na!")?  How important are college rankings to you or your employers? And which college is more valuable, enriching and relevant for your life goals- a Harvard or a Granite State College?