Across the USA, the value proposition of higher education is under scrutiny. The Department of Education is linking financial aid to the ability of students to repay loans from good-paying jobs connected with their degrees. This is problematic for those in the arts, non-profit, and religious spaces. The accelerating pace of technological change is altering the workplace and jobs that were secure a decade ago may not exist in the next few years. Families are questioning the investment.
Historically, the value of a college or university education included more than a job. Education meant becoming conversant in the liberal arts and sciences and being a thoughtful adult. With the hollowing out of many disciplines and the ideological agendas of so many departments, agreement of what constitutes a well-educated person is hard to find.
There is hope, however. Throughout history, intellectual pursuits have been valued by many cultures. Formally and informally educated persons have found their way to places of influence and leadership. Often (not exclusively), the Christian church has led the way.
From the second century to today, the church has built libraries, monasteries, local churches, and other institutions dedicated to learning Scripture, theology, and classical literature, along with mathematics and the sciences (including the trivium and quadrivium).
Egyptian and Irish monks, cathedral schools, and Silk Road merchants and missionaries preserved ancient learning and fostered engagement with scholars of other faiths. In a world where people question the value of higher education, may thoughtful believers and all people of conscience valued learning beyond what was needed for a job. (And, yes, there have been many unfortunate moments of anti-intellectual reaction.)
Work in the future will include clear thinking, intercultural competencies, breadth and depth of essential wisdom beyond AI, and emotional and relational maturity. While much can be done alone, classrooms in communities of thoughtfulness will assume a special value. And for believers, all this is united with an intelligent worldview rooted in Scripture well-interpreted and consensual theology that enhances spiritual formation.
Let’s love learning and support schools that develop healthy women and men of all vocations. Let’s lead a renaissance in education that will offer the character training, intellectual breadth and skills, and the professional competencies that foster nimbleness and resilience in navigating complex cultures, markets, and public squares.
