The Business Side of College

We often get so excited and overwhelmed in our first year that we often forget that college is a business. We get so wrapped up in our classes, friends, and new way of life that we don’t even care how much we’re paying to live in a shoe box because our best friends live next door. However, when you’re two classes short of graduating and the University is trying to hold you around for two more semesters, you’re quickly reminded where their intentions lie.

Colleges are the only business that don’t have the customer’s best interest in mind. Sure, they value your education so they can take credit for your career and hope you make it big and donate money, but not without making you jump through several hoops and keep you around as long as possible to squeeze every penny they can while you’re enrolled.

The key to this is through student advising. As a freshman, you trust they want to help you graduate in four years. My advice? Do your own planning. Find the course listings for your major and just plan it on your own. This will ensure that you’re not taking a load of unnecessary courses and that you can finish in time.

That is, of course, aside from your general education courses. Despite the four years you spent in algebra, art, and whatever else you took in high school… you’re still going to be forced to take them in college. Why? To get a wholesome education, of course.

Oh, and to make more money. Not only does your tuition increase with each class, but you also get to pay for more books! And maybe if you’re lucky you can find a used book on Amazon or Chegg, but they’ll still get you with that access code you’ll be forced to purchase if you want to do your homework.

Honestly, you’re better off going to a trade school. Not only will you likely save money, you will also save time by avoiding a bunch of unnecessary courses that don’t have anything to do with your future career.

As a business major, I get it. You need to make money to keep the doors open. However, as a marketing major, I disagree. I think Universities should focus all of their energies on getting students out in 4 years and making their experience memorable in a positive way. Poor advising is a common issue amongst universities and if it were up to me, that would be the first thing I would address to make my college more marketable to prospective students.