18.3 Cognitive Growth and Higher Education

Many readers of this textbook have a personal interest in the final topic of this chapter, the relationship between college education and cognition. All the evidence is positive: College graduates are not only healthier and wealthier than other adults, on average, but also deeper and more flexible thinkers. These conclusions are so powerful that scientists wonder if selection effects or historical trends, rather than college education itself, lead to such encouraging correlations. Let us look at the data.

The Effects of College

Education in Process These students, checking the Internet on the steps in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico (top) and discussing Pakistan on the quad at Brown University in the United States (bottom), illustrate why some scholars claim that college students learn more from each other than from their professors.

© JEREMY WOODHOUSE/AGE FOTOSTOCK
AP PHOTO/STEPHAN SAVOIA

Contemporary students attend college primarily to secure better jobs and to learn specific skills (especially in knowledge and service industries, such as information technology, global business, and health care). Among the “very important” reasons students in the United States enroll in college are “to get a better job” (88 percent) and to make more money (75 percent) (see Figure 18.3).

Cohort Shift Decades before this study was done, students thought new ideas and a philosophy of life were prime reasons to go to college—they were less interested in jobs than were students in 2012. If this thinking causes a conflict between student motivation and professors’ goals, who should adjust?

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, Almanac of Higher Education, 2013.

Gaining a general education and an appreciation of ideas is a secondary goal; this is “very important” to most students (73 percent) but clearly not as important as the financial goals (Pryor et al., 2012). This is true not only in the United States, but also in many other nations (Jongbloed et al., 1999).

One of my 18-year-old students is typical:

Educating Congress Justin Neisler is a medical student, about to testify before Congress. As an openly gay man, he hopes to serve LGBTQ youth, a group with many unmet medical needs. However, he and all his classmates have a major problem: The clash between their idealism and the money they owe for their education—a median of $170,000 for new MDs in 2012.

ANDREW HARRER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

Such worries about future costs and retirement may seem premature, but E. is not alone. About 80 percent of students are employed, yet only 20 percent of all students or their parents can pay for college. About two-thirds of U.S. students take out loans, and about two-thirds have scholarships or grants (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2012). For most of them, their investment in college will pay off, since the average 25- to 34-year-old makes $15,000 a year more with only a B.A. compared to those with only a high school diploma (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012).

College also correlates with better health: College graduates everywhere smoke less, eat better, exercise more, and live longer. They are also more likely to be married, homeowners, and parents of healthy children. Does something gained in college—perhaps knowledge, self-control, confidence, better job prospects—account for these benefits?

Looking specifically at cognitive development, does college make people more likely to combine the subjective and objective in a flexible, dialectical way? Perhaps. College improves verbal and quantitative abilities, adds knowledge of specific subject areas, teaches skills in various professions, and fosters reasoning and reflection. According to one comprehensive review:

Note that many of these abilities characterize postformal thinking.

Some research finds that thinking becomes more reflective and expansive with each year of college. First-year students believe that clear and perfect truths exist; they are distressed if their professors do not explain these truths. Freshmen tend to gather knowledge as if facts were nuggets of gold, each one separate from other bits of knowledge and each one pure and true. One first-year student said he was like a squirrel, “gleaning little acorns of knowledge and burying them for later use” (quoted in Bozik, 2002, p. 145).

This initial phase is followed by a wholesale questioning of personal and social values, including doubts about the idea of truth itself. If a professor makes an assertion without extensive analysis and evidence, upper-level students are skeptical. No fact is taken at face value, much less stored intact (like an acorn) for future use.

Finally, as graduation approaches, after considering many ideas, students become committed to certain values, while they realize their opinions might change (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991; Rest et al., 1999). Facts have become neither gold nor dross, but rather useful steps toward a greater understanding.

According to one classic study (Perry, 1981, 1999), thinking progresses through nine levels of complexity over the four years that lead to a bachelor’s degree, moving from a simplistic either/or dualism (right or wrong, success or failure) to a relativism that recognizes a multiplicity of perspectives (see Table 18.1).

Perry found that the college experience itself causes this progression: Peers, professors, books, and class discussion all stimulate new questions and thoughts. In general, the more years of higher education and of life experience a person has, the deeper and more dialectical that person’s reasoning becomes (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991).

Which aspect of college is the primary catalyst for such growth? Is it the challenging academic work, professors’ lectures, peer discussions, the new setting, or living away from home? All are possible. Every scientist finds that social interaction and intellectual challenge advance thinking.

College students expect classes and conversations to further their thinking—which is exactly what occurs (Kuh et al., 2005). This is not surprising, since development is a dialectical process between individuals and social structures, and college is an institution dedicated to fostering cognitive growth. Teachers and students alike can achieve postformal thought because of college, as the following suggests.

Changes in the College Context

You probably noticed that many of the references in the previous pages are decades old. Perry’s study was first published in 1981. His conclusions may no longer apply, especially because both sides of the dialectic—students and faculty—have changed, as have the institutions in which they learn. Many recent books criticize colleges. Administrators and faculty still hope for intellectual growth, but the college context is not what it was. Has cognition suffered because of it?

College is no longer for the elite few.

To improve health and increase productivity, every nation has increased the number of students enrolled in college. This growth in enrollment has led to massification—the idea that college could benefit everyone (the masses) (Altbach et al., 2010). The United States was the first major nation to accept that idea, establishing thousands of institutions of higher learning and boasting millions of college students by the middle of the twentieth century.

The United States no longer leads in massification, however. In some nations, more than half of all 25- to 34-year-olds are college graduates (for example, in Canada, Korea, Russia, and Japan), with at least an Associates degree. One reason for the large college population in those nations is that tuition is lower because of heavy government subsidies, as was true in former decades in the United States.

As for a Bachelor’s degree earned by 25- to 34-years-olds, the United States ranks 11th among the major nations of the world (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). The percentages are far lower in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, but the rates of college graduation in those places have multiplied in the past few decades. In 2010, China had more college graduates than the United States (but avoid base rate neglect—the proportion of graduates in the United States is higher). Especially in the United States, background factors such as family income and ethnicity affect college enrollment and graduation (see Visualizing Development, p. 537).

Not only have the numbers increased, but so have the characteristics of the students. The most obvious change is gender: In 1970, most college students were male; now in every developed nation (except Germany) most students are female. In addition, ethnic, economic, religious, and cultural backgrounds are varied. Compared to 1970, more students are parents, are older than age 24, attend school part time, and live and work off-campus—all true worldwide.

Student experiences, histories, skills, and goals are changing as well. Most students are technologically savvy, having spent more hours using computers than watching television or reading. Personal blogs, chat rooms, Facebook pages, and YouTube videos have exploded, often unbeknownst to college staff. Dozens of new networking sites have appeared. Students spend less than one-fourth of their waking time studying or in class and much more time socializing—either face-to-face or online (Arum & Roksa, 2011).

The courses that require more reading and writing are unpopular, as are the majors—such as English or History—that require such effort. Instead, the most popular major is business, which also requires the least student effort (Arum & Roksa, 2011). Of course, majoring in business also seems most likely to lead to a secure financial future, which has become more important to current students and their parents.

The rising importance of material possessions is considered part of the “dark side of emerging adulthood,” as one book describes it (Smith et al., 2012). The same seems true of adults without a college degree: Living well is defined more by financial security and having admirable possessions than by health or caring for the community (Beutler, 2012).

As massification increases, more colleges are available. Some nations, including China and Saudi Arabia, have recently built huge new universities. In 1955 in the United States, only 275 junior colleges existed; in 2010 there were 1,920 such colleges, now called community colleges. For-profit colleges were scarce until about 1980; in 2010 the United States had 1,216 of them.

The facilities of the institutions have also changed. Dorms are more luxurious, rooms are larger, athletic facilities more impressive. Prices have increased. For almost half of four-year colleges, tuition (not including room and board) costs more than $30,000 per year (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2012).

Other changes are evident. Compared with earlier decades, colleges today offer more career programs and hire more part-time faculty, more women, and more minorities. The proportion of tenured full professors who are European American males has decreased, although they still predominate partly because they earned tenure decades ago. The trend toward more non-White and part-time faculty is worldwide.

Public colleges have grown, with more than 25,000 undergraduates at each of 100 public universities in the United States. Private colleges still outnumber public ones by a ratio of about 3 to 2, but most U.S. college students (75 percent, or about 14 million) attend publicly-sponsored institutions. They are less expensive for students than private colleges, but no U.S. college is free. Even students on full scholarships (rare) must pay for many items, including transportation.

Income, not ability, continues to be the most significant influence on whether a particular emerging adult will attend college and, once enrolled, will graduate (Bowen et al., 2009). Non-completion is particularly high among community college students. When they enroll, 80 percent say they are likely to earn a bachelor’s degree; only about 20 percent do. Access to higher education is high in the United States, but the gap between entering and graduation is huge, which is “an important alarm about the viability of college for many young people” (Settersten 2012, p. 20).

VISUALIZING DEVELOPMENT

Why Study?

From a life-span perspective, college graduation is a good investment, for individuals (they become healthier and wealthier) and for nations (national income rises). That long-term perspective is the main reason why nations that control enrollment, such as China, have opened dozens of new colleges in the past two decades. However, when the effort and cost of higher education depend on immediate choices made by students and families, as in the United States, many decide it is not worth it, as illustrated by the number of people who earn BAs.

EDUCATION IN THE U.S.

SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, 2012 AND EDUCATION WEEK, 2013

AMONG ALL ADULTS

The percentage of U.S. residents with high school and college diplomas is increasing as more of the oldest cohort (often without degrees) dies and the youngest cohorts aim for college. However, many people are insufficiently educated and less likely to find good jobs. It is not surprising that in the recent recession, college enrollment increased. These data can be seen as encouraging or disappointing. The encouraging perspective is that rates are rising for everyone, with the only exception being associate degrees for Asian Americans, and the reason for that is itself encouraging—more of them are earning BAs. The discouraging perspective is that almost two-thirds of all adults and more than four-fifths of all Hispanics have no college degrees. International data find that many European and East Asian nations have higher rates of degree holders than the U.S.

SOURCE: ROBELEN, 2010.

INCOME IMPACT

Over an average of 40 years of employment, someone who completes a master’s degree earns $500,000 more than someone who leaves school in eleventh grade. That translates into about $90,000 for each year of education from twelfth grade to a master’s. The earnings gap is even wider than those numbers indicate because this chart includes only adults who have jobs, yet finding work is more difficult for those with less education.

SOURCES & CREDITS LISTED ON P. SC-1
PHOTO: JUPITERIMAGES/THINKSTOCK

Unlike Their Parents Both photos show large urban colleges in the U.S., with advantages the older college generations did not have: wireless technology (in use by all three on the left) and classmates from 50 nations (evident in the two on the right).

KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/GETTY IMAGES
MELANIE STETSON FREEMAN/THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR VIA GETTY IMAGES

There is also a clear “mismatch between reality and expectations” for students at four-year colleges, with almost all expecting to graduate in four years but only half doing so (Pryor et al., 2012, p. 5). The chance of leaving college without a degree becomes greater as income falls, as the size of the college increases, and as other life obligations (such as employment and parenthood) accumulate (Bowen et al., 2009).

Evaluating the Changes

This situation again raises the question of what today’s students get out of attending college. The major changes just described might mean that college no longer produces the “greater intellectual flexibility” that earlier research found (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). What do the data indicate?

All the evidence on cognition suggests that interactions with people of different backgrounds and various views lead to intellectual challenges and deeper thought, as well as more creative ideas. This occurs most easily if students themselves are bicultural, as an increasing number of United States students are, but simply working with and talking to people of various backgrounds broadens one’s cognitive and cultural perspective (Nguyen & Benet-Martínez, 2013; Tadmor et al., 2012).

Thus, the increased diversity of the student body may encourage cognitive development. Colleges that make use of their diversity—through curricula, class assignments, discussions, cooperative education, learning communities, and so on—help stretch students’ understanding not only of differences and similarities among people but also of themselves. Indeed, more and more faculty are moving away from the lecture format and are instead using learning methods (1) that require interaction among the students and (2) that fosters learning.

Of course, many students (and their parents) choose colleges because the student body is similar to the prospective student. Most (81 percent) U.S. freshmen attend a college in their home state. However, every college has some people who are from far away (in the U.S., 3.4 percent come from another nation). Moreover, since each individual has unique genes and experiences, even homogeneous colleges include people with diverse opinions.

A special benefit may come from students who are parents, are employed, attend school part time, and are older than 30. They can enliven conversations and discussions with their fellow students. Some research suggests that those from the least wealthy backgrounds are most likely to benefit, financially and cognitively, from a college degree. However, they are also the most likely to leave before graduation (Bowen et al., 2009).

Two new pedagogical techniques may foster greater learning. One is called the flipped class, in which students are required to watch videos of a lecture on their computers before class, and then class time is used for discussion, with the professor prodding and encouraging but not lecturing. The other technique is classes that are totally online, including massive open online courses (MOOCs). A student can enroll in such a class and do all the work off campus.

MOOCs are most likely to be instructive if a student is highly motivated and is adept at computer use, but it also helps if the student has another classmate, or an expert, as a personal guide: Face-to-face interaction seems to help motivation and learning (Breslow et al., 2013). The MOOC saves money and commuting time; educators disagree as to how much the typical student learns in a MOOC.

Writing on the Wall In Oakland, California, Selina Wong is learning physics online from a MOOC offered by San Jose University. The most common criticism of online courses is that they are not interactive, but, as you see, this is not always true.

LAURA A. ODA/BAY AREA NEWS GROUP/MCT/ALAMY LIMITED

The data suggests that college still advances thinking. A valid comparison can be made with young adults who never attend college. When 18-year-old high school graduates of similar backgrounds and abilities are compared, those who begin jobs rather than higher education eventually achieve less and are less satisfied by middle age than those who earned a college degree (Hout, 2012). The benefits of college seem particularly strong for ethnic minorities or low-income families.

Even by age 24, those who attended college and postponed parenthood are more thoughtful and more secure, and seem to be better positioned for a successful adulthood. For this new stage of development—emerging adulthood—college seems to provide what is needed: a chance to postpone commitment while exploring new ideas and preparing for adulthood.

For many readers of this textbook, none of these findings are surprising. Tertiary education stimulates thought, no matter how old the student is. From first-year orientation to graduation, emerging adults do more than learn facts and skills pertaining to their majors: They learn to think deeply and reflectively, as postformal thinkers do.