How Will SLU Adapt to the Changing Landscape?

A question I asked myself often while at St. Lawrence University — and still do now that I have departed — revolves around the administration. Simply put, what are they doing?   

I ask this question because, for the first time in two decades, St. Lawrence and other universities around the nation have found their support dropping rapidly. More so, not only has public opinion swayed, but admission numbers themselves have dropped in eyebrow raising numbers. Currently, SLU is slapping itself on the back for finding itself with raving comments within the Princeton Review for things such as an active student government, the most accessible professors, alumni networks and having the “friendliest students” (which is doubtful). While the SLU public-relations team licks its chops at such an easy story to use for their interested prospects around the nation, former students, current students and (tenured) professors are confused as to why the university is failing to adjust to a well-recycled claim; the university is failing to prepare students to enter the workforce.   

The issue arose for me during one of my classes with Government Professor Mert Kartal, who showed me the importance of writing and critical reading. Whereas Government Professor Shelly McConnell expressed the great usefulness of convincing, quick and coherent verbal use. All was digested during my first year and reinforced throughout my tenure at SLU by other professors, such as Howard Eissenstat. Although, as a young and dumb first-year student, I found it all to be futile and minor. It would not be until my first-year summer, when I interned for the U.S. Congress, that I understood the value of all three. Simply missing a comma within my work on The Hill would not go unnoticed, no matter how small or grammatically pointless (a skill I am still working on). It was not until this experience, followed by another tenure on Capitol Hill that I realized how vital all three of those were and how little SLU ensured these facts transcended all else.   

Now more than ever, this issue is front and center. For years, national averages across the board have been staggering, if not falling, but COVID-19 ended that. Math, reading and writing have dipped across the nation, impacting students the worst between 8th grade and lower, the most vital period to hone these skills. Furthermore, no state in the union even breaks the threshold of 45 percent efficiency in reading, with most states being stuck in the 30s, as was reported by Sarah Mervosh and Ashley Wu in their piece titled “Math Scores Fell in Nearly Every State, and Reading Dipped on National Exam” published by The New York Times. What makes the issue even worse is examining the test scores by race, which reflect a 30-point difference in test scores across the board, one of the worst racial divides since the 1960s as is noted by Matt Barnum in his piece titled “The Pandemic’s Toll: National Test Scores Show Progress Slowed, Gaps Widened” from Chalkbeat National. Trends have not just declined with test scores but with faith in these institutions as well.   

The national trend is not in favor of universities across the nation, as it has plummeted to new lows. Prior to the Great Recession, over 70 percent of Americans went straight to high school, followed by an approval rating of universities touching 80 percent, which was found by Paul Tough in his piece called “Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College. Whose Fault Is That?” published by the New York Times. Flash forwards a decade, and that number is half: 40 percent noted that higher education was important, with almost 50 percent highlighting that a high school diploma is all that is needed, as found by Tough. Such a trend, as discussed earlier, is noted with enrollment numbers, as 18 million college students in 2010 has dropped to 15 million in 2021, as found by Tough. The equation for many Americans is not adding up in their favor, as the cost-burden education that many do not find useful even post-grad, has turned many families away.  

The biggest issue is cost, as states have moved away from funding, the debt of students has topped $1 trillion in recent years. Such an issue becomes apparent when compounded with the fact that the college premium wage no longer pays higher than a high-school diploma. No longer is a college degree graduate truly earning more than their counterpart because they owe years of their salary to that institution and debt-collectors, as found 

The issue is not entirely at SLU’s feet, because this is a multi-factored and societal issue that reaches into many different spheres but that does not mean they cannot try. More than ever, SLU needs to reform its model to remain relevant in a culture that is increasingly fading away from universities. Whether that is reforming the overall institution to ensure it is more career-focused, lowering the cost burden for students, or simply ensuring professors attempt to pound away at my main three concerns: critical reading, the ability to write, and ensuring issues can be verbally communicated. I learned the hard way away from SLU that no employer cares what the newbie thinks of the Palestine question, but they do care if that new employee can meet the critical skills listed below. For the sake of your long-term career, I sure hope you can too.