Reflections from Med School on the Value of a Liberal Arts Education

Author: [no author name found]

At the risk of opening healing wounds, I write the following article, for there is a bigger issue at hand: What is the value of a liberal arts education?
The first week of med school was over. I walked down to the crowded TV lounge in my dorm and awaited the season opener of "Saturday Night Live." As the show ended, a business student shouted, "Now that the economy is bad, it'll be harder for me to find a job. My degree will be worthless. I want a rebate." Then, another business student replied, "You're here. You're learning. That's all that matters." The first person graduated from a famous Canadian university. The second was a Midd alumna.
Let's do some math. The comprehensive fee is $35,900. (However, a Midd-ucation costs more than that — about double. But we'll ignore that little fact.) I'm going to assume that of this amount, $29,600 covers tuition, $2,100 covers room and $2,100 covers board. (These are amounts refunded if you live off-campus and if you choose not to use the meal plan.) Now, let's assume that you eat 660 meals a year at Midd. (This is actually a conservative estimate.) This means that you're paying about $3 per meal.
Very few things cost as little as $3. You can't get a complete meal at McDonald's for $3; you can't get a pair of socks for $3; and you can't get a Fabergé Egg for $3. But nevertheless, Sarah McCabe '05 feels cheated (as manifest in a article in which she complained about the quality of Middining), as though someone or something is ripping her off. For $3, McCabe wants good bagels, unending supplies of her favorite cereal (though she gets upset when she has to eat cereal) and Fabergé Eggs.
In other words, McCabe is a smart shopper; she wants to maximize the buying power of each and every dollar she hands over to the College treasurer or to anyone else. She is a consumer, one with a sense of entitlement — "Where's my Fabergé Egg?"
So, what's a fair market-value for a Midd-ucation — for a really nice piece of paper with Latin all over it, for a decorative cane, for a few acquaintances, for a few decent rooms, for a lot of disappointing meals (at least to McCabe) and a little bit of learning? $35,900 x 4=$158,000? Is it worth it? "Where can I get coupons?"
As one who loves his alma mater dearly, I hope that there aren't others who harbor such notions of entitlement and consumerism. Indeed, such attitudes can and will lead to the collapse of the ivory tower, and the end of liberal arts educations.
Indeed, from an investment point of view, liberal arts educations are the equivalent of junk bonds — not much equity, not many returns per unit of price. A smart consumer might prefer the University of Phoenix or Tech-Certification Programs at Cisco Systems or Microsoft. Indeed, since the University of Phoenix is entirely online, one can work and attend school (i.e. make money and earn a degree) at the same time. And since computer networks and Windows constantly seem to be "down," technicians will always be in demand. Heck, there's also the DeVry Institute, the Lincoln School for Automotive and AC Repair and "The School of Hard Knocks," which, I hear, is known for its ancient literature and cosmological physics departments.
But if one is more traditional, public universities are always an option. In fact, McCabe points out: "We can get a very good education at a state school. We can get a superb education for half of what we pay at Middlebury." Indeed, public universities are the educational equivalents of wholesale warehouses. Sure, they're crowded, but they have some really good bargains. Buy in bulk! Bigger means better, right?
In the Sept. 18 issue of The Campus, Pete Steinberg '99, my former junior counselor wrote that he was jealous of current Middlebury students. I'm jealous too. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, you are surrounded by beauty — beautiful places, beautiful things, beautiful people. And if you're lucky enough, this beauty will change you.
I think that this is what it all boils down to. What does $158,000 really get you? Quite simply: the chance to change, to become a new person, hopefully, to become a better person. But is it really worth it? Is this a fair market value? I hope that you at some point during your four years at Middlebury, you will be able to pronounce with confidence, "Yes."

Daniel Choi graduated from Middlebury College in 2001.He is currently enrolled at the University of Chicago Medical School.