James Vigil

Annotated bibliography: Final Draft

Question: Does modern technology significantly dilute the value of a college degree?

Sources:

Akers, B., & Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. (2020). A new Approach for Curbing College

Tuition Inflation. Report. In Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Manhattan Institute for Policy

Research. https://ezproxy.library.und.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED608414&site=ehost-live&scope=site

This report dives into the issue of college tuition inflation. Where other researchers have

focused more on the supply aspect of the problem, Beth Akers looks at it from the demand side

and tries to answer the question, “Why has pressure from the market failed to mitigate these

effects, as would normally happen in competitive markets for other products and services?”

Akers is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute where she focuses on labor economics and the

economics of higher education. She also served under President George W. Bush on the Council

of Economic Advisors.

She discusses four explanations for tuition increase: “(1) Poor information on the value of

different colleges and majors and the "Golden Ticket" fallacy, in which aspiring students

seemingly overvalue the return of a college degree; (2) The opaque system of pricing that makes

comparison-shopping for college difficult and expensive; (3) Geographic constraints of aspiring

students and the resulting implications on competition; and (4) Regulation preventing lower-cost

alternative business models to enter the marketplace to compete with existing traditional

providers.” Akers suggests that if tuition continues to increase how it is trending, college will
not be able to offer a generous return to educated students like it has in the past. There has been

a 24% increase in tuition for a four-year public in-state school in just the past ten years and a

102% increase if you go back twenty years. To get a better grasp on the magnitude of those

numbers, both of those statistics are adjusted for inflation.

This source will be useful in describing that tuition inflation, among other things, are the

main causes for college degrees becoming less valuable. The answer to the value of college

degrees is more complex than just how technology has an impact.

Cooper, K.M., Gin, L. E., & Brownell, S. E. (2019). Diagnosing differences in what Introductory

Biology Students in a fully online and in-person biology degree program know and do regarding

medical school admission. Advances in Physiology Education, 43(2), 221-232.

https://ezproxy.library.und.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=eoah&AN=50035236&site=ehost-live&scope=site

This journal looks at Biology students who obtain their degree online compared to those

who get the traditional in-person degree. Copper, K.M. et al., explores whether an online degree

is preparing the students to be admitted into medical school. Online students were found to be

more likely to have the goal of becoming a medical doctor. The biggest thing they discovered

was, “online students knew fewer criteria that medical schools consider when admitting students

than in-person students.” Online students are also less likely to be involved in undergraduate

research. There were also other statistics such as online students only knew around 9% of their

classmates compared to around 76% for in-person. Online students also did not know their

professors and faculty that they could discuss pursuing a career in medicine with.
 The journal highlights the knowledge gaps between online and in-person students for

biology majors. There is a limitation in the fact that they only analyze the biology degree,

however this source can still be used to argue that learning strictly through modern technology is

less effective than a traditional college degree.

Giani, M. S., Attewell, P., & Walling, D. (2020). The Value of an Incomplete Degree:

Heterogeneity in the Labor Market Benefits of College Non-Completion. The Journal of Higher

Education (Columbus), 91(4), 514–539. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1653122

This article uses data collected from a large group of graduating Texas high school students from

the year 2000 and compares their employment and earnings from 15 years later. Giani et al., compare

the people who did not go to college, the ones who went then dropped out without completing a

credential, and those who got a degree. They found that 15 years later, college dropouts are more

likely to be employed and earn more than the people who did not go to college. 35.2% of high school

graduates that did not attend college were employed and earned an average of $37,675 per year

compared to around 50% to 55% of college dropouts who were employed and made an average of

around $40,000 to $44,000 a year. They also confirmed that the students who got a college degree

earned more than both of their counterparts with a bachelor’s being 64.8% employed and earning

$64,727 a year on average. A limitation to this study was that the program they used to calculate

these statistics counted the people who went to an out of state college, then later came back to work in

Texas, as part of the “no college” group. However, this does not change the overall conclusion of the

study that college dropouts earn more than people who never attended college because if this mistake

was corrected, the earnings and employment for the “no college” group would be even less.
 This article will be useful in proving that attending college is still more proven to help people

earn more money compared to relying on technology or other ways to learn skills not through a

university.

Ma, K. (2018). Research and applications of the innovative ideological and political education for

college students based on Internet technology. Kuram ve Uygulamada Egitim Bilimleri/Educational

Sciences: Theory & Practice, 18(5), 2462-2469.

https://ezproxy.library.und.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2019-19948-144&site=ehost-live&scope=site

This journal analyzes how internet technology brings opportunities and challenges to the

ideological and political education for college students. Ma, K. concludes that,

“Internet technology provides a new educational concept and learning platform

for college students' ideological and political education and promotes the college students’ ability

improvement.” In Figure 3, only 1.79% of students that were surveyed voted that they did not

think there was a need for internet technology in their education. Ma, K. also addresses how

there are problems with internet technology being used for education such as how there is a lack

of personalized teaching when the internet is involved. 52.19% of students surveyed reported

that was an issue with the universities’ online education platforms.

This journal can be useful in arguing that students want technology to continue to be

integrated into their colleges, but poor execution of the use of internet technology on behalf of

the universities, can lower the value of the education.

Purdy, C. (2010, June 24). Worst-Paying College Degrees. Tennessee Tribune, 21(25), 11A.

This newspaper ranks the top ten worst-paying college degrees in 2010. Number one on

the list is Social Work with a starting annual salary of $33,400 and a mid-career annual salary of

$41,600. The rest goes as follows from worst to best: Elementary Education, Theology, Music,

Spanish, Horticulture, Education, Hospitality and Tourism, Fine Arts, and Drama. A common

explanation the newspaper gives for why people would even get these degrees is because they are not

in it for the money, and for whatever reason find these degrees rewarding in other ways to them.

This newspaper article could be useful for explaining that not all college degrees contain

the same value as others whether technology is a factor or not. People need to be very selective in

choosing the correct degree for them and understand that not every career gives the same return on

investment.

Analysis/Conclusions

It is up for debate the current value of a college degree. College tuition has increased

over the years, causing researchers to question if it is still the best option for most people to

make a living. The factor for decreasing the value of college is mainly financial and Beth Akers

in “A New Approach for Curbing College Tuition” explains why this problem exists and how it

is not an easy problem for some people to overcome. In my research, I found the consensus was

that college is still the best option for people.

So how does technology factor into the value of college? Does it have any effect? The

journal “Diagnosing differences in what Introductory Biology Students in a fully online and in-
person biology degree program know and do regarding medical school admission” suggests that

an online degree is less effective compared to an in-person degree. The limitation for this source

is that it only looks at the biology major and not other degrees that are less scientific and more

artistic. Are there certain degrees where learning online gives the opposite results that this

journal is suggesting? I think more research could give a more specific answer to that question.

The article “The Value of an Incomplete Degree: Heterogeneity in the Labor Market Benefits of

College Non-Completion” found that even going to college and then dropping out gives you

higher career earnings than not even attending a post-secondary school after high school. Yet

obtaining a degree still earns the most money. These findings suggest to me that a college

degree still holds the most value out of any other option.

My current research has directed me towards researching more on specifically the career

fields that have been created recently with modern technology and finding out if a college degree

is necessary for those fields. I want to discover what the next best option would be if colleges

did become too expensive for most people and see how technology could play a role in that. Is

teaching oneself high value skills through YouTube or other online mediums a realistic way of

learning skills for some careers?