By Sheldon Greaves
True, unfettered capitalism of the sort that its evangelists unleash wherever they can (See: Iraq, etc.) holds that you must produce your goods at the lowest possible cost. Lowest material prices, cheapest labor, whatever it takes. Realistically, you sell these goods for as much as you can, striking a balance between price and quality. The latter should be low enough that the buyer doesn’t realize how bad it is until their check clears. Customer service, refunds, and all that are a means to gain more income, and nothing else. If you can do business by stiffing your customers, good for you.
Your goal is to make as much money as possible. No other objective matters a damn. The bottom line is the bottom line.
Now, we look at the university, where education is now a product, produces and delivered as cheaply as possible. Classes are developed, usually without additional compensation by severely underpaid adjuncts working on a contingency basis. The point is to make and deliver the product for as little as possible.
But now, students seem to be catching the capitalist vision. Intangibles that are hard to measure, such as intellectual maturity, character growth, finding oneself and preparation for life–all that sissy, fuzzy, impractical, non-quantifiable stuff–isn’t important. Producing the deliverable on time, with just enough quality to pass muster until after grades are handed in, is the goal. And so students, like their corporate exemplars, are out-sourcing their work.
Author and former adjunct instructor/economic refugee Nathaniel Oliver at Chronicle Vitae describes an offer he received while searching (somewhat desperately, one gathers) for employment:
Recently, however, I received a private invitation that raised the bar a bit. The offer was from a recruiter who represented an “education consulting organization that helps international students studying at colleges and universities across the US and UK.”
In case there was any room for doubt, the recruiter went on to clarify: “By help, I mean that we actually do their homework for them — including essays, dissertations, and other written assignments, across a wide range of disciplines spanning business, social sciences, literature, and beyond.”
As for compensation and benefits: “We pay $15/page as a starting rate, with room for advancement. That means if you can do 4 pages in an hour, you’re already making $60/hour. You don’t need to deal directly with anybody but myself or one of our personnel, so your confidentiality is assured. We have a large network of clients who routinely reach out to us with requests for help. … We have vast resources. Our access to library databases is unparalleled. We pay like clockwork every 14 days, in cash. And we care a great about supporting our staff, working out career/intellectual development plans with them, and treating you like more than just a cog in the organization.”
We have officially come full circle. The business model has, or is about to saturate higher education. Every aspect of the process, from the teaching to the learning, is outsourced for whatever the market will bear. But someone is making money, so I guess it must be okay.
Apart from my thoroughly justified cynicism, consider that from a business standpoint, this counts as a success because it generates revenue. But in the process, the business model has optimized itself so that the inefficiencies are swept away. Unfortunately, since real learning is an enthralling but messy business, it also means dropping any pretense of real education.