Every senior hates that question. More so, perhaps, the seniors who are not majoring in a science.

In contrast to a liberal arts college, which is meant to cultivate the mind through different disciplines, our culture is emphasizing the sciences because as every college student is reminded incessantly, “The sciences are where the jobs are.”

But the push towards chemistry and biology stems from a deeper problem than just the fact that science is booming right now. Because of the huge expense of college, a higher education is no longer valued for its own sake.

The absurd price for a college education has awakened the need to justify the exorbitant price, so students are pressured to go to college with their career in mind so immediately after graduation they can get a job and start paying off their debts.

Because college is now career centered, rather than learning centered, the value of knowledge for its own sake is at its lowest ebb and people no longer believe knowledge is worth pursuing for its own sake. Especially when it comes with a $200,000 price tag.

In an effort to offset cost and debt, many students rationalize by pursuing sciences, especially nursing, since the major implies a specific and well-paying job.

But as important and valuable as the nursing major is, it misses the point of a liberal arts education because it is exactly the job-centered education that is separate and distinct from an education intent on refining the individual’s mind.

I am not saying science and nursing majors have no value, for obviously they are essential to medical fields and require intelligence and stamina for their major.

But I do believe that American culture is over emphasizing these studies, and detracting from the studies like philosophy, which holds knowledge as a good thing, valuable to the individual and worth pursuing for its own sake.

This drive towards careers is rooted in the rising cost of college. When I came to Saint Anselm as a freshman, the projected cost was about $44,000. The estimated cost this year was $49, 376, already a $5,000 difference in just four years.

But Saint Anselm merely reflects a broader, more long-term national problem. According to Bloomberg, in the last 36 years the cost for colleges has risen 1,225%, compared with the cost for medical care, 634%, and food, 257%.

Most students cannot afford such inflated prices so they pursue scholarships and grants, many of which are not directly related to education or careers, like athletic scholarships and resident assistant grants. And despite financial aid, students can rack up as much as $100,000 or more in debt.

Universities originated from zealous students eager to learn, who began congregating under the tutelage of learned men. Today, most college students fail to recognize the special–almost sacred–time they have set apart to invest in their own minds.

College offers students the unique chance to attend an institution for a limited time in order to learn as much as possible from the minds of men and women who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of knowledge.

But rather than valuing the classroom experience, and the process of learning how to think analytically, students are pressured to participate in as many extra-curriculars as humanly possible.

After all, one cannot put on his resume that he had a great discussion about Aquinas’ Four Causes, but he can write that he is an SGA officer or captain of the basketball team. And resumes are more valuable than transcripts since after all, college is just about careers, right?

Ironically, the actual cost of college is slowly eroding its worth. The emphasis on “being involved” and “student leadership” is detracting from the real goal, which should be thinking and learning.

The need for scholarships and grants, as well as the pressure to participate in extra-curriculars like volunteering, especially at St. A’s, is now about as important as one’s major.

The cost of tuition has placed a demand upon students to pursue careers, learn only what is directly applicable to “real life experiences”, and swell their resumes with activities rather than learning.

The paradox is that the price students are paying for college has undercut the intrinsic value of a higher education, the purpose of which is to elevate one’s thinking, develop ideas and morals and so become wiser individuals.

The expression, “A thing is worth what you’re willing to pay for it” may sound true. But in the case of a college education, we might just be paying too much.