Imagine all the people, not like John Lennon did but just imagine all the people having access to higher education like they do in the USA? Imagine someone holding your kids hands and guiding them through a bridge to cross over in the world of good colleges and universities, clearing a pathway with their experience to navigate through these uncharted waters? Imagine a group of people caring for and worrying about your children’s well-being and success same as you do? Do people like that exist?

Yes they do, the world is full of good people and goodness. We only hear about the exceptions, all because the media programs and educates us in a certain way. Speaking of education, exploration for higher education and its sources is on the rise. People realize that having an associate or even a bachelor degree is not enough to survive in this ever so competitive world. It’s all about specialization now. Specialization in the field you choose to cultivate.

Globalization made this world a village but the cutting edge technology has even brought knowledge in our palms and fingertips, literally. Superficial knowledge is so common that Holiday Inn made a commercial in which, this gentleman is giving a pilot some instructions on how to land a helicopter and some admirer asked him where he learnt flying, “No but I stayed at Holiday Inn last night he replies”, Insinuating the knowledge he gained by listening to the conversations at free breakfast hotel offers.

How do you get to have that interview call or the SMS about job interview? It’s in the magic of your resume. A resume that states the degree and the university you attended. Your professional certifications, accreditation of your school, association membership, intern-ship and residencies. It all matters to the employers now a day. More and more people are applying for the same opportunity as we all are exposed to the same source of information and aspire for the best. Employers are no longer comparing apples to oranges. It is apples to apples-stupid. What distinguishes an apple from another apple is the quality of juice it has in it and the energy it can generate. This juice comes from a higher degree and the energy from the quality of education you receive from the university you attend. I am proud of the schools I have attended but I would not pick the university I chose over University of Bridgeport that gave me an admission but not the scholarship. Today I would go to schools of better ranking over the desperate need for a scholarship. Today if the ranking is one notch higher, I am willing to pay 10% more in fees, imagine paying double the fee for double the quality of higher education?

It’s worth it. It’s worth it because you pay that higher tuition fee for 2 to 4 years, depending on your degree program but enjoy the higher salary for over twenty five years of your career. Higher degree programs allow better grooming of individuals and maturity of theoretical knowledge, deeper than superficial knowledge. Some countries do not allow lawyers to practice until they complete the JD level of education, D.Pharmacy for pharmacists and M.D. for practising doctors.

In USA, there are more M.D. degree student candidates than the available seats in medical schools. It does not stop there; your desired residency has become more difficult to get into and if you are looking for a hospital or a district of your choice, you can forget about it unless you are outstanding and it shows on your CV. Higher the GPA, higher the chances of getting an interview. You also get to choose a lot with a higher education degree at a high ranking school. One can make an argument that some of the “high ranking” schools are over rated. True some are. The rankings are politically and commercially motivated and that is a valid argument for a debate, indeed. One of nephews is attending Harvard and he think, Harvard is “overrated” but on the other hand my other nephew who attended U-Penn for his MBA degree, attributes his success to the university culture and values. Higher education is no longer a property of the Ivy League, it is becoming common. Ivy League surely produced great professors and educators but they have left and joined other institutions, a league of their own and that is a good thing for all. Goodness exists all over and education is a key to open the doors to spread it regardless of USA-China or the rest of the world.