The Misplaced Seminary Part 1

By: HH Brownsmith

Part Two

American college tuition is rising at twice the rate of inflation.1 The average student loan debt has climbed to nearly $25,000.2 And according to a study cited by Anya Kamenetz in her book DIY U, public university tuition would cost the poorest one fifth of Americans 55 percent of their income.3 Government subsidies for education are championed as the solution to these problems. It is one of Barak Obama’s second term promises that he will be “giving everyone a shot at an education.”4  The truth is the university has developed multiple cost-shifting strategies to handle recession. It is the university’s practice to raise tuition, court out-of-state students, and increase class size when government grants dwindle during difficult economic periods.  The modern university has a steady flow of funds but a poor understanding of stewardship.

Even by free market standards, the university’s business practices are opaque. People who can afford to go to school can’t find out what their ever-increasing tuition is actually paying for. Recruiters boast that class sizes are being reduced and distinguished professors are being hired. But education watchdogs have found that tuition is often being funneled into marketing departments and new campus gyms while under-paid adjuncts teach to classes of over 100 students.5 If this were any other business and the quality of the product was deteriorating but the cost was rising, the consumer would no longer purchase the product.

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But in a culture that gives undue regard to credentialing and professionalism, degrees are granted more weight than successfully completed apprenticeships or years of on the job training. As cost-prohibitive as college may become in an ever-waning economy, Americans will continue to believe they need a degree to succeed, make money. Perhaps, this co-dependent relationship between an institution built on classism and hierarchical pedagogy and our title obsessed secular culture makes sense. But why is the Church so comfortable being the third wheel in this unhealthy affair? Why has the seminary chosen to be enmeshed in this model of education that is so cost-prohibitive it keeps many folks from being able to attend and relegates most of those who do receive a degree to a lifetime of debt? How do we extract it?

These three questions gave way to a number more. Feeling puzzled by the lack of discussion around this issue, I sent out a list of questions to friends in ministry. Their responses have been interesting but, on the whole, they seem as confused as I am about how the seminary has ended up in its current predicament. I put these same questions to you and ask you to think deeply and critically about the education you, your friends, and/or your minister received. As we stare head on at the brokenness of our medical system, food system, and prison system we must also face the reality that our higher education system has become stratifying, myopic, and unimaginative.

1. Lots of folks, even those who believe strongly in popular education, seem to view education for adults that happens outside of a degreed program as good “continuing education” or “career development”. However, they do not see workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, or perhaps even apprenticeships as legitimate alternatives to a university education. The university is inherently inaccessible to a large portion of society due to cost. If we believe that being faithful means doing the work one is called to and we believe that the world is made better by people doing the work that makes them come alive, then how do we make training for one’s service more accessible? Is this about changing mindsets, church hierarchy, and/or what ministry looks like?
   
   
2. It used to be common for folks who were called to the ministry (or any trade) to do an apprenticeship that included study. This didn’t happen after years of advanced schooling in a separate institution. It happened in their immediate community or the one they planned to serve. Are you aware of more mainstream denominations encouraging or even accepting ministers who skip the degree in favor of the “old school” apprenticeship approach? If not, why do you think this model of training for the ministry went by the wayside?
   
   
3. In many ways there are strong parallels between the members in the Occupy movement who encouraged a departure from the university (instead of debt relief and more government subsidies) and Christians with a radical understanding of social justice. Why do you think that the progressive church has not developed a critique of the university as an exclusionary big business?
   
   
4. With generations growing farther apart and people, regardless of age, becoming more disconnected due to technology, politics, the economy, etc. what form(s) of education will best hold this up-coming generation of ministers accountable to their elders and churches?
   
   

In addition to sending the above queries to people in ministry, I interviewed Joyce Hollyday a UCC minister, seminary graduate and one of the founders of Word and World about doing seminary outside of the university. The second half of this series will contain parts of that interview with Joyce.


Notes:

1. Clark, Kim. Tuition at Public Colleges Rises at 4.8% October 24, 2012. (http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/24/pf/college/public-college-tuition/index.html) 
2. Finnegan, Leah. Majoring in Debt: College Students Struggle Under the Weight of Loans November 6, 2011 updated. ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/06/majoring-in-debt-college-_n_951129.html.) 
3. Kamenentz, Anya. DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010. 
4. http://www.barackobama.com/education?source=footer-nav 
5. Kamenentz, Anya. DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010. 

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HH Brownsmith lives in Western North Carolina. Recently her work has been featured in Geez Magazine and Three Word Chant. H. spends her days with folks with developmental disabilities and her evenings figuring out how to be a seminarian outside the university.