Trinity released a new strategic plan to students on Feb. 21 for the school’s future after its position in college rankings skyrocketed the past year. The strategic plan includes creating an office for undergraduate research, dedicated career coaching for students, fostering better relationships with the city and creating an employee relations program. The focus of Trinity’s new strategic plan seems to be “applied learning as hallmarks of a 21st-century liberal arts education,” a theme that has been seen across the country as higher education moves closer to preparing students for careers and jobs and further away from the hallmark skill that a liberal arts degree gives you: being best trained in critical thought.
That’s not to say Trinity will abandon its status as a liberal arts school that strives to give students a unique interdisciplinary education. Along with the goals mentioned above, Trinity will work towards “emphasizing interdisciplinary inquiry” by affording every student the opportunity for “off-campus experiential learning,” such as study abroad. The whole reason Trinity has been ranked so highly in recent years is because a liberal arts education as well-ranked as Trinity’s is hard to get anywhere else in Texas or anywhere else in the country. For Trinity to abandon its brand would be completely unnecessary.
The problem begins with the fact that Trinity is giving in to its devaluement as an institution of liberal arts higher education. By following the trends of prioritizing a good-looking resume over providing the experience that has come with a degree, Trinity has contributed to the belief that education is only a means to an end. This idea is antithetical to the liberal arts education that Trinity has built its reputation on and defends in the same strategic plan that undermines it. This new strategic plan confuses me about Trinity’s mission. Is it training students for a career or training students in critical thinking, as a liberal arts education promises to do?
This confusion isn’t Trinity’s fault exactly. In order to keep providing students a leg up in the job field as a degree has done in the past, it must align itself with employer needs and its peers. Universities like Northeastern University in Boston, which have created a brand around equipping students with the best resume possible for their careers through internships and experiential learning, have increased their popularity. STEM and business majors, typically considered more useful degrees that will get you a job straight out of college, have become more popular over recent years. As belief in the value of a college degree and enrollment declines, universities must adapt to what students — their customers — want from their degrees.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing for students. Employers like to see experienced applicants, and as the job market continues to look bleak for recent college graduates, Trinity students should keep up with their peers from other universities. This school already has great opportunities for its students, like undergraduate research and matching students’ tuition when they study abroad. This strategic plan aims to expand those opportunities to provide them to more students so their resumes look better to employers. In an economy where expensive private liberal arts degrees are becoming less of a guarantee of employment, Trinity is hopefully making the strain of post-graduate employment a little easier.
To reiterate, the new strategic plan is not a disaster. It promotes building relationships with the community of San Antonio, redesigns campus to make it more accessible and connected and ensures students have hands-on experience in their field to best prepare them for a career, all of which I think will make the university better for current students and alumni. I’m concerned about Trinity abandoning its reputation as a liberal arts school to follow the trend set by larger schools. Trinity’s allure is in its special liberal arts education, and I worry that Trinity will lose its way in the current trend of higher education.
