Education of today no longer holds the sacred status that it did in the past. Gone are the days when students graduated college and their diplomas actually meant that they earned them. Gone is the awe that came with being the first in the family to graduate from college or to get through a challenging academic program. Today, education has become somewhat of a mafia controlled permit scam, where every person is virtually pressured to get the degree and take on the education loans that come with it just to be able to earn a decent living. In the past, education had integrity and was equated with respect. Students that entered and left the educational system knew that they put in the work that was required in order to earn the graduation diploma. Employers that hired graduates also knew that the candidates were knowledgeable in their field, were qualified to hold the positions that they were being hired for, and would become valuable assets to the company that would improve the company’s position within the marketplace. Education in those days was valuable simply not everyone was academically able or motivated to pursue it and successfully complete it.
All this has slowly, but noticeably, changed in the last several decades. Education, unfortunately, is no longer the asset that it used to be, and companies, nowadays, have no guarantee that candidates truly earned their degrees, unless they either test them on their purported skill set, or otherwise assure themselves that the candidates actually worked for their education. Education has become something akin to consumers shopping around for the best deal available, given their resources, and not necessarily their abilities. The new reality is that education can now be, quite literally, purchased, in terms of the diploma that comes with graduation. Students often simply can go online and search using phrases such as “online class,” “take my class,” “taking an online class,” “pay someone to take a class for me,” and “hiring people to take my classes,” to be able find a plethora of individuals or companies that will do the work for them, in return for paying paid. While there are certain risks associated with this practice, such as the relationship between the student and the person or company doing the work going sour and concluding with the student being reported to the university or program, in most instances, this proves to be a viable option for individuals that either do not want to do the work, or are under time constraints and would rather pay someone else to complete their coursework.
This type of practice has become especially conducive considering the rise and integration of technology into the realm of education. Since many universities and institutions of higher education now allow students to participate in online classes, without requiring them to physically show up for classes or exams, it becomes easy for students to outsource the work, as long as they are able to pay for it. This, in turn, has led to rampant cheating, and the degradation of education. Overall, none of these practices would have become so deeply entrenched within the academic world, had it not been for the fact that education has become a business. Whereas various types of businesses and organizations are controlled by the mafia education is controlled and bolstered by the fact that it becomes virtually necessary for individuals to obtain their degrees in order to land the jobs that they want or need. This has led to the rise of degree mills, and for profit online universities, that really do not care if the students learn anything, as long as they get paid for the service of issues a nearly worthless diploma. While this diploma no longer symbolizes the hard work and dedication that is supposed to go into education, it is still needed by employers, leaving many students with a dilemma and with the opportunity to purchase their education.