Functionalism and College.

What is functionalism? This is a system of society that looks at the various parts of something. It then looks at the parts to see of they are functioning properly. When all parts are functioning properly, it will contribute to the balance of society.

I am now going to talk about college and whether or not it is functional. I am going to look at the functionality from the perspective of the college as well as the perspective of the student.

From the college's perspective, they have a certain quota to hit with the number of students they enroll. Each student is required to pay a set tuition in order to attend the school. Since all students that enroll must pay their tuition, as long as the school either keeps tuition costs low, or "like-ability" of the school high, the students will continue to enroll.

From the perspective of the student, the students attend college in order to obtain a degree so that one day, they can get the job they desire. The students realize that tuition rates can be high and sometimes absurd, but feel that it is worth their final outcome of graduation with a degree.

Are the colleges making the subject matter less difficult to retain a higher percentage of the student body? On some occasions I would tend to think so. This benefits the college from a profit standpoint, benefits the student on the "easiness factor" but also hurts the student because they may not be challenged enough.

So who is college really functional for? Well, it is functional for the college in terms of profits, functional for the student because they will have an easier time graduating, but at the same time it is not functional for the student because they are not being challenged as much as they should be. This will hurt them in the future when they need to recall the information they learned in college, but cannot remember because they were not required to in order to pass.