by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman
Howard Gardner, a prominent Harvard education professor, has been leading seminars at highly selective colleges, to help undergraduates think about the connection between their education and aspirations.
While students at Harvard, Amherst and Colby usually apply online for financial jobs with the lure of big salaries to pay off their loans, Gardner suggests they ask the question, “What’s an education for?”
Referring to the 20% of the school’s grads headed for the corporate world, Harvard’s new president, Drew Gilpin Faust, made public service the cornerstone of her commencement address, citing Teach for America, a two year commitment to work with kids in inner city schools.
Barack Obama, the graduation speaker at Wesleyan, warned against the narrow interests of a big house and nice suits betraying a poverty of ambition.
This year, Tufts announced that it would pay off college loans for those who chose public service and Penn has expanded public service fellowships and internships, giving grants instead of loans so that students are less pressured by debt.
Read the recent article AFTER HARVARD in the New York Times online in which graduates discuss their career ambitions.
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