Kline’s essay focuses on the contrast between her son’s freshman college experience and her own, but she sets up this series of con- trasts by establishing what they have in common. How is his freshman year like hers?

If you think college is completely different than it used to be—you’re right in a few ways. But in other ways, some things haven’t changed: Education is still a critical means for confronting changing times and technologies.  It’s easy to forget that ours is not the only era in which technological and societal changes have completely transformed the economic landscape.  

Here are some contrasts of the interesting ways that institutions of higher education have responded to these upheavals from one generation to the next.

Technology driven workforce, then and now

information technology impacts all industry. Computer and information technology occupations are projected to grow  faster than any other job categories.

College education

Most students, as young as thirteen and fourteen like my son, traveled a long distance to attend college and had to live on campus in residence halls which became known as dorms.

In the early part of the 20th century, there weren’t many options for financial aid to go to college. If your family wasn’t wealthy, odds were good you didn’t go.

College Graduates

Since the late 90's, inflation-adjusted average starting salaries for new bachelor’s degree graduates has increased by 5.9 percent. Obviously, depending on what industry you work in, your salary will be different, but one thing remains clear: bachelor’s degrees are still highly valuable.

In fact, today, the number of graduates with bachelor’s degrees is almost four times what it was before The Higher Education Act was passed.

his average speed in km per hour is ≈ 55.4 km/h and about 15.4 m/s.