English Audio Request

The notion of power generally implies a basic division between those who have and exercise power and those who have none or little of it. So the power imlies inequalities. Nowadays, one way of taking over the Power is to develop ones networking and to have an important career that begins with a good education. Thus, we can wonder to what extent university can be seen as a seat of power. So first, the university can be seen as an elite institution holding power. This institution can also give some power to the individual with the academic and non-academic skills.

First and foremost, a majority of high figures of the society did exceptional studies at first, in famous universities. For example, Barack Obama went to Harvard and has become president of the United States. Universities are places where the power is made because the competition is fierce. This competition can be between students or universities themselves. That’s why Britain ‘s universities, just as as as the American’s universities still enjoy a great deal of academic freedom in selecting their own students, defining their courses, awarding their degrees and recruiting their staff. Nevertheless, I’d like to point out that to do all of this, they need money. Consequently, the cost of tuition fees is rising more and more and are becoming a matter of public debates. For any replies, universities highlighted that students who leave famous university with prestigious degree are sure to get better paid jobs, have a good wage and earn more money than someone who never went to university. It allows to pay back more rapidly their loan and it’s in theory profitable after some years. (remix de la phrase Benefits for our universities included generating income and working with talented foreign students, while longer-term UK influence could result from stronger links with overseas students and nations.)
I do agree with them because getting a college education is considered a stepping stone to the American dream, but achieving that dream is growing increasingly more difficult for millions of Americans and British and because of the spiraling costs of higher education. To make up for shortfalls in state funding, universities are raising tuition and fees, forcing college students and their families deeper into debt. Universities are become a symbol of money rather than of people’s effort, commitment and hard work. Therfore, it is difficult to get power if we’re poor because we can say that the power is passed down from generation to generation : the wealthier will get the better degrees and the poorer will be left with the worse.

However, these institutions pretend to give a chance to those who don’t have enough money by offering scholarships for academic and non-academic skills. It can sport, debate or classic skills like mathematics. As a matter of fact, the USA may have more all-round students: students who have various skills and abilities, it must be more enriching for the university. It must be less frustrating for the students who choose to keep studying what they like But are these different domains comparable ?
Indeed. I do believe that it seems unfair to the students who work hard academically but who have no athletic skills: some students may not feel the need to develop certain academic skills that are considered indispensable in France. The power can be given to people who need money but the universities will take it back somehow.

To put it in a nutshell, the selflessness of the universitites in United-kingdom and in the USA seems to be utopian. It is mostly all about the money and reputation. The high cost of tuition fees attacts the richest students but also the brightest because the universities choose them. Nevertheless, they can also help financially the students who have non academic skills because they represent a source of economic benefits. That’s why I prefer the French system where the cost of higher education is almost nonexistent and where the non-academic skills are favored.