Matt Damon, Philosopher of Higher Education

April 15^th is a time of soul-searching a reflection for most Americans; for many students, it is perhaps the only day in a year that we look at the big picture of our expenses. Our shock at the amount of money we managed to spend in a year is only exceeded by our shock at how much of it we owe to the government. At one point in the arduous accounting process, students stumble upon the education deductions section where they are asked to total the tuition they paid this year. I, like many of my peers, avoid this information when at all possible; university account balances can be real day-ruiners.

If you’ve watched Good Will Hunting recently, Matt Damon has added insult to injury. In a classic scene, Will Hunting, a lower-class Bostonian with anger issues and an intellect far exceeding his janitorial career, deflates the ego of a pretentious Ivy League student spouting pseudo-intellectual pick-up lines in a college bar. Will demonstrates an impressive knowledge of economic theory and finishes the argument with this line: “You dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education you coulda got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library.” The resentful tax filer, recalling this film while dourly completing paperwork, totals tuition and fees with a cynical feeling toward higher education.

If you’re only learning facts in school, Will Hunting is right. Especially in an era of Ted Talks and Khan Academy, information is ubiquitous and accessible. The curriculum and course listing is perhaps the least important element of judging the value of an education. You will always be able to read the books you’re interested in, if you make time for them. The resources worth paying for are those that we cannot or would not be able to secure for ourselves. These include friends of character that keep you accountable even when you would rather they left you alone or professors who ask you to impress them with your understanding of the text, not just impress yourself or your unstudied friends. A community that asks you to do more than you would be motivated to do for yourself is the most important resource that a good university can provide.

You can’t acquire the community necessary for this kind of holistic education in the library. It replaces one piece of a greater goal that higher education pursues. So, don’t be too discouraged at your tuition total compared to library fines. You’re at least paying to be around the right kind of people.