Our Graduates Are Rubes Analysis

“Our Graduates are Rubes”, written by Tom Nichols, introduces the idea that colleges are failing in both their responsibilities to educate and establish a foundation of civic responsibilities. Nichols believes this comes as a result of four specific problems in the college system today: “the pampering of students as customers, the proliferation of faux “universities,” grade inflation, and the power reversal” (B3). The author believes schools try too hard to make their campus feel like home and a place full of “experiences”. As a result, education is no longer a top priority for neither the student nor the school, and numerous students simply sign up for college without thought as to what the future may require of them. The uprising of inflated universities has created a pride in students. Not only will some students go their whole life believing no one is more intelligent than themselves, but others will not receive an education worthy of their degree. However, the author seems to understand students are not the only ones at fault. Colleges are also scrambling to change their names to appear more prestige and competitive. Nevertheless, striving to become something they are not, and working to offer unique majors, only adds the mess. Grade inflation also lightens the load on students. Nichols points out that …show more content…
In writing “Our Graduates Are Rubes”, Nichols hopes to inform his audience, which consists of primarily professors and faculty of higher education, of the issues arising in colleges. His main purpose is to warn educators of the issues arising in colleges so that improvements can be made. The audience is professors and faculty of higher education. The exigence was the events leading up to the 2016 presidential election. However, this article does not come without its set of constraints. Although the author presents many issues, very few people can do anything about it. The affordances