This week, The Chronicle of Higher Education published a report on what a college degree is worth. I focus on this article from an industry publication – not a mainstream news outlet – for two reasons:

First, the Chronicle is widely read and respected among educators and those interested in higher education, in general. Second, and most importantly, news reporters who write about education turn to the Chronicle for perspective and data, such as this report. For reporters, these stories fuel localized versions; what the Chronicle says, then, becomes an approval-stamped source of expertise.

And this is why the recent report is so concerning: Interactive databases and corresponding stories highlight which majors can make you the most money. The fun behind searching stories, grids, and end results of playing with the Chronicle’s features about if my major (and my neighbors’) might help me make bank veils the ideological messages rooted in the report itself – that the sole purpose of a college degree is to make money.

Yet, this report (and likely the coverage of this and similar reports) disregard that the value of an education is more than just its economic implications.

Here are some examples of news coverage:
“Majority in U.S. say college isn’t worth the price,” Bloomberg News

“Many say college too pricey but grads say worth it: survey,” Reuters (With the lede: “College graduates say they are happier and more satisfied with their jobs, with 86 percent saying college was a good investment, according to data analyzed by Pew Research Center.” However nothing in the piece says what about college and the work grads got with their degree made them happier. Knowledge? Relationships? Critical thinking skills?)

I could go on and on with examples (these two just from the last week), but the important point is this: None of these reports which get funneled into local news coverage, replayed on TV news, and rooted into the American mentality that school equals work, that the only or most important outcome of school is what you can do – not that you can think.

But why is any of this important?

The stories news media tell about schools influences how well schools work with the community, how (and if) they are funded, and what is taught in classrooms and in outside activities. That we value education as a society as more than just a place to produce workers should be at least mentioned or visited within the stories we produce in the media about schools.

A constant focus on the market value and not on the personal and intellectual value of public education allows us to close schools, fire teachers, and not support public education as though these are naturalized outcomes. The ideological work of media that ignores these affective and more complicated meanings of schooling tells us so.