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Shelby Espinosa
Dr. Narcisi
Honors Writing Seminar
9 September 2015
The True Cost of Purchasing Education
It has been argued that University culture and education is slowly moving toward
a schooling designed to please students that have little fire and passion, rather than an
educational institution designed for instruction and examination of students as Oxford
Dictionary defines it. Mark Edmundson's "On the Uses of a Liberal Education" explains
how university education is becoming ineffective due to the Universitys ever more
devot[ion] to consumption and entertainment (40) in American culture as well as the
focus on pleasing privileged students who have inevitably been devoured by the same
sense of commercialized consumption. Likewise, Sherman Alexie affirms the idea that
university education is marketed toward the elite groups of students who are able to
shop for and afford college in his story, Saint Junior. Alexie accomplishes this through
his contrasting characters: Roman Fury, a member of the Spokane Tribe of Indians and
valedictorian of Wellpinit High, and Alex Webber, a wealthy, white legacy, who doesnt
necessarily have the grades universities are looking for, but has no problem getting in
anyway. While Edmundson and Alexie approach the conflict through different forms of
writing, both authors argue that by way of commercialized American culture, universities
have isolated students of various ethnicities and cultural backgrounds by gearing a
college education in favor of students with a privileged status. Both Edmundson and
Alexie argue this point, finding that the students who shy away from the commercialized

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American culture tend to make the best students, and therefore, universities should look
beyond a students financial status and cultural background, and gear curriculum on the
ideas and knowledge a student can bring to and learn from a university education.
In "On the Uses of a Liberal Education, Mark Edmundson expresses his
frustration with the path university education systems are taking in order to acquire
students. He has offered harsh critiques of universities for placing higher importance
on financial status, familial status, and even race over students with good grades, good
test scores, and the eagerness to learn. Because of this, Edmundson states that
professors, like himself, are left having to create more comfortable, less challenging
environments, places where almost no one failed, everything was enjoyable, and
everyone was nice, (44) because these affluent students accepted do not always meet
academic standards. In making this comment, he believes that many professors have
had to take a new route in teaching due to universities marketing their schools as though
they are something for students to peruse, browse and then ultimately purchase. The
essence of Edmundsons argument is that when schools print off brochures with
pictures of extravagant athletic centers, elegant dorm rooms, and lavish cafeterias, all the
while, excluding classrooms, curriculim and professors, universities begin to fall into the
trap of commercialized American culture and lose their academic foundation of teaching
and inspiring students. In doing so, Universities begin to not only appeal to, but admit
students that are no longer up to par with university academic standards.
To further prove his point, Edmundson introduces one of the best students he has
ever taught, Joon Lee. Different from the fearful and passionless students that
Edmundson believes inhibit universities, Lee is not only intelligent, but he is curious,

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craving knowledge and always searching for answers. But Lee is also the type of student
who is slowly fading from enrollment due to the universitys, according to
Edmundson,need to attract the best (that is, the smartest and the richest) students in
order to survive in an ever more competitive market (43). Although Edmundson does
not say so directly, he argues that because of this commercialized direction universities
are moving toward, students like Joon Lee no longer have importance on campus. Rather,
students who can shop and pay the full sticker price for college are the ones who are
most frequently admitted, leaving the Joon Lees of the world, ones who truly desire
education, as minorities around the university rather than priorities.
Like Edmundson, Sherman Alexies Saint Junior, touches on the theme of elite,
upper class students gaining an advantage for admission into many universities over
students from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In his story, Alexie presents main
character, Roman Fury, a poverty-stricken Native American who had to walk seventy-five
miles from his Indian Reservation just to take a college entry exam. And while Roman
scored in the ninety-ninth percentile on the verbal section and calculated a ninety-nine on
the math section of the entrance exam, he finds that college life is not really tailored to
fit his stature. Carrying all his possessions in a Hetfy garbage bag, while most students
sported matching luggage sets, Roman is introduced to his roommate, Alex Webber, the
stereotypical college kid. Alex speaks of his long family tradition at the university saying
his great-grandfather went to school here, as did [his] grandfather, [his] father, and now,
[hes] here (Alexie 180). He even admits that he [doesnt] have the grades, but they
let [him] in because of [his] familys money (Alexie 185). Alex continues their
conversation by offering Roman, whom he calls Chief, a drink out of his silver flask

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and proceeds to tell him all about his plans to have sexual intercourse on the first night of
college in order to uphold another family tradition. Alexies point is that many
stereotypical college students, who are mostly upper class, tend to be somewhat ignorant
to those who are not like them. These students attend a university for the experience
like Alex Webber, rather than the academics and the opportunity for a better life, like
Roman Fury. In other words, Alexie believes many of these students are along for the
ride, unconcerned about the tuition bills being mailed to their parents, leaving most of
these students uncultured with little fire and little passion as Edmundson puts it.
Both Edmundson and Alexie would agree that as students, Joon Lee and Roman
Fury have a lot in common. Both students have a desire to learn far beyond what the
classroom teaches. Edmundson himself writes that Joon Lee has decided to follow his
interests and let them make him into a singular and rather eccentric man and doesnt
mind being at odds with most anyone (40-41). In other words, Edmundson notes that
Lee is different from the rest. He is not afraid to question and ultimately he is open to
new knowledge and ideas. Additionally, Alexie agrees that this type of student should
be championed when he writes of his character, Roman, who mirrors the same
attributes Lee brings as a university student. Far from the stereotypical college kid,
Roman overcame almost every obstacle, physically and financially, to attend college.
Following his own interests and being at odds culturally with essentially every student
at St. Jerome, Roman, much like Joon Lee, exemplifies the ideal university student who
arrives aware of his ignorance, eager to learn, and hungry for knowledge unattainable
anywhere else.

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Through these students, Edmundson and Alexie alike are able to show the
difference between a student who purchases a university education and one who is able to
earn an education, calling the university system to make a change. Both authors point
make the point that universities should no longer send potential students advertisements
in the mail depicting a magical, education-less journey with the intention of acquiring
these students and their tuition money. In the same way, standardized college entry exams
should not be biased toward privileged white students, which ultimately end up excluding
ethnically diverse, poor people. But rather, a university should appeal to and subsequently
admit the Joon Lees and the Roman Furys of the world, because as Mark Edmundson and
Sherman Alexie would argue, those are the types of students that change the world.

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Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. Saint Junior. The Toughest Indian in the World. New York: Atlantic
Monthly, 2000. 150-88. Print.
Edmundson, Mark. One the Uses of a Liberal Education: I. As Lite Entertainment for
Bored College Students. Harpers Sept. 1997: 39-49. Print.
"Oxford Dictionaries - Dictionary, Thesaurus, & Grammar." Oxford Dictionaries
Dictionary, Thesaurus, & Grammar. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015.