Kristi Schultz Broughton Liberal Arts Essay Contest
2010 - 2011
Congratulations to Ben Sippola, the winner of the 5th annual
$1000 Liberal Arts Essay Contest! The contest offers students the
chance to reflect on the value of a liberal arts education.
The prompt for the 2010-11 Contest was . . .
Education as Commodity: Liberal Arts Education in
the Consumer Age
Contemporary higher education is increasingly dominated by the
realities and metaphors of the market economy. Education is an
investment or a product. Students are consumers. Admissions
counselors are salespeople and professors deliver their customers
goods and services. Write an essay about this mindset and how it
has affected your education. Have your attitudes towards the
commoditization of education changed during your time at Butler?
Fundamentally, how can or should liberal arts education fit within
this worldview?
Read Ben's winning essay,"Metaphors of the Market Economy and The
Learning Community."