Why Go to College? by L. L. Caviness

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 31, 1916

Why Go to College?

By L. L. Caviness

Whenever God has given any one a great task to perform, he has always expected a thorough preparation for the work. As we think of the great characters in the Scriptures, we find this to be universally true.

If we are asked to name the greatest character of Old Testament times, our mind naturally turns to Moses, for he not only delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, but also organized them into a nation, and God gave to him the laws by which they were to be governed in all subsequent time. Moses was educated in all the learning of Egypt, the greatest nation at that time, yet, as always, though training was essential, it was not in itself sufficient. Moses had to learn to follow the divine guidance and not his own plans for doing God’s work. After he had learned this lesson, God could use him and the ability which he had acquired. Of the books of the Old Testament, Moses wrote more than any other writer.

If we look for the greatest man in the New Testament, we naturally think of the apostle Paul. He had studied at the feet of Gamaliel, probably the greatest religious teacher at that time. He was thoroughly trained in the theological system of the Jewish church, and was well qualified as a leader of God’s people. But Paul also needed the same lesson which Moses learned, the lesson of willingness to be led of the Lord. He had his own plans and methods, which had to be given up that he might learn what the Lord would have him do. Paul, like Moses, spent some time in the wilderness, learning to talk with God alone. It was Paul, who was learned in Greek literature and could quote the Greek poets, who was chosen of the Lord as the apostle to the Gentiles; and it is Paul who has left us the largest amount of writings in the Greek New Testament.

The preparation which God requires does not necessarily mean a college education, but it does mean that one shall qualify himself to the best of his ability for the work God has given him to do. In the times in which we live, this preparation is usually best obtained by study at school.

Education does make for success. While no college can give brains or ability to the young man who lacks, school training to the ambitious, industrious young person brings development of all his powers, and makes possible for him the service which God expects of him.

In the book “Who’s Who in America” are included the names of men “most notable in all departments of usefulness and reputable endeavor.” A study made by Mr. Wm. W. Smith, chancellor of the Randolph-Macon system, and verified by the United States Commissioner of Education, shows 10,704 successful men, divided as follows with reference to education:—

Without education, none; self-taught, 24; home taught, 278; common school education only, 1,066; with high school education, 1,627; with college training, 7,709, and of these 6,129 were college graduates.

According to the last census there are in the United States 14,794,403 males over thirty years of age. These are divided by the United States Bureau of Education as follows:—

Class 1. Without education, 1,757,023.

Class 2. With only common school training or trained outside of organized schools, 12,054,335.

Class 3. With regular high school training, 657,432.

Class 4. With college or higher education added, 325,613.

Now, of Class 1, no notable is reported; of Class 2, one out of every 8,812; of Class 3, 1 out of every 404; while of Class 4 there is 1 for every 42. In other words, the high school training increases a young man’s chances twenty-two times over the boy of only a common school education, while a college education brings a young man ten times the chance of a high school boy, or more than two hundred times the chances of one whose training has stopped with the common school.

A study of the educational qualifications of the Presidents of the United States shows that of the twenty-seven who have occupied that honorable position, nineteen attended college, and sixteen completed the college course.

Going back to the times of the Reformation, we find that the leaders were men of thorough preparation, and often even of outstanding scholarship. In our own denomination, there is scarcely a leader but received his training either in old Battle Creek College or in some of our more recently established denominational schools. Those who were hindered from finishing their course in school, without exception lament the fact, feeling that if their preparation had been more complete, their labors might have been more efficient.

The church which fails to offer educational advantages to its young people is sure to fail in its work for the Lord. In the words of another: “Show me a church that has schools, and I will show you a church that is growing; show me a church that has no schools, and I will show you a church that is dying.” Governor Brumbaugh defines the school as “the creation of the proper environment for the development of a soul.” D. Webster Kurtz says in the Gospel Messenger, “Heredity gives us possibilities, but environment

. . . develops the capacities and directs them into worthy activities. The wise man urges all, in the words of Prov. 4:7, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding.” And Paul, speaking to Timothy, one of the most promising young men associated with the great apostle, says: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim. 2:15. And Christ himself, in the parable of the talents, indicates to us what will happen to those who bury their talents in the ground.

Why go to college?—“In order that we shall be able to play the very best part that is possible in life, in order that we shall be able to use the talents that God has given us to the very highest point of efficiency,” in order that we shall be able best to serve our fellow men, and in order that we shall do well the part that God has assigned to us in his closing work in the earth.

L. L. CAVINESS.