Defenders of higher education, take note: We have more to worry about than Gov. Tom Corbett. In… Defenders of higher education, take note: We have more to worry about than Gov. Tom Corbett. In fact, if certain pundits had their way, the university system as we know it would be radically downsized.

The value of a college education has been under persistent scrutiny — if not outright attack — during the past year. First there was widespread talk in outlets like The New York Times and the Washington Examiner about college’s inflated importance and the student debt crisis it was bound to inspire. Next there was “Academically Adrift,” the book that declared that 36 percent of the 2,300 college students its authors tracked were bereft of “any significant improvement in learning.” Now making its rounds in the media is the Pew Research Center’s new report, which found, among other things, that 57 percent of Americans believe college isn’t worth the investment.

It is healthy to question culturally enshrined institutions like higher education, but lately this second-guessing has become hyperbolic. As college students and benefactors of the system that’s supposedly failed us, we feel it’s our prerogative to affirm both the professional and intellectual value of the university experience.

First and foremost, there’s the issue of whether college is a “good investment” from a practical standpoint. Although it’s understandable that in our bleak economic environment many people view higher education with more than a little skepticism, its monetary advantages are almost irrefutable: In 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income gap in annual earnings between college graduates and non-college graduates was $19,550. Additionally, the Pew Research Center found that over the course of a 40-year work life, the typical college graduate earns an estimated $650,000 more than the average high school graduate. It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that 86 percent of Pew’s surveyed college graduates considered their four years a sound use of time and money.

This, however, says nothing of the networking opportunities college provides. Many professors, academically entrenched as they are, boast extensive professional connections in their respective fields, which they routinely work to a student’s advantage. Pitt’s Career Development office, as well, is a resource students can exploit to similar effect.

Of course, college isn’t (and shouldn’t be) valued just for its economic payoff — if it was, every university would be composed solely of a law school, a medical school and a business school. Rather, universities like Pitt provide invaluable — albeit less quantifiable — life experiences. Namely, college — as your advisers and parents no doubt promised you — is a time to resolve exactly what you’d like to do with your life. Rather than jumping immediately into a trade you’ll soon discover doesn’t suit you, you have four years in college to experiment in different disciplines and decide upon the one that best utilizes your skill set.

We as Pitt students doubtlessly bring more than a little bias to the table when evaluating the merits of higher education. Nevertheless, we’re confident that the contagious university bashing sweeping the media is overblown. When students take full advantage of college — and, admittedly, many of them do not — it becomes an unrivaled opportunity for economic and personal growth. The real challenge, perhaps, is ensuring that we motivate ourselves to harness the resources presented to us. It’s always possible to excel in a college environment and lay the groundwork for a successful career. Spurring ourselves to do so is a different matter altogether.