Fine.

See and Stevic, Celinda R., and Rose Marie Ward. “Initiating Personal Growth: The Role of Recognition and Life Satisfaction on the Development of College Students.” Social Indicators Research, vol. 89, no. 3, 2008, pp. 523–34 and Bok, Derek. “Character: Can Colleges Help Students Acquire Higher Standards of Ethical Behavior and Personal Responsibility?” in Higher Expectations: Can Colleges Teach Students What They Need to Know in the 21st Century?, 58–79. Princeton University Press, 2020.

My personal, anecdotal experience absolutely matches traditional expectations and more rigorous studies about college and similar institutions (like say, national service programs - see Frumkin, Peter, and JoAnn Jastrzab. “Personal Growth.” in Serving Country and Community: Who Benefits from National Service?, Harvard University Press, 2010, pp. 104–32.) in providing more meaningful spaces for intellectual curiosity and growth, as well as personal growth, and providing tools for learning independently as an adult, than does moving directly into the workforce. That’s one of the stated missions of higher ed. No workplace I know of makes that a mission in anything other than the most vague lip service.

In an ideal world, we’d make room for that experience for everyone that wants it, and would benefit from it, and not make that experience cripple them financially for the rest of their lives.

But we should also make it possible for people to skip it if that’s what they want, or if that’s not an environment in which they’d grow as people, and if they can do the job without it, especially since we don’t live in an ideal world.