We young people graduate from high school, then go straight to college. Sometimes we know what degree we will pursue. Sometimes we know in what calling we will use that degree. And sometimes, we attain both the degree and the profession...

But let’s take an honest look at the current state of affairs. We hustle off to college without a clue what our major will be or how that major will ready us for a profession, much less advance the Gospel. We switch majors multiple times during our college career. We incur crippling debt. We complete a degree only to head off in a different direction completely, so that the only significance that degree carries is as a piece of paper attesting to the fact that we can see something through. And here’s my favorite: we complete a bachelor’s degree only to discover that all the job listings for what we consider to be “entry-level” positions specify “experience required.” After looking for a job for nine months without finding one that utilizes our degree to our satisfaction, we notice that soon we’ll be forced to start paying off our student loan. So we apply for grad school.

My time at Indiana University left me convinced of one thing: Americans spend far too much time and money in academia obtaining far too little education.

I have neither the time nor the desire to address those problems. Besides, I don’t know the answer. My purpose is only to assert that the current system is broken. But here are some basic questions I suggest each of us–both men and women–ask when we consider the pursuit of higher education.

1. What is the purpose? What is this education preparing me for?

2. What are my motives? Am I pursuing education for the sake of education itself, a profession, money, status, the glory of God?

3. How much will it cost? Is it a wise investment of time, money, and energy? If God leads me in a different direction two years down the road,will the debt incurred prevent me from obeying God’s call?

One thing is certain. We need to stop feeding ourselves through the academic machine. It’s like a big factory that takes people of all different sizes and shapes and churns them out into lollipops–all essentially the same, but available in five different flavors. We all emerge as stereotypical idolaters; it seems the only choice we’re given is which idol to worship. Mostly, we choose ourselves.

This is why both men and women need to carefully ask themselves and each other the three questions above. But if we’re conscientious, I believe our conclusions will result in fewer women than men pursuing higher education in an academic setting.

Men can more often answer honestly that they are seeking a degree in preparation for a profession that will enable them to provide for a family and advance the Gospel through the Church. More men will be able to answer that the time and money invested will be well-spent.

More women than men will conclude that a formal education in preparation for a profession may leave them unwilling to heed God’s leading if He calls them to marry and stay home with children. More women will conclude that they seek higher education out of sinful motives–pride, a lack of faith, greed, a desire to achieve the status that our family and friends expect from us, and a desire to maintain financial and emotional independence from a husband even if we do choose to marry and stay home with children.

Now, I am not proposing that young women in our churches graduate from high school and then sit around waiting for Mr. Right to come along. But I am proposing that if you are in a healthy relationship with a godly man whom you know to be your future husband, maybe the two of you should (gasp!) get married (Read this to find out why ). I am also proposing that you consider other options when you graduate from high school. Colleges and universities are not the only places to obtain an education. Experience, as we all know (and unfortunately, so do those people who write the job listings), is the best educator. Education is so much more than a degree.

At this point, maybe some of you are nodding your heads along with me. Feminism is bad. Culture is bad. Higher education is bad–but wait. Many women obtain a degree–and honor God in doing so.

When I hear Christians imply that education is unnecessary for a godly woman, I fear that the feminists have already won. If it is feminism that is narrowing our options and forcing us to walk lock-step with the culture on the academic treadmill, what–besides feminism–is responsible for this idea that an education is somehow less important for a woman, especially a stay-at-home mother?

We can only reach that conclusion when we believe the feminist lie that being keepers at home (Titus 2:3-4) is a demeaning job that requires little training, little education, and still less intelligence. Some, in reaction against the culture, have unwittingly swallowed the lie that raising children, homemaking, showing hospitality and managing personal finances is a job any simpleton can do well and doesn’t require high-level training. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, many women coming from the workforce admit that raising children is a lot more difficult than their office job–and not because the tedium threatens their sanity.

Whether we are part of the workforce or not, the home is our domain. If it is dull and lifeless, that is our fault. We are to make the home a place of rest, beauty, function, training, imagination, refuge, and discipline. It is our job to cultivate physical, spiritual and emotional well-being and growth. And that requires higher education.