This week, Michael Morris, professor of psychology at the University of New Haven, published an article in Inside Higher Ed titled "Lower Education."

In his article, Morris vented his current grievances concerning the prevalence of college graduates who, it seems, did not learn the most rudimentary skills inherent to a substantial college career.

The author attributes the blame to professors. He calls upon the trend that, due to increasingly aggressive students who more and more expect to receive an "A" for simply putting forth effort, professors are coerced to inflate the grades of their students in order to maintain their own positive reputation as teachers—thus permitting subpar students to attain college degrees.

However, I believe that this trend of ill-prepared college graduates is not a symptom of the professor's unfortunate position.

Instead, it's more a symptom of a ruthlessly competitive career market that requires job applicants to have a college degree that may be unrelated to their desired job and also provides a financial incentive for universities to lower their requirements when accepting students.

It is disappointing that many job applicants may find it necessary to pay an exorbitant amount of money for a college degree simply to be noticed by employers.

We now live in a world where the education requirements, even for retail jobs, are artificially and unnecessarily high because a college degree is now considered a standard component of education and job-preparedness.

Morris' article explains that lower-tier universities have opened up their doors to students who, in ordinary circumstances, might not consider a college career. These universities are not necessarily looking for the best and the brightest students. They are more than happy to accept the tuition of any student, ignoring the fact that some of these students are simply not endowed with the self-motivation or study skills that are absolutely essential to not only participate in college classes, but to succeed.

It is irresponsible and unethical for these universities to advertise themselves to students who are not in the position to benefit from the service provided by the university as, historically, many of these students will drop out, even in spite of lowered academic expectations, because they were not prepared to manage any sort of college work. Further, it is a disservice to students if the university were to lower academic standards in order to placate students?

Such students should understand that high school—not college—is the place to learn the grammar and basic math and reading skills that are necessary and practical in the "real world."

Though these fundamental skills may be required for most jobs, they are also implied prerequisites for almost any college course. It would be of better use for these students to hire a tutor to review high school material before enrolling in a university.

As a result of these unprepared students desperately seeking the opportunity to learn the skills they glossed over in high school, frustrated professors at these universities are appeasing students by lowering the expectations of their courses, thus allowing students who have not accomplished the intended goals of their major to graduate.

This problem may boil down to the following advice: It is unwise for unprepared high school graduates to spend their time and money at a university with low expectations of their students.

Even at the most elite schools, college is entirely what one makes of it, and it requires a tremendous amount of self-assurance and motivation—both of which are difficult to muster when one lacks the basic academic skills taught during high school.

Regardless of the standards required by a professor to pass a course, if a student lacks either of these two qualities, they will not attain the success from their college degree that their diploma implies.

Job applicants looking to become more competitive should try to find creative, non-academic ways to bolster their résumés—perhaps by pursuing a unique experience that stands out to employers before enrolling in a university that is in need of sincere concern for its students.