大学教育的目的究竟应该是怎样的呢？毫无疑问，人们肯定会有不同的看法，甚至各个大学之间也会观点相左。我个人倾向于培养学生的综合能力。

what should be the purpose of college education? no doubt, different people, or even different universities, may see it quite differently. as to me, i tend to support the view that it should aim at cultivating the students’ overall abilities.

首先，只有全面发展的学生才是从长远角度讲社会发展所真正需要的人才。我们可以问问自己：社会发展需要什么样的大学毕业生呢？简单想想就会得到答案：有良好的专业知识、有健康的体魄、有健康的心态、有较好的沟通能力、有团队精神、有创新能力或执行能力。当然，如果一个人能够更加多才多艺，那不但对其本人的生活，而且对于一个团队生活的多彩性都会有很大帮助的。这一切的一切归纳起来是什么呢？答案很明了：综合能力。

first of all, social progress needs overall-developed college graduates in the long run. when we ask ourselves the question: “what kind of college graduates does the society need?” the answer is just too obvious: ones with a good command of the knowledge in their own fields of study, ones with a healthy body, ones with a healthy mentality, ones with good communication skills, ones with team-work spirit, ones with creative, innovative ability or the ability for implementation. what are all these things are? again, the answer is just simple: overall abilities.

其次，全面发展的学生必然更容易找到好工作。随便问一个企业的雇主：你希望雇佣什么样的员工？如果这个问题有些不明确，那就把问题更具体化一些：请您选择：a:一个全面发展的大学毕业生；b:一个不是全面发展的大学毕业生。在其它条件都相同的情况下，我们有充足的理由深信这位雇主肯定会选择a的。

second, an overall developed graduate would find a job more easily. you can ask around an employer of a certain enterprise: what type of employees do you wish to employ? if this question is a little unclear, we can make it more specific by letting him make a choice: a. an overall developed college graduate; b. a none-overall developed college graduate. supposing everything other things remain equal, we have sound reasons to believe that he will definitely select a.

诚然，大学关心自己毕业生的工作问题是值得称颂的，因为任何人都首先需要谋生，然后才能谈进一步的发展。有一份自己喜欢的、收入好、工作前景好的工作也是大学毕业生们所期盼的。但是，谁也不能否认，培养全面发展的学生与好工作之间永远都是密切相关的，绝对不是相冲突、相矛盾的。

admittedly, it is praiseworthy of universities to be concerned about their graduates’ job-hunting issues, for after all, anyone should first solve the problem of making a living before talking about later on development. besides, it is also the shared aspiration of all college graduates to have a well-paid job that they like and that points to a good prospect in the future. however, no one would ever deny the fact that to cultivate the overall abilities of the students is always closely related to and in no way conflicts or contradicts good job opportunities.

基于以上论证，我们可以清楚地认识到：大学教育的目的应该永远是以培养学生较强的综合能力为目标的。