Replies to: Indiana getting it right on low paying college degrees
I'm a man without a country on this issue as far as both parties. I believe in a liberal arts
education to create well-rounded citizens. I don't think four-year universities should be job training centers. I hate listening to conservatives demean the humanities because they believe people majoring in those programs are wasting their time. We are increasingly ignorant about our country and about Western civilization because we have devalued the humanities.
At the same time, encouraging more and more young people to go to four-year universities is sheer stupidity, given how many of them will take out loans and never receive degrees. Loan forgiveness is fine...if it is paired with mandated raising of entry requirements, a return to stressing SAT/ACT scores, and eliminating programs/majors devoid of any academic rigor, many of which proclaim their political ends right on their webpages. Taxpayers should not be subsidizing that garbage. Tuitions also must be capped by state legislatures and budgets held steady or cut. All you need do is walk around your local public university and see all sorts of frivolous spending. Taxpayers and private sector workers have had to do more with less, relative to inflation and cost of living, and so should higher ed. As with K-12 education, more spending does not result in increased student academic performance and knowledge. Hiring more administrators, building new stadiums, creating more Club Med residence halls, and building new buildings make no student smarter. If your state is like mine, and it probably is, you have several four-year state universities that should be closed because they have low enrollment and have high percentages of students who never complete degrees. It will ultimately fall on state legislatures to step up.
The Irish "Leaving Certificate" approach allows students to get their college tuition paid for
Liberal Arts programs as well as STEM...worth considering...
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaving_Certificate_(Ireland)
I think the basic liberal arts stuff should happen in HS
College should be about vocational stuff.
Given that Indiana State Representatives have a base salary of $33K, I'm not so sure they should be
relied on for making such decisions ;-)...
Education is for pussies
(no message)
Leave "Woman's Studies" out of this.
I'm sure many graduates went on to a prosperous and productive life.
And became "critical thinkers."
Meaning, "critical of ideas they don't like," without an ounce of skepticism directed towards their own beliefs and preferences.
This is the "ideologically possessed" concept in my reply to ned below
I'll throw in the concept of "agency" determines your individual political leanings into this conversation.
Consent Management