(no message)
(no message)
what college was 30 years ago. Significant increase in tuition goes is to pay for this rise of this sugar coating. But the core function of college education actually doesn't get improved in quality due to the facts that quantity expansion of students crunches the supply pool of qualified professors. Keep it in mind that we can only get limited good qualified professors.
(no message)
(no message)
We have talked about this many times on here. There are many reasons for the absolutely unconscionable rise in tuition - easy money from banks (backed by the feds) certainly is one, but higher ed is a bizarre place where supply and demand have no effect on price. Schools compete for the best students, and spend money on mind-boggling things. The number of administrators has doubled in the last two decades on many campuses. Very few don't have brand new, sparkling student centers and gyms. College presidents routinely make over a million dollars. And there are studies that show that Harvard drives a lot of this - when they raise prices, the other ivies respond (so as not to look cheap[!]), and it trickles down.
It is an absolute abomination. Something has to give.
college is a pre-requisite for nearly all meaningful jobs these days and a good college or advanced degree to have a chance to stay ahead. It did not used to be that way in the past where people could earn a decent wage with just a high school diploma from a public scool if necessary.
We are way past the point where universities should have become responsive and they have not. People will be forced to leave at some point and many would be better served by trade school and investing the money in starting a business. The economics are skewed because of college being part of "The American Dream" and the equivalent of what high school once was as a basic entree to the workforce. It is wrong and it is actually harming people as we speak. Many young adults are now coming out into "the real world" under crushing debt with scant opportunities and no idea what the answer is.
equivalent to obtaining a driver license now, almost meaningless for people to be able to move up in their career. You are right, colleges can't handle this huge responsibility.
In my opinion, the change should start from: 1. The politicians should stop calling for "everyone should attend college", this kind of phony things. 2. Most employers should take off college degree requirement in their hiring, replacing it with specific skill certificates. This can lead a lot of people turn to other resources to obtain real skills for employment instead colleges This also can lead to new resources to be created to meet the needs for specific skills.
...but it is always the other guy's kid who shouldn't attend college. Never my kid.
It is easy to say that is not for everyone...but how do you deny a college education to people? Do you have kids take a test in the 8th grade, like the Germans do, that puts them on a career path that they can't get off?
We have a situation now where 4/5 of kids graduate from high school, two-thirds of high-school grads enroll in some sort of college, and just over half get their degrees. That's a lot of self-selecting going on.
Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/where-are-all-the-high-school-grads-going/423285/
ND_in_ATL suggested that we do what Germany does...make it free, and send far fewer people to college, based on aptitude tests and grades.
That is the only way that a country can make it free. Otherwise, every person who says, "You want fries with that" will have a degree, and a country will destroy its economy doing that.
It is not a bad choice to take money earmarked for college and buy a Jiffy Lube. The key is to be a responsible person.
"You see, boy, you're just not very bright..."
And many of them have gigantic, tax-free endowments, interest from which is supposed to go toward their annual expenses. Except that they have become a source of competition - and the all-important US News and World Report Rankings - so money is often funneled back into them.
Those rankings have really hurt. For instance, "5 year graduation rate" is one of the criteria, so administrators - 100% of whom, in my experience, are obsessed with their school's ranking - are very slow to kick anyone out these days. They have instead hired legions of advisors to get everyone through.
It is not easy to flunk out of college these days.
...extra semester(s).
Too bad students keep enrolling instead of driving change by leaving the market.
(no message)