Quite an indictment of the educational system. .There is passion behind the story. As one who graduated long ago (50's), I was in the group that was destined to college in a town where one high school was for college bound and the other for trades. That system has been gone a long time. I did not join my peers and eventually worked m…
Quite an indictment of the educational system. .There is passion behind the story. As one who graduated long ago (50's), I was in the group that was destined to college in a town where one high school was for college bound and the other for trades. That system has been gone a long time. I did not join my peers and eventually worked my way through college, then grad school in hard science. My late wife took a different path into business after college then, in semi-retirement after being an executive she did a Masters in Special Education where she encountered the current insane system at the middle school level. As a teaching intern she was often confused by others who thought her a master teacher despite still navigating the system. Eventually she was beaten down by school administration during the budget crunch in 2008. Too many kids with needs, no resources and she felt unvalued. More to the point she was distressed at "standardized" teaching which she thought wasn't challenging students adequately. She enjoyed co-teaching with inspired people but too many were just marking time. In my case and hers the degrees were needed to do the job.
But I can agree that the public university campus is more like a place to bid time awaiting papers. But students imagine they are chosen ones with special insights. They pick schools with attractive features other than academics and the schools oblige to attract the customers. The university newspaper is full of pablum about success of any special category of person, minority, female, LGTBQ, etc. Rarely are students in sciences or engineering ever noted aside from the odd female in say, engineering. The purpose seems related to making the students happy, insulated from reality but amplifying how special they are. At least for public universities the debt load is much lower than more exalted schools. Even so, few students seek employment while in school most seem content on using the loans for living expenses.
Like much of life, anything free is likely not worth much in reality. If gaining an education is easy with little appreciation of loan terms, then the easy path gets followed. And that system creates more of the same. Of course, the moneyed continue on but by the third of fourth generation wealth can be squandered. Unlikely for the very rich or well connected. They move from college to that high salary if properly connected. Not so the average person as they discover the easy life has ended.
As you note perhaps the system we have created can't be reformed, particularly because important rice bowls with sinecure abound. A serious relook at the loan program might start to reduce the damage, but likely impossible politically. OTOH, the excesses of the current system are becoming more obvious. Can we afford such a waste of human talent?
Wasn't there a program that paid people to not attend college?
Quite an indictment of the educational system. .There is passion behind the story. As one who graduated long ago (50's), I was in the group that was destined to college in a town where one high school was for college bound and the other for trades. That system has been gone a long time. I did not join my peers and eventually worked my way through college, then grad school in hard science. My late wife took a different path into business after college then, in semi-retirement after being an executive she did a Masters in Special Education where she encountered the current insane system at the middle school level. As a teaching intern she was often confused by others who thought her a master teacher despite still navigating the system. Eventually she was beaten down by school administration during the budget crunch in 2008. Too many kids with needs, no resources and she felt unvalued. More to the point she was distressed at "standardized" teaching which she thought wasn't challenging students adequately. She enjoyed co-teaching with inspired people but too many were just marking time. In my case and hers the degrees were needed to do the job.
But I can agree that the public university campus is more like a place to bid time awaiting papers. But students imagine they are chosen ones with special insights. They pick schools with attractive features other than academics and the schools oblige to attract the customers. The university newspaper is full of pablum about success of any special category of person, minority, female, LGTBQ, etc. Rarely are students in sciences or engineering ever noted aside from the odd female in say, engineering. The purpose seems related to making the students happy, insulated from reality but amplifying how special they are. At least for public universities the debt load is much lower than more exalted schools. Even so, few students seek employment while in school most seem content on using the loans for living expenses.
Like much of life, anything free is likely not worth much in reality. If gaining an education is easy with little appreciation of loan terms, then the easy path gets followed. And that system creates more of the same. Of course, the moneyed continue on but by the third of fourth generation wealth can be squandered. Unlikely for the very rich or well connected. They move from college to that high salary if properly connected. Not so the average person as they discover the easy life has ended.
As you note perhaps the system we have created can't be reformed, particularly because important rice bowls with sinecure abound. A serious relook at the loan program might start to reduce the damage, but likely impossible politically. OTOH, the excesses of the current system are becoming more obvious. Can we afford such a waste of human talent?
Wasn't there a program that paid people to not attend college?
The Thiel Fellowship might be what you have in mind.