My teens turned me on to nigahiga. Like all good humor this commercial is funny because it is true.
Tag Archives: higher ed bubble
Getting What Students Pay For In College
From this, we learn of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has a report out evaluating the best public universities in the States. Among other problems the report looks into the following: watering down curriculum, grade inflation, and cost control. Unsurprising (to us at least) it gives failing grades in all areas to most schools and some areas to all schools. That is not a single public university in the States maintained academic standards and grade value while controlling costs.
An example of the depths to which some have fallen is Indiana University actually offers a course titled “The Cultural Politics of Lady Gaga” in which the most common grade is an “A+.” It is likely the course does more harm than good. But no doubt the grade is counterfeit, which adversely effects the whole grade ecosystem. It is akin to printing dollar bills in your basement.
The post cited above, concludes with the following dismal assessment.
But too many schools are still trapped in old mindsets, increasing tuition and competing for reputation. They fixate on the U.S. News rankings, which purport to tell the public which schools are “best.” But is the best school the one with the most prestige and highest incoming SAT scores? Or is it the one that fulfills its mission to taxpayers by providing a high-quality education without breaking their budgets?
College is costing more and paying less
This disturbing chart comes from Peter Thiel.
Cost vs. benefit of college education
There are many ways to interpret these data. However, there is no disputing that the ROI on secondary education is going down.
When will higher ed jump the shark?
When some one creates reputable online certification. When companies start accepting online degrees as readily as on-campus degrees prices will drop immediately and immensely. As a result, traditional residential higher ed will suffer from both lower tuition and lower enrollment.
The End of Higher Education’s Golden Age
Clay Shirky, a writer and professor at NYU, has a thought-provoking article on Higher Education. He points out a critical, but often ignored, problem.
The biggest threat those of us working in colleges and universities face isn’t video lectures or online tests. It’s the fact that we live in institutions perfectly adapted to an environment that no longer exists.
He notes that the academy is itself a big part of the problem.
[The Golden Age] been gone ten years more than it lasted, in fact, and in the time since it ended, we’ve done more damage to our institutions, and our students, and our junior colleagues, by trying to preserve it than we would have by trying to adapt.
Read the whole article.