The Dangers of College on the Jon Stewart Show

A funny (although accurate) story about the dangers of college on the Jon Stuart Show.  Dr. Marty Nemko who has been suggesting that too many go to college in his books, blog and speaches for years is quite funny as well. When discussing bartenders with college degrees, Amid says: “I always assumed that they had a bartending major.” and Marty answers: "That’s called English Literature."

One of the enforcers (guys with real skills) in Amid's enhanced indoctrination program about the dangers of college says: “If you hate going to school, college is a lot like school.”

 

Unfortunately the “Johnny has to go to college or I am a failure” thinking has been so deeply ingrained in our culture that few have the strength to think and act for themselves.

College is not what it used to be

Here is one of many articles about the problems with college today found at the Thiel Fellowship.  He is the billionaire that is providing scholarships to a few bright kids to pursue a non-college alternative.

Here are a few points from this article:

"The promise that an expensive degree at a traditional university will pay off rests on some questionable assumptions; for example, that no cheaper way of attaining this educational premium will emerge."  Or that the education itself is what made the difference rather than the students underlying intelligence, curiosity and drive.

Colleges are surviving by making the experience a cushier, softer experience.  "A remarkable 43% of all grades at four-year universities are As, an increase of 28 percentage points since 1960. Grade point averages rose from about 2.52 in the 1950s to 3.11 in 2006."  We don't want our college students to face any discomfort at their country club schools.

And a key stat that is rarely discussed is how often students don't even graduate from college - "the chances of an American student completing a four-year degree within six years stand at only around 57%."  But the debt still has to be paid off for all those that walked away with no diploma in hand.

We need to rethink the assumption that everyone needs to attend college.  It is a good fit for some and a horrible one for many.

Digital Apprenticeships are a great alternative to college

Digital apprenticeships are a great alternative to college.  Of course this route does not enjoy many of the subsidies that traditional college offers like subsidized government loans and tax breaks for parents. 

You also won’t get the personalized attention of the San Jose StatePhilosophy professors.  Maybe that is a plus.

San Jose State Philosophy Professors protest the wheel, the lever and Online Education

Interesting protest by San Jose philosophy professors – if they had been born a bit earlier they of course would have fought the wheel, the lever and the printing press.

Colleges continue to dislike measuring results – the argument being that their “work” is simply to important too measure.  It has to be accepted on blind faith. And if you can't measure it then we will have to rely on the intuition and experience of those that will be losing their jobs rather than on the unbiased results.  You can see where that will lead us.

And it is not just professors but also college presidents.  The article points out: “Many college presidents, too, are MOOC (massive open online courses) skeptics. In a Gallup poll released Thursday, most of the 889 presidents surveyed said they did not expect online education to solve colleges’ financial challenges or improve all students’ learning.” – well guess what if we get rid of half of our professors then we should be able to get rid of half of our college presidents as well.

This honest evaluation tells all about the priorities of too many college professors relative to the debate on using more technology to provide a better education at a lower price: “I started out very enthusiastic about the democratization of higher education through the global MOOCs, but I’ve gotten more cautious as my colleagues talk about what it might mean for jobs, at public universities,”  in other words it was all milk and honey until I figured out that it might cost me my job or at a minimum result in a cut in pay – and after all, my pay and benefits are job one.

Our college system acts like a virtual monopoly for many opportunities and many in this institution won’t give up that monopoly without kicking, screaming and whining.

Are you a college grad stuck in a job that did not require your degree?

A survey out Tuesday found that 41% of college graduates from the last two years are stuck in jobs that don't require a degree.

Now this is a first for a major US publication "The lack of job options in their chosen fields are weighing grads down, as nearly half of the recent graduates believe they would fare better in the job market if they'd pursued a different major."  

So you have gone deep in debt (say $100,000) and now have a degree in puppetry or sociology - and and you are surprised that there is no job waiting for you in your "major."

Time to save your money and get "real."   

NYU Professor Gives Valuable Advice to a college Student

Good for Professor Galloway as he explains how college fits into the real world.

"Getting a good job, working long hours, keeping your skills relevant, navigating the politics of an organization, finding a live/work balance...these are all really hard, xxxx. In contrast, respecting institutions, having manners, demonstrating a level of humility...these are all (relatively) easy. Get the easy stuff right xxxx. In and of themselves they will not make you successful. However, not possessing them will hold you back and you will not achieve your potential which, by virtue of you being admitted to Stern, you must have in spades. It's not too late xxxx...
"

How do you spend your time in the ghetto

Imagine a world in which the only way out of the ghetto is via basketball, baseball, soccer or science.  And then compare this to another town (somewhere in the world - although probably in China or India) where success is measured based on your math and science test scores, We know that most of these students will not make the NBA All Star game nor win a Nobel prize. But how about all the others (the mere mortals) - those that don't win the grand prize.  How would you handicap the chances of the "hopeful" but unsuccessful NBA prospect versus the biologist that didn't win a Nobel prize?