tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54641186373326464892024-03-13T05:40:29.985-07:00ValueOfCollegeWe are not against college but question many of the long held assumptions about it. We think too many attend, too much is spent on it and that students are under the mistaken belief that all college degrees bestow the same benefits. And when students, parents and governments borrow recklessly to finance it, we have a huge problem.TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.comBlogger216125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-20828218255985073672014-09-25T13:38:00.001-07:002014-09-25T13:38:19.300-07:00An interesting new college model - Minerva<div class="MsoNormal">
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Excellent <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/08/the-future-of-college/375071/">article</a> about a new innovative college – Minerva (named
after the Roman goddess of wisdom). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Minerva does not see itself competing with the Massive Open
Online Courses (MOOCs) like Coursera and the Khan Academy. Instead they view
the content and lectures in these new entrants as complementary to what they
offer and believe that fee online content will get even better and more extensive over time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I hope that we see many new entrants in the post-secondary
world of education. We need massive trial and error to break down many of the conventions that are restricting us from delivering
more learning and more job creation for the dollar spent. Maybe it is time to focus less on football,
climbing walls, park-like campuses and more on education. I
think that fewer high school grads should immediately head off to college, and
maybe they only need two or three years before they can be ready to start or
join a business or move onto the next phase of life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One vestige that Minerva retained is “on-campus” residence
halls. But the classes are not in person with a professor (who might be working
from anywhere in the world) via an interactive on-line discussion and testing
process of discussion, debate, and quizzes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After the first year in San Francisco, each student changes
locations each semester, allowing the student to experience different societies. Today the other campuses are in Hong Kong,
Buenos Aires, Berlin, London, Cape Town, Mumbai, New York and Sydney.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is great to see some experimentation in higher education.<o:p></o:p></div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-7080999223472998032014-09-22T08:15:00.003-07:002014-09-22T19:07:05.962-07:00 Another angle on the collateral damage of college finance <div class="MsoNormal">
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We recently posted <a href="http://valueofcollege.blogspot.com/2014/08/college-debt-can-interfere-with-being.html">an article</a> about how college debt is an
inhibitor to graduates starting businesses. </div>
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College grads with big debt
payments have fewer options as a result of the minimum college loan payments they make every month.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This <a href="http://www.realestateconsulting.com/blog/rick-palacios-jr/student-loans-will-cost-industry-83-billion-year">study</a> at RealEstateConsulting.com tells the tale of another unintended
consequence of college debt – they also can’t afford to buy a home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is the gist of the report:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Student debt has ballooned from $241 billion to $1.1
trillion in just 11 years.<o:p></o:p></div>
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29 million of the 86 million people aged 20–39 have some
student debt.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Those 29 million individuals translate to 16.8 million
households.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of the 16.8 million households, 5.9 million (or 35%) pay
more than $250 per month in student loans, which inhibits at least $44,000 per
year in mortgage capability for each of them.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reminds me of that Toby Keith song: “I wish I didn’t know
now what I didn’t know then.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-63485362146689916592014-09-12T15:34:00.000-07:002014-09-13T10:43:32.404-07:00Common sense about college from Robert Reich<br />
Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, has some common sense about our investment in four year liberal arts educations versus two year technical programs in this <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/09/03/robert_reich_college_is_a_ludicrous_waste_of_money_partner/">editorial</a>.<br />
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Here are some of Reich's main points:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">"For one thing, a four-year liberal arts degree is hugely expensive. Too many young people graduate laden with debts that take years if not decades to pay off."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">And too many of them can’t find good jobs when they graduate, in any event. So they have to settle for jobs that don’t require four years of college. They end up overqualified for the work they do, and underwhelmed by it."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">Consider, for example, technician jobs. They don’t require a four-year degree. But they do require mastery over a domain of technical knowledge, which can usually be obtained in two years."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">"Yet America isn’t educating the technicians we need. As our aspirations increasingly focus on four-year college degrees, we’ve allowed vocational and technical education to be downgraded and denigrated."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">Well said Mr. Reich!</span><br />
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-6716600247652342492014-08-29T15:18:00.000-07:002014-08-29T15:19:25.934-07:00A College Degree and the Law of Supply and Demand<div class="MsoNormal">
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I don’t know how many times I
have seen the statistic that a college education results in career earnings of
more than $one million over the individual’s lifetime. Well I call BS on this number every chance I
get. The figures do not factor in the IQ,
family wealth and the socio-economic background of individuals that graduate
from college versus those that do not.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But most importantly these
amateur statisticians forgot one major economic factor – the Law of Supply and
Demand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The rarer the asset (in this
case a college diploma), the more valuable it is. The more common the asset, the less valuable
it is. In 1960 about 8 percent of Americans 25 years old and older had college
degrees. By 2009 the percentage had
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And here is where it really
gets nuts. Despite the fact that so many
recent college graduates are back working as waiters where they toiled during
college, some suggest that the answer to our economic challenges is for far
more high school grads to attend traditional college.</div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-12412885458139044332014-08-23T11:50:00.001-07:002014-08-23T11:50:22.333-07:00David Letterman says "Send your kid to college." <br />
"If you can, send your kid to college. So they get a degree, and at least then, they will know what kind of work they're out of." David Letterman on his monologue August 22, 2014<br />
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-87229822886338335812014-08-21T15:42:00.000-07:002014-08-23T07:59:56.094-07:00College debt can interfere with being an entrepeneur!<br />
Any prospective or active entrepreneur should be reading Kevin Johnson's book: The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneur-Mind-Essential-Characteristics-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B00CHRPUWM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408660411&sr=1-1&keywords=Entrepreneurial+Mind">Entrepreneurial Mind </a><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oPYwVmUsucE/U_Z0iDEyWSI/AAAAAAAAC2c/YwRYTFxYGMI/s1600/Cover%2BEntrepreneurial%2BMind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oPYwVmUsucE/U_Z0iDEyWSI/AAAAAAAAC2c/YwRYTFxYGMI/s1600/Cover%2BEntrepreneurial%2BMind.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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Here is a reminder from Kevin Johnson about the dangers of debt. If you have any desire to start your own business, don't get stuck with $200,000 of college student debt. Here is how Kevin puts it:<br />
<br />
"<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">"Research indicates that the great majority of entrepreneurs will never receive money from a venture capitalist or an angel investor. Instead, they will fund their businesses with their own money and via credit cards. According to a report by the National Federation of Independent Business, in 2009, 83 percent of businesses with fifty employees or fewer used credit cards. This point is important, because how you manage your personal finances determines how much money you can borrow for your business and at what interest rate."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">Peter Thiel the cofounder of PayPal, angel investor and venture capitalist adds this: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">"Learning is good. Credentialing and debt is very bad. College gives people learning and also takes away future opportunities by loading the next generation down with debt." </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Make sure and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q" style="color: #000099; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">download a copy</a> of <i>Lucky and Good</i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><i>: Risk, Decisions and Bets for</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><i>Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs</i>. </span></div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-40785093915623212952014-08-21T13:36:00.001-07:002014-08-21T13:36:22.524-07:00Self-education<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." - Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker</span>TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-36642054525850124862014-08-09T07:29:00.001-07:002014-08-09T07:29:15.122-07:00What you study matters in the job market.<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;">Here is some data concerning Bachelor's Degrees conferred in the U.S. in 2012.* The interesting part of the data is that it is divided by sex. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;">The majority of degrees awarded were in business, about 360,000 of which 52% were to men and 48% to women. In the social sciences there were about 175,000 degrees awarded, 51% to men and 49% to women. Now the next highest number of degrees awarded, about </span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;">160,000, was in health of which 15% were men and 85% were women followed by Psychology and Education, both with a bit over 100,000 degrees awarded. The former had 23% men and 77% women while the later had 21% men and 79% women.<br /><br />Of interest is that of the 100,000 degrees awarded in Engineering, 82% were to men and 18% were to women, and of the about 90,000 degrees awarded in Visual/Performing Arts 39% were to men and 61% were to women.<br /><br />Last were those degrees awarded in English. Just a few over the 50,000 mark and of those 32% were to men and 68% were to women.<br /><br />Once again is the time to ask: “Do the career choices that women make have anything to do with the difference in income between men and women?”<br /><br />Jerry White<br /><br />* From the Digest of Educational Statistics, Table 318.3.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Make sure and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q" style="color: #000099; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">download a copy</a> of <i>Lucky and Good</i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><i>: Risk, Decisions and Bets for</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><i>Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs</i>. </span></div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-91010877900378862622014-08-02T06:25:00.000-07:002014-08-02T06:27:34.961-07:00Study Finds that College is Still More Fun that Spending Four Years Chained to a Radiator!<br />
Great fun at the <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/study-finds-college-still-more-worthwhile-than-spe,36576/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=LinkPreview:1:Default">Onion</a> and this startling discovery!<br />
<br />
<img src="http://o.onionstatic.com/images/26/26907/original/700.jpg?3601" /><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Make sure and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q" style="color: #000099; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">download a copy</a> of <i>Lucky and Good</i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><i>: Risk, Decisions and Bets for</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><i>Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs</i>. </span></div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-29997915494793097192014-06-30T21:53:00.000-07:002014-06-30T21:53:08.409-07:00Nothing is too good for your daughter in college?<img alt="Embedded image permalink" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BrbopYfCEAAx_tW.jpg:large" />TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-21946867554032211182014-06-29T10:17:00.002-07:002014-07-29T17:32:59.052-07:00Did these college basketball stars only attend classes in their first semester?<div class="MsoNormal">
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"In the latest example of his longstanding distaste for
Kentucky basketball, Hall of Fame coach <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2011/04/19/1712570/bob-knight-says-kentucky-starters.html">Bob Knight said last weekend that UK's five starters</a> in the 2010 NCAA Tournament did not attend class that spring
semester."<o:p></o:p></div>
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This whole notion of the "student athlete" is claptrap. It does nothing for the ultimate goal of
providing a better education at a lower cost. Why not separate education from
the business of minor-league sports? </div>
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These future
NBA players are not interested in their non-basketball education at the
University of Kentucky. It is a required
rite of passage since the NCAA conspired with the NBA to force these basketball
players to "invest" at least a year in college basketball before being eligible
for the NBA draft. Actually they don’t have
to play college basketball; they can sit out a year or play beach volleyball
but obviously that won’t help them land a lucrative contract when they <i>are</i> eligible. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Find <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q">Lucky and Good</a>: Risks, Decisions and Bets for Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q">Amazon</a>.</div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-65406735573208662692014-06-29T09:13:00.001-07:002014-10-17T19:34:24.613-07:00How do we measure how well our colleges are doing?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/upshot/americans-think-we-have-the-worlds-best-colleges-we-dont.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0">This writer</a> misses a critical point. The education factories (aka colleges and
universities) take in a student and then produce a graduate (with the exception of those
that drop out or flunk out). So measuring only the
average SAT scores of the incoming freshman tells you nothing about how an institution of higher learning has done at the job of education. Likewise, measuring only the GMAT test scores
of the graduating seniors tells one only how the graduating seniors did-not
how much the students learned. And yet both of these factors are heavily weighted in the formulas that rank our colleges and universities. <o:p></o:p></div>
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How do we measure a typical factory? The measure of economic value created is output divided by input. One
takes something of less value and efficiently creates a product of greater
value. If one takes something worth a
dollar and adds a dollar of time and materials then you have $2 invested. If someone then buys that product for $4 you
have produced $4 of value for $2 of input–well done. On the other hand if you spend $10 producing something
and can only sell the finished product for $5 then you have destroyed $5 of
economic value. You will be out of
business soon (unless you are the government or have big government subsidies).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back to how we measure college. My theory is that if I have a college or
university that is lucky enough to accept only the brightest 2% of graduating
American high school students (say Harvard) that four years later this same
college should produce graduates that are in the top 2% of IQs (even if their "education" has been absolute BS).<o:p></o:p></div>
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But what if a college accepted students that had average incoming
SAT scores in the 50th percentile and yet it produced graduates with GMAT
scores in the 70th percentile? Now we’re
talking. I would have to say that this college has made a real difference. Unfortunately I have yet to find this mythical
institution. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Measuring how bright the incoming freshmen are is a horrible
way to measure how good a college is.
Likewise tracking how well the graduates "do from the U" without regard to
the IQ of the incoming freshmen also tells me little.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What matters is how much improvement in thinking,
questioning, writing, and preparedness for the job market that an institution
of higher learning produces for the time and dollar spent.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Find <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q">Lucky and Good</a>: Risks, Decisions and Bets for Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q">Amazon</a>.</div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-69428560715597887302014-06-21T07:47:00.000-07:002014-07-29T17:28:48.901-07:00The Definition of College According to the Urban Dictionary<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=college">Urban Dictionary</a> is one of my favorite "research" tools these days. If you want the real meaning of a word or the story behind the story, this is a great place to start.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are a few of my favorite definitions from this institution of higher learning:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"A magical place where it is rumored that learning takes place, although to those who enter it is often described differently afterward, as a beatiful land in which beer flows in amber currents next to a golden pasture, where virgins lie naked with gentle smiles upon their calm, inviting faces; but more precisely, a Shangri-La rite of passage into adulthood which involves rampant consumption of alcoholic beverages, flagrant and promiscuous sexual behavior, and a general and fundamental disregard for any form of responsibility by its habitants.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you sir, may I have another?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Phlagellum September 23, 2003</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"T<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">he place where you enter inexorbitant amounts of debt to "learn" things you will never apply once to your actual occupation. Basically, an expensive 4-year waiting period for a paper called 'degree'.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will owe Wells Fargo my first born so I can pay off my college."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="contributor" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #94979a; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin-top: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by <a class="author" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=Drenam" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4485c1; text-decoration: none;">Drenam</a> February 02, 2003</span></div>
<div class="contributor" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #94979a; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin-top: 10px;">
<div class="meaning" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="meaning" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"An alternative to buying a Ferrari (they cost about the same).</span></div>
<div class="example" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: italic;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Damn, that Ferrari costs almost as much as college."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="contributor" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by <a class="author" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=Duesey" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4485c1; text-decoration: none;">Duesey</a> December 01, 2003</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-size: 13px;">Make sure and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">download a copy</a> of <i>Lucky and Good</i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><i>: Risk, Decisions and Bets for</i></span><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><i>Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs</i>. </span></span><br />
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-27051557688137431012014-05-25T07:26:00.000-07:002014-07-30T19:51:04.661-07:00When it comes to college, why don’t we separate granting credentials from learning?<div class="MsoNormal">
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Today college serves at least four different purposes:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Purpose #1) It provides <i>some</i> information to a prospective
employer about the minimum IQ of a possible hire (it tells you little about their
actual IQ); <o:p></o:p></div>
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#2) <span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">General learning and experience;</span><br />
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">d #3) </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Preparation for the job market; </span><br />
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> #4) </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Demonstrate credentials to the job market that
allows a potential employer to determine if the graduate has learned certain material. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5NoYleQ8kQI/U4H8OGCtvgI/AAAAAAAACVM/vMymvbCbwpc/s1600/college+blackboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5NoYleQ8kQI/U4H8OGCtvgI/AAAAAAAACVM/vMymvbCbwpc/s1600/college+blackboard.jpg" height="185" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>Demonstrating Your
Smarts<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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One does not get accepted into Harvard with an IQ of 90. Therefore
if I hire a Harvard grad, I have <i>some</i> information about the IQ of the
candidate. But some graduates from Florida State have higher IQs than some Stanford grads. This function (demonstrating smarts) could be met more simply and accurately by allowing and encouraging prospects to include their test scores (SAT, ACT or
GMAT) on their resumes and job applications. This is not done today because: 1) it is considered bad form and 2) it
might be viewed as discriminatory because the employer cannot demonstrate that
this measure is required to meet the minimal requirements of the job (in the crazy world of Equal Opportunity Law). Seems nuts to me, but if a large corporation started asking for SAT
scores they would quickly have the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
breathing down their necks and threatening major fines.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is an alternative (although limited) method to
demonstrate your smarts. We could allow
and encourage job applicants to list the colleges to which they were accepted
but chose not to attend. Unfortunately
with today’s norms this would be viewed as egotistical as the bumper sticker
that brags: “My other car is a Porsche”. There is a time and a method where the student
sells herself in a time-honored fashion (trying to get into a college and trying to get a job or into graduate school upon graduation) but this is currently not one of them. One could establish that she was accepted at
Harvard but chose San Jose State instead (perhaps with a bumper sticker). The
hardest part about graduating from Harvard is getting accepted in the first
place. Very few students that start at
Harvard (provided they show up, do not drop out like Bill Gates and Mark
Zuckerberg did, and do not get hooked on drugs) end up <i>not</i> graduating. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Learning and
Experience<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The learning is what you <i>should</i>
be paying for (time, money and effort) - learning how to learn, how to think, how to
persuade, how to question, how to analyze as well as mastering a few basics
like logic, statistics, writing, and the discipline to meet deadlines and complete
projects. And of course it might also
help one determine what the individual <i>might</i> be interested in pursuing as a
career starter.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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But today there are plenty of alternatives to achieve the
learning without the traditional college experience. The Khan Academy, free
online MBA classes from Wharton, Coursera.org and TED conferences are just a few of the
wonderful free online resources available.
There are also a growing number of for-pay sites that provide education
at a reasonable price like Lynda.com ($25/month), Skillshare.com ($9.95/month) and
Grovo.com ($15.95/month). On this
dimension, shouldn't we care about the education achieved for the dollar spent? </div>
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Two potential college experiences are living away from home
for the first time and sharing a dorm room with someone from a different
background. And of
course there is the chance to participate in campus clubs, games, debates, and
politics. My favorite of course is
getting a job or internship while in college.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is plenty of discussion of life-long friendships that
are made and the experience of attending the Saturday morning football games. But much of this is possible without spending
an additional $200,000. For example, if one chose <i>not </i>to attend college, you
could join a local entrepreneurs group, attend local seminars, watch online
pitches, volunteer at a non-profit or an angel investing group, or volunteer to
assist a college professor on her research.
Please consider that smart volunteers are almost always in demand. College is not the only way to gain non-paid experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Preparation for the
Job Market<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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If you hope to be accepted to Medical or Veterinarian school
you probably have to find a way to get through Organic Chemistry. If you want to work for a consulting
engineering company then you better take a broad range of math, science and engineering
classes. If you intend to get a finance
job then college is the chance to learn the basics of accounting, finance and project finance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If all your classes in the general curriculum make you a
better critical thinker (a stated goal of virtually every university) and
more knowledgeable about world history these are interesting but generally do
less in increasing your odds of getting several great job offers upon
graduation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Credentials<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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There are different types of credentials that one can earn
via college. The typical one is a "degree." But in the IT field, the myriad
of certifications (from Microsoft, Oracle and Cisco) frequently count for more
than a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The degree from an Ivy League college frequently just
signals that you were smart enough to get accepted in the first place (OK, I have covered this but it is important ). If you
get accepted to Harvard and stick it out, you will earn a degree. The hard part is being smart enough to get
accepted and sometimes brash enough to borrow boatloads of money to finance the
gig.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The second element of the degree that matters is the major
in which you graduated. Did you graduate in a discipline that is perceived as
difficult and in demand (electrical engineering or chemical engineering) or did
you take a course load that is <i>perceived </i>as
easier (Gender Studies, Sociology, Physical Education). Many more students can get accepted to San
Jose State or Stanford than can complete the Electrical Engineering programs at
these schools. Being smart enough and
disciplined enough to complete one of these degrees provides more bragging
rights (and probably more job offers) than an easier program at the same
school. The general media hypes the value of a generic college education far more frequently that the value of a degree in Electrical Engineering compared to Sociology. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The credential process has some value. Do you want a brain surgeon operating on you
for his first ever surgery? When you are
on trial for murder do you want an attorney that has not graduated from law school, or never tried a capital case? Back as to
demonstrating your smarts, in these latter two cases wouldn't you want someone you knew is very smart as well? Although a college degree can demonstrate smarts,
shouldn't there be a more direct and cheaper vehicle for determining this? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The Challenge<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Here is my thesis: when we combine these four distinct functions,
we muddle the objectives of each of them and waste a lot of time and
money trying to achieve some nebulous combination. When a college is failing in one dimension
they say: “but we are doing so well on this other one.” On the learning element, shouldn't we track
the amount of learning achieved in some quantifiable way? For example, a simple measure would be to
require GMAT scores for every college graduate. Then compare the SAT scores of the entering classes with the
ranking of the graduating classes (on a percentile basis). My guess is that we might not see much
difference. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we combine the credential process with the learning
process, there is a clear conflict of interest.
Should it matter which professor is the most demanding and generates the
most learning or one that is the kindest, gentlest and easiest grader? Professors and colleges frequently get
evaluated based on how many pass the class or graduate from the college – a
sure conflict of interest. Rarely does
the instructor or college get greater kudos for being extremely demanding. If
one institution delivers the education and another does the testing and
grading, the conflict of
interest is removed. The current system has
resulted in such grade inflation that today about 42% of all college grades are
A’s. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I doubt if many colleges will be inclined to set goals and measure
results based on my four purposes – this might actually force them to
reevaluate how they are organized and how they compete. I also doubt that they will remove
themselves from the credentialing process (Purpose #4). Once these institutions lose their ability to
grade themselves (by grading and graduating their own students), we might see radical change (and improvement).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PVjeb69p0PE/U4H83CEo0sI/AAAAAAAACVc/1GXRN-p3myE/s1600/Stanford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PVjeb69p0PE/U4H83CEo0sI/AAAAAAAACVc/1GXRN-p3myE/s1600/Stanford.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a></div>
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Find <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q">Lucky and Good</a>: Risks, Decisions and Bets for Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q">Amazon</a>.</div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-67316944654995587832014-04-23T21:27:00.000-07:002014-07-10T19:13:33.050-07:00Being lucky enough to be born smart might be more important than if you attend college<br />
This is about the <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231501#">1000th article</a> I have seen that mixes up correlation with cause and effect as it relates to the value of college.<br />
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They never try to compare comparable subsets (with IQs that are similar) when they make the fallacious argument that college grads make more money than high school dropouts and therefore it is a good investment.<br />
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They always forget to account for the average difference in IQs for college grads compared to non college grads. I can tell you that one factor that always seems to pay off is to be lucky enough to be born smart. A degree in Sociology is not going to cure this challenge if you weren't so lucky.<br />
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But alas, if this writer did attend the local U, he must have been sleeping during his Logic class.<br />
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-28423129793366904532014-04-20T19:35:00.001-07:002014-07-09T07:31:14.549-07:00Which Class Do I Take?<div class="MsoNormal">
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How about this for a college decision process? Study the harder subject. </div>
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You can take a class in Gender Studies where
the prof awards 90% A’s or a class in Advanced Engineering Mathematics where
only 20% of the students earn an A. In which class should you enroll?</div>
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You can
take a class in Organic Chemistry where few students receive an A and many do
not even complete the class. Or you can take a late afternoon class in Volleyball. Nobody flunks Volleyball. So in which class do you enroll? </div>
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I will say
it now; always take the harder class. Set aside the grade and focus on what you
are going to learn.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Find <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q">Lucky and Good</a>: Risks, Decisions and Bets for Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q">Amazon</a>.</div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-16362135727040205902014-04-14T07:52:00.000-07:002014-07-10T19:14:50.071-07:00Using equity to fund college instead of loans.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303456104579485801253355622">Interesting article</a> about the antiquated system we have for funding college today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least with the federal home loan programs, the system attempts to qualify their borrowers, such that a borrower has a<i> chance</i> of not defaulting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this kind of evaluation is not even a consideration in the college student loan programs. It doesn't matter if you study petroleum engineering or sociology - you can borrow the same amount. And yet the job and income prospect for the two majors are obviously quite different.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This article suggests an equity-like program where an investor funds college in exchange for a part of the future income stream of the student. Conceptually it might work well, but if it is just another government program you can be assured that it will bring in a whole new set of subsidies. The college establishment hates the idea that the petroleum engineering student might get a better deal than the sociology major.</span><br />
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-13629765572439089872014-04-07T07:26:00.000-07:002014-07-29T17:30:45.454-07:00We are not against college<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is what we have been saying for years: “We are not
against college but question many of the long held assumptions about it. We
think too many attend, too much is spent on it and that students are under the
mistaken belief that all college degrees bestow the same benefits. And when
students, parents and governments borrow recklessly to finance it, we have a
huge problem.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This<a href="http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21600131-too-many-degrees-are-waste-money-return-higher-education-would-be-much-better"> article from the Economis</a>t GETS IT! YES!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">College can be valuable – at the right price and if one
studies subjects that the market place demands and needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The market demands few college graduates with
degrees in Gender Studies, Sociology, Psychology, English and History. But the
market<i> is</i> demanding grads in Electrical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, and
Network Security.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This author is one of the few that makes three great points:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1) Not all college education bestows the same
benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 2) <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->If one graduates with substantial student debt,
the individual is frequently reducing her opportunities rather than expanding
them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 3) <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->College grads on average have higher IQs than
high school drop outs. So the figures that compare the relative financial performance
of the two groups should adjust for relative potential and not attribute all
the extra earnings to college.</span><o:p></o:p><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; text-indent: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; text-indent: 0px;">But the stats never do.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-size: 13px;">Make sure and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUN8J5Q" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">download a copy</a> of <i>Lucky and Good</i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><i>: Risk, Decisions and Bets for</i></span><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><i>Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs</i>. </span></span><br />
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-66966228364024898812014-03-29T17:33:00.000-07:002014-04-03T17:58:56.913-07:00Why have we combined minor league football with a college education?<div class="MsoNormal">
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With all the talk about unionizing college athletes last
week, I question why we ever combined sports and education in college. I am not talking about intramural sports nor
club sports where the participants generally pay their own way. I am talking about how we have combined minor
league NFL and NBA programs with college. For most of us that is the way it has
always been.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Granted, a few student athletes get a great education. But this seems to be the exception. Instead the institutions work at perpetuating
the myth of the “student athlete” and the only goal is to find a way for the
star player to get the minimum passing grade in his classes (which frequently are
on a par with high school) and then coddle the athlete so he can retain his
athletic eligibility. <o:p></o:p></div>
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College Football and Basketball are big money – a $16
billion a year business. And every time
you have big money, the temptation is to cheat for a bigger share of the pie.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Why not move college sports into separate minor league teams that are loosely
affiliated with colleges? The business would receive no financial support and receive
none of the revenues of the minor league franchises. That way colleges could
concentrate on delivering a great education at a competitive price (I know –
you never hear about this second criterion.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2591342/How-did-146-word-essay-Rosa-Parks-A-UNC-football-playerss-shocking-term-paper-released-whistleblower-alleges-widespread-academic-fraud.html">This story</a> about a college football player’s A- final term
paper might cause you to question the system we have created.<o:p></o:p></div>
TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-63755859195485666052014-03-28T19:48:00.005-07:002014-07-10T19:16:48.966-07:00What is she trying to achieve?<div class="MsoNormal">
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On <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_LfQYsmVdg">Charlie Rose Show March 28, 2014</a> at Bloomberg:<o:p></o:p></div>
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As Charlie Rose introduced Drew Faust, President of Harvard, he said “In her installation address, she said: ‘A university is not about results
in the next quarter, it is not even about what the student has become by
graduation. It is about learning that molds a lifetime, learning that transmits
the heritage of millennia, learning that shapes the future.’” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is my question:
How in the heck do we know if the President is achieving her goals? How would we know if she is an utter failure or a grand success with her stated mission? Do we have to wait until the President and we are all dead?<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is a noble sounding mission statement. But is it possible that it is all puff? Pure
BS?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Maybe we should state the goals and the mission of the
university in more down to earth terms. Perhaps we should express it in simple language such that when the President of
Harvard is failing we will know it and we can replace her. Maybe we should be able to measure the results rather than rely on her "gut feeling" or the President's gut feeling as proof of success.<o:p></o:p><br />
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-12476184925152034402014-03-09T09:25:00.000-07:002014-03-09T09:25:33.520-07:00Drunken Party at UMass Results in Injuries<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 1.1;">Police arrested <a href="http://time.com/17273/umass-blarney-blowout-descends-into-drunken-chaos/">73 people at a University of Massachusetts</a> at Amherst Pre-St Patrick's Day party in which unruly students threw beer cans, bottles and snowballs at authorities, leaving four officers with minor injuries."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 1.1;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 1.1;">As we debate the pros and cons of college, it is important to remember that substantial use of </span></span><span style="color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.5760000348091125px; line-height: 23.4666690826416px;">alcohol is frequently at the core of the experience. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 1.1;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 1.1;">I am not a </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.5760000348091125px; line-height: 23.4666690826416px;">teetotaler, but can we go back to the basics? What is the purpose of college? In my mind, it is to prepare young adults to find jobs that will allow them to contribute to the economy. And prepare these students at a reasonable cost. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.5760000348091125px; line-height: 23.4666690826416px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.5760000348091125px; line-height: 23.4666690826416px;">A party here and there is no big deal, but when regular drunkenness becomes established as the norm, then one must question how well we are achieving our primary goal.</span></span><span style="font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 1.1;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 1.1;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #282828; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 1.1;">I don't think that enough colleges today are providing the important lessons and when you compound that problem with skyrocketing tuition fees, the whole institution needs to be rethought.</span></span></span>TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-10052606268861298542014-02-16T20:59:00.001-08:002014-02-16T21:15:25.159-08:00If you are lucky!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TKhBOU7-jOs/UwGW-CKJ8KI/AAAAAAAAB9c/v2KlGaIaQC8/s1600/if+you+are+lucky+you+will+remember.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TKhBOU7-jOs/UwGW-CKJ8KI/AAAAAAAAB9c/v2KlGaIaQC8/s1600/if+you+are+lucky+you+will+remember.jpg" height="640" width="523" /></a></div>
<br />TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-77167195068028868092014-02-14T07:00:00.000-08:002014-07-29T17:30:04.459-07:00Beware of Propaganda about College like this Pew Study<div class="MsoNormal">
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These social “scientists’ spread <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/11/6-key-findings-about-going-to-college/">this propaganda</a> and consistently
mix up causation with correlation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here would be a way to actually test the Pew’s hypothesis
that college education results in substantially better incomes and life styles: Take 1,000 high school students and send them to
college. Take another 1,000 students and
direct them to non-college alternatives.
Each of the groups would have the same distribution of SAT scores.</div>
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Then look at the results 10-15 years later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The reason the Pew’s results are so skewed is that on
average high school grads with higher IQs go on to graduate from college in
greater proportion than those with lower IQs.
This factor alone probably accounts for most of the
differential in salaries 15 years later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am not saying that college cannot be valuable. But based on the Pew propaganda we have
allowed the cost of college to get out of hand a<o:p></o:p>nd college students are going ever deeper into debt to finance it.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sg50exa1hEA/Uv4u3RrajAI/AAAAAAAAB8s/KE1nik8_qHU/s1600/Correlation+vs+Causation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sg50exa1hEA/Uv4u3RrajAI/AAAAAAAAB8s/KE1nik8_qHU/s1600/Correlation+vs+Causation.jpg" height="355" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CpTOwZpR-hE/U82eJq6nOhI/AAAAAAAAClk/P9o-e_2HN0w/s1600/Final+Cover+May+9+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #4d469c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CpTOwZpR-hE/U82eJq6nOhI/AAAAAAAAClk/P9o-e_2HN0w/s1600/Final+Cover+May+9+2013.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background: transparent; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="240" /></a></div>
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TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-70817435630769294602014-02-12T08:37:00.001-08:002014-02-12T10:22:24.919-08:00A Great Spoof!<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">OK - I know <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/college-graduate-first-person-in-family-to-waste-1,35241/?ref=auto">this is a spoof</a>, but the strange thing is that it is very close to reality today.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 28px;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Saying that his great grandparents could have never even dreamed of squandering such a fortune, recent college graduate Eric Singer told reporters Monday that he is the first person in his family to throw away $160,000. 'This level of debt was just out of reach for my father and grandfather, which makes my wasting so much money all the more meaningful,' said Singer, noting that his mother only flushed $12,000 down the toilet during her time in school."</span></span>TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5464118637332646489.post-20658977100588558512014-02-09T17:28:00.000-08:002014-02-09T17:28:17.182-08:00The Private Sector Expects Results!<br />
Here is a great <a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/index.html">piece on education</a> by Libertarian John Stossel. My favorite part was a clip from the movie Ghost Busters where Dan Akroyd is explaining to Bill Murray why he is crazy to seek a life outside of the academic world: "Personally I like the university. They give us money and facilities; we didn't have to produce anything. You've never been out of college. You don't know what it's like out there. I've worked in the private sector. They expect results." TahoeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05872086926186758011noreply@blogger.com0