You Get What You Measure

You get what you measure. This article discusses cheating by some prestigious colleges on how they are ranked. When you allow folks to measure themselves and there is big money at stake, you can count on cheating. This has happened in the evaluation of US colleges as well and teacher compensation in our elementary and high schools.

But more importantly why does a higher average SAT score for incoming freshmen rank a college more favorably? The job of the college is to impart an education not recruit the most educated. I can understand measuring test scores for graduates compared to test scores of incoming students – but that is not the case.

A few colleges are reducing their tuition

Finally a few colleges are reducing their tuition. A step in the right direction.

Another look at the value of college

Here is a more nuanced piece about the myths of college. It still does not address
the difference between correlations and causation. But it does get into the problems with averages when looking at the stats associated with the higher earnings of college grads versus non-grads.

"Averages hide a lot of things. In this case, lots and lots of things. For example, one-quarter of workers with only some college or with associate's degrees make more than do half of those with bachelor's degrees."

Student Loans: The Next Bubble?

Good question: Are college student loans the next bubble? We would of course they are the current bubble for many. Especially those that are $200k in debt, have a degree in Sociology or History and still end up working at the five and dime.

One of the better points from the article: " Nobody earns a generic "college degree." Degrees are earned from different schools, with different reputations, and in different majors with much different payoffs. What counts most, says Georgetown's Anthony Carnevale, are the courses you take and your major."

Move over Ethnomusicology - try getting a job with a degree in Puppetry

A great post by Alex Tabarrok

"A few years ago, Joe Therrien, a graduate of the NYC Teaching Fellows program, was working as a full-time drama teacher at a public elementary school in New York City. Frustrated by huge class sizes, sparse resources and a disorganized bureaucracy, he set off to the University of Connecticut to get an MFA in his passion—puppetry. Three years and $35,000 in student loans later, he emerged with degree in hand, and because puppeteers aren’t exactly in high demand…he’s working at his old school as a full-time “substitute”…[earning less than he did before]."

"What astounds me is not that someone could amass $35,000 in student loans pursuing a dream of puppetry, everyone has their dreams and I do not fault Joe for his. What astounds me is that Richard Kim, the executive editor of The Nation and the author of this article, thinks that the failure of a puppeteer to find a job he loves is a good way to illustrate the “national nightmare” of the job market." Well said Alex.

How do we produce more entrepeneurs?

Good piece from the New York Times about how we might produce more entrepreneurs and job creators in America.

A common sense letter about college - worth a read.