Last Poster #8

[Gyakuto]

It’s so tough on people going to college today. My heart goes out to them.

I went to college in the seventies at UMass, Boston.
My tuition was two hundred, fifty dollars a semester. Heck, we paid that off by playing nine ball over a weekend.

I can’t imagine what college costs are these days. It just ain’t right.

Yes indeed and I sincerely believe higher education should be near as damn free and funded by government and those company’s who demand their work force has them.

I think young people do degrees for the wrong reasons due to hype from the institutions themselves. They no longer guarantee a better/good job and thus increased earning potential and they don’t really teach many transferable skills. If you want to be a medical doctor, dentist, optometrist, scientist, then you do need a degree and beyond but a degree in business management won’t necessarily make you a good manager and get you a high powered job in Burger King beyond flipping burgers.

Undertake an apprenticeship or start climbing the corporate ladder from the bottom and you’ll find your level based upon your attributes.

 

[Buka]

Yes indeed and I sincerely believe higher education should be near as damn free and funded by government and those company’s who demand their work force has them.

I think young people do degrees for the wrong reasons due to hype from the institutions themselves. They no longer guarantee a better/good job and thus increased earning potential and they don’t really teach many transferable skills. If you want to be a medical doctor, dentist, optometrist, scientist, then you do need a degree and beyond but a degree in business management won’t necessarily make you a good manager and get you a high powered job in Burger King beyond flipping burgers.

Undertake an apprenticeship or start climbing the corporate ladder from the bottom and you’ll find your level based upon your attributes.

The idea that that students don’t have the opportunity to learn those things that will help their subsequent students to learn and thrive

 

[Gyakuto]

The idea that that students don’t have the opportunity to learn those things that will help their subsequent students to learn and thrive

I think University as a means of acquiring knowledge is overrated. For example, I think I have a degree-level knowledge of the Apollo moon landing methods but I acquired that in my own time and at my own expense whilst contributing to society via my day job. That is my interest and I had no intention to work and contribute to NASA! Knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

If you love English literature/History/Poetry etc then consider studying it yourself and not lining the pockets of an institution.

 

[HighKick]

I think University as a means of acquiring knowledge is overrated. For example, I think I have a degree-level knowledge of the Apollo moon landing methods but I acquired that in my own time and at my own expense whilst contributing to society via my day job. That is my interest and I had no intention to work and contribute to NASA! Knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

If you love English literature/History/Poetry etc then consider studying it yourself and not lining the pockets of an institution.

I agree in-large. But there is a time and place for guided education. If for no other reason than efficiency. I can't imagine the research hours spent by people when all they had to do was ask the right person(s).

Let's use this website as a test bed. I cannot count the times I have seen people realize their 'self-taught' approach to training had led them down the wrong road.

Just because it is a book (or online) does not make it correct or of any value to your quest for education.
Knowledge for knowledges sake is okay I suppose if it contributes in some way, else it is just cannon fodder.

 

[Xue Sheng]

It's worse than that, in my opinion it's dangerous. Democracy requires an informed populace to function effectively, and a university education if it teaches nothing else should teach you how to learn. We need people with critical thinking skills if we are to remain a stable, prosperous democratic society. It's my opinion that everybody should have the opportunity.

There are some states in the US that allow citizens of that state to go to state colleges for free. But not many

 

[Steve]

There are a lot of big problems when it comes to education at all levels. One issue regarding higher education is the pendulum effect at work here. For a time, there was an over-emphasis on the high school to university pipeline. After high school, it was basically accepted that you needed to get a Bachelor's degree (at least) to be "successful". That is complete bunk, of course and a lot of kids with no particular interest or aptitude spent a bunch of money on an education they neither needed nor particularly wanted.

Over the past decade or so, there's been a concerted efforts to devalue higher education and over emphasize "the trades." We still don't have it right. Instead of placing subjective value on one path or another, I think they're all just options.

And with the polarization in all things going on right now, there isa lot of distrust on all sides.

Tangentially, college athletics and in particular football and basketball, are a real issue too.

All that aside, I encourage everyone to pour one out for President Carter today on his official day of mourning.