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This will probably increase the dropout rate there. Pretty much all the marketable majors require talent in math and technical skills. Many people aren't gifted in that area.
And they'll be worse off without a degree at all than having one in English or Psychology.
And no, they can't just go into trades...most of the trades require the same types of talents that STEM majors do.
Also, do we really want everyone to become an engineer or software developer? That would oversaturated the supply.
I know for some colleges their law school is a cash cow (because of big demand and low costs) but academic standards for some of them can be pretty high. I think they also charge high tuition in a lot of them, which is one reason they're cash cows.
Indeed but that's something slightly different, I think, because it tends to be much more difficult to direct funds from a law school to the undergraduate schools. Furthermore many law schools now are owned by shareholders who extract profits from the institution.
I agree, with as much mental illness circulating in the world today we must limit people's choices or "nudge" them in the "proper" direction since they are incapable of making those choices on their own.
Yes, the lack of self control is often the cause of a desire to control others. Individual choice must be curtailed. It damages the collective. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with group think.
I'm really feeling my progressive oats today.
Others should follow its lead. Colleges are doing kids a great disservice by tempting them into majors that will not lead to careers. Kids who are genuinely interested in English, etc., who want self-knowledge or to engage the permanent questions of mankind will still have more than enough colleges to cater to them.
High schools do the same. All these educators tend to trend liberal which means they see jobs like electricians, welders, plumbers, etc. to be "beneath" them even though many of them pay good money, so they always promote degrees in things like nursing which leaves kids missing out on a great opportunity to make good money while not working for someone else.
"1. A majority of college students don’t finish on time — and a large minority never finish at all.
Since the bulk of the payoff for college comes from graduation — not mere years of attendance — dropping out of school is like bankrupting a business. In both cases, you sacrifice years of savings and toil and walk away with scraps.
2. Most of the curriculum is neither socially useful nor personally enjoyable.
As famed Harvard professor Steven Pinker confesses, “A few weeks into every semester, I face a lecture hall that is half-empty, despite the fact that I am repeatedly voted a Harvard Yearbook Favorite Professor, that the lectures are not video-recorded and that they are the only source of certain material that will be on the exam.”
After graduation, few college graduates devote more than a tiny fraction of their leisure time to abstract ideas or high culture.
3. The “hidden benefits” of college are mostly wishful thinking.
Educational psychologists have searched for education’s hidden benefits for over a century, and their answer is decidedly negative. In a wide range of experiments, “transfer” — the ability to independently apply your knowledge — is very low.
How, then, do people get good at their jobs? The same way you get to Carnegie Hall: practice. You don’t become a skilled pilot or obstetrician by thinking about thinking or learning about learning. You become a skilled pilot by flying planes and a skilled obstetrician by delivering babies...
4. The more education our society has, the more every worker needs to get a job.
Most of what students learn in school is inapplicable on the job. But high grades and fancy diplomas still certify (or “signal”) worker quality. No matter how irrelevant your coursework is, excellent performance is a fine way to convince employers you’re smart, hard-working and conformist; in short, that you have the makings of a good employee.
Then what’s so bad about all this signaling? The more education the average worker has, the more education any individual worker needs to impress employers. It’s called credential inflation.
5. Thanks to heavy government subsidies and “locked-in syndrome,” our dysfunctional system is built to last.
Is online education on the verge of radically disrupting traditional colleges? Highly unlikely, for two big reasons. First, unlike books, music or travel — classic “disrupted industries” — higher education is massively supported by all levels of government. In the US, total government support is well over $300 billion a year. When consumers receive the standard product at heavily subsidized rates, we shouldn’t be surprised if they don’t energetically hunt for full-price substitutes.
Second, one of the main traits that students signal with their education is sheer conformity — their willingness to submit to social expectations. In our society, few social expectations are more ingrained than, “Go to college and get a degree.” Parents, teachers and peers reinforce this norm from preschool on. Why can’t an innovative start-up offer an imaginative, outside-the-box way to signal conformity? Because the student who tried it would signal nonconformity!
His solution is to stop subsidies. But the college blob is so big and powerful that it could easily prevent that.
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