[Revised and updated from 7/31/13.)
College is going to do a Homeschool in the next year or two.
The bubble will burst.
Just like with housing.
First: Is college right for you? More than half of the public needs to go to Voc-Tech school or to learn a trade involving people’s bodies, food or physical surroundings. Those who build and maintain our systems and infrastructure are critical players. They are well rewarded and have plenty of leverage. Of course, tradesfolk need both education and training. My alternative suggestions will work fine for them, too.
Right now, what does an average 4-yr uni credit cost? I bumped into a $200-per-credit average in a quick google.
So a 3-credit course in today’s typically crowded hall of 200 taught by a TA or Adjunct who’s paid $10-50k/yr generates $120,000 for the uni — or a profit of about $100k for that 45 minutes 3x/wk. Material overhead for the uni for that specific class? …Electricity, payments on the building. And the overhead for everything else under the sun that goes to make up a uni today.
My dad was a prof. He noted that the engineering program had the same number of profs and students in, say, 1970 as in 1990 but that the number of admin and support staff had risen by about 20-fold. US uni faculty used to staff admin functions on a volunteer committee basis at no extra cost. I wonder what happened to that dynamic. Cultural change? How has uni culture changed since then?
A quick check of public annual student costs have risen 3X since 1980 in constant $. Have benefits to students done the same?
From what I can tell the primary dynamic behind the toleration of the cost is the idea that a college education increases one’s lifetime earning potential by a total of a million$ so that giving an extra $100-200k to the bank for the privilege is worth it. But in 1980 nobody had to give that extra to anyone and they still got the benefits. Of course, I recall that the Journalism School had no Job Placement service, for instance. No internship programs. I recall a couple profs laughing at us about our chances of employment in 1983 — it was a recession. Well, I found my own job. I made my own internship.
Hmmm…
What does a college education give, really, other than a sheepskin?
(I personally have never had to wave mine at anyone. But you might not be smart to go by my case!)
I see a strong component of the social club still in effect. Maybe one of the last thriving vestiges of this dynamic. The “Greek” culture of the frats is also part of this. Frats are perhaps like the college concept on overdrive for many. But clubs aren’t so far removed from gangs. I see clubs as being useful to join and work for insofar as you see them providing needed function. …Separating parents from $100k per kid might not qualify.
People lament the waning of the meetings-based lifestyle of social groups like Kiwanis and Elks. The college dynamic seems related to this, too.
Church attendance in some aspects is down. What is the social role there?
I see many ways in which the social role is needed. But also many ways in which it gets exploited.
I suggest vigilance in finding ways to get the benefit of these dynamics while avoiding the exploitation. Traditional modes may be changing. Or, some of us might find better ways for our needs.
…I think that an alternative to college can achieve this.
Also, I understand that a degree is important for a bureaucratic office career or a voc-tech sort of occupation where a credential might be legally or technically required. Or required by liability concerns. To me this still leaves a lot of elbow room for a lot of people to travel other paths.
To me such things have little bearing on education per se. Nor on the ability to question, study, compare and further develop the concepts contained in such cultural artifacts as “liability.”
I heard that more people today will be independently employed, often as part of a network of collaborators.
So, how does one acquire the ability to collaborate and do work today?
Is there a way to do it other than by giving $100-200k to a college?
Education comes from the inexperienced learning from the experienced. No, training comes from that. Education comes from having a teacher draw out that which is already within you. Latin says so: “Educare” means to “draw out.” But both educating and training seem good. Could we arrange for that other than by giving 10X the proceeds of such a process to its organizer rather than to the teacher or trainer?
If someone arranged for their own education, or cooperated with a system that did not leave them in debt nor require them to do any crime to avoid the debt, one that covered the same bases (and perhaps more) compared to college, what would such a feat say about someone as regards their employability? I’d think it would say that they were sensible and resourceful.
I lean to collaboration. I don’t necessarily want to be “employable.” It sounds a bit like servile, tractable, moldable. Or already molded. I want myself and young folks to be able to grow into people who can cooperate with others on beneficial projects at whatever level fits their skills. Of course, bosses have their role, hierarchies can be critical. I’m happy to work with people and to fit into a system.
Could one put together an arrangement of volunteering on projects to get chances to work with experts in various fields? Could one search out luminaries who one wanted to learn from or find fields of interest to then pitch in on, in some relevant volunteer way?
One could live in a town, a neighborhood, and do part-time work — just as one might when attending college — and also participate in all sorts of levels of vital public life in a well-rounded way, covering all your bases for learning. One could write reports and post them online for feedback. Could one learn to do research on one’s own? By reading how-to info? One could also do this within a group.
I’d think a good idea might be to live in a housing co-op and work at a food co-op. Then show up for city-hall meetings. Get involved.
Wear out your local library and its wider-range lending system. Burn up your keyboard with study and productivity.
Go to conferences about subjects that interest you. Volunteer at them. Study up and contribute to them. Present at them. Learn about and work with something enough that you can contribute either locally or overall to a field. Every field needs to be pushed, can be better. It doesn’t happen only thanks to academia. What is the standard for a PhD, anyway? …That you show you advanced an area of knowledge via a repeatable and documented method to a level above where it was. To do this does not require the Salt Mines of graduate school!
…To do this does not require that anyone give up credit (or income) for their work, research or authorship to someone above them. Unless, of course, the situation is of such a scope where such a hierarchy is needed. At any rate, it isn’t always the case. At the same time, it does make sense for an apprentice to finance an education. What’s in question is the rightness of doing so for you.
I suspect that evidence of the wrongness of such an arrangement can be seen in binge-drinking: the extreme over-indulgence we see today is a sign that the fit isn’t right for such people. They’re doing something wrong for them, in a wrong way, producing tension which they release via booze, TV, noise-sound, and/or sports-screaming.
Structure is good. You need a plan, an aim, and a structure designed to get you there. Can you and your friends find or design such a structure for yourselves?
Does this seem like this requires too much initiative and self-starting? Welcome to today. You’ll need those traits anyway. Maybe it’s a shame to have to re-invent the educational wheel like this…but is it? Really, it’s just arranging your development to have the best chances of working for you — rather than using you.
I’m pretty sure that the banks behind college finance today do NOT have student’s interest at heart. Even with full-rides and scholarships, those involved are oriented to the funds-transfers from one place to THEM. They don’t care if it’s from you or from gov’t or a benefactor. I think something better can be done.
It’s surprising to me how many homeschoolers question the K-12 system. But then they often eagerly jump into “higher ed” with both feet. Why is one classroom more worthy than another? Higher ed seems likely to be an even bigger ripoff!
So people have pride in an alma mater. I also notice that people have pride in living in various places. One could live in a certain neighborhood and from there find experts and ways to learn about and contribute to all the same kinds of skill that college develops. You could then say that you graduated from the College of Lansing, say. Or any other town that really suits you. If you wanted to study outdoor education, say, then move to a place that is prime for that and participate in it in a bunch of ways plus covering your basics. Don’t just hang out, work at a cafe’, and “do stuff.” I’m talking about a plan! Cover your bases, push beyond your comfort zone.
What does a Uni cover, anyway? … A specialty; history; art; language; math; science; law. Many people say they didn’t “use” what they learned in college in later life. First, covering the basics isn’t about use as much as knowing who you are and where you are and why it is the way it is. But, sure, picking a major in a field that you actually end up working in is somewhat the luck of the draw. What can we learn in college (or anywhere else!) that we will always use? Well, as I said, we can learn the 5 W’s about our world (who what where when why). Also: organizing skill; project planning; sourcing materials and talent; socializing; problem-solving; putting-out-fires; rising to the occasion; endurance; prioritizing; speed.
Then there’s the idea that schooling is “time out” where students are waiting for “real life.” People should be moving forward as fast and hard as they can for all their life. So school is life, too, of course. There is no time out for anyone. The buzzer starts at birth. There is no reason why kids can’t contribute, can’t be living fully, during their school years. In criticisms of college I’ve seen it written that college is time away from life, out of the loop in a way. Sure, one might not be fully immersed, but one can of course still participate. Someone going into science can work as a lab-tech during college. There’s always a suitable corollary. I’ve read that students are idle during these years. Maybe some are, but part-time jobs, clubs, volunteering, civics, can all be done from an early age and can continue until, well, we die. Some people choose to compartmentalize life, others don’t. Whatever works for you.
I’ve seen it said that perhaps civic service should once again be compulsory. One can participate in civics from an early age without compulsion or without signing onto one particular program (like the military). …And both contribute and get at least a similar benefit thereby.
And let’s not forget what Simone Weil said. (She was a rare 20-something world class philosopher woman who left a big mark on the world, mostly posthumously, having done most of her work during WW2.) DeGaul commissioned her to write a plan to contribute to the rebuilding of France after the war, a new France without the errors that led to her prior collapse. What had they done wrong? What would fix that? Simone laid out an amazing plan and explanation in her book “The Need for Roots.” She has quite a bit on a new mode of education. She likes the idea of the occasional “Wanderjahr.” And also the need for occasional experiences of working both higher and lower in a hierarchy than one is used to. She also mentions that there are several paths to development, all worthy. There is school. Then for those with more spirit and stronger pulling at the reins there is the military. And for those who can’t obey orders there is prison. All these should be designed to produce citizens in the end. They all should treat each person with respect. (Even today the ritual of court proceedings still *impress* respect upon accused people, despite today’s abuse of both courts and prisons. It’s a physical education for respect that some could learn from if the system followed thru with learning as its goal.)
Society surely has a function that school can play. If that function gets derailed then we can hope that citizens can replicate that function in other ways.
In short, I guess I would advise a young person to replace college and its debt with participation in your local town in, say, a dozen different ways each year, to cover all the angles that most any realistic plan toward the true education and “universality” that universities claim to deliver.
I suggest that one might be able to avoid nearly all sense of “wasting time.” One can likely do this without overall debt, or without nearly as much. One can come away from it with a wide variety of certificates, if so desired, and a lot of both practical and theoretical capacity.
Then strongly consider moving away for awhile and doing the same thing.
Now, life without a safety net of familiarity is very rare for people globally — it does hugely increase risk. The loss of economy of scale of living away from family is vast — we in the USA underestimate it, obviously. But at least a Wanderjahr seems worth it. One can learn to take care of oneself, to forge new bonds in a new community. Of course, no one is an island. Despite having all skills if just one aspect of a culture that you move into exerts a lack goodwill then you can be overwhelmed. But that’s what adventure is all about!
