Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Americans are Sick and Tired of How Colleges Are Run

From the NYT:

According to the study, “Squeeze Play 2010: Continued Public Anxiety on Cost, Harsher Judgments on How Colleges are Run,” a growing share of Americans believes that college is essential to success — 55 percent, compared with 31 percent in 2000. But at the same time, a dwindling share — 28 percent, compared with 45 percent a decade earlier — thinks college is available to the vast majority of qualified, motivated students.

Americans believe colleges could accept more students and charge less tuition without compromising educational quality. They're also increasingly dissatisfied with college leadership that claims it's impossible.

The public is right. DIY U explains exactly how this can be done.

7 comments:

Kir George Karouna said...

Too many prospective students are mesmerized by the siren song of "Top Colleges." I studied at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio and graduated in 1951. After two years in the Army of the US (I was drafted with a million others) I was accepted to the masters program at Columbia U.
Hiram's tuition is among the most economical, even today, and they have scholarship grants. My daughters went to Colgate U, in Hamilton NY. Their tuition is very high, but their financial support system is among the most generous. Top ten graduates today are suffering the trials of looking for work, also. What the US need today is not more college graduates but more skilled welders, machinists, and all the other trades. A trained person in any field is ahead of those who go to Knox College (the school of hard knocks). Formal schooling does not guarantee you anything, but it improves your chances.
Kir George Karouna

Dean Voelker said...

With costs going up, and the qulaity of education going down, there has to be another way. I agree with you that the future may include more online schools as well as individuals who choose to be entrepreneurs and find a way to start their own businesses.

Anonymous said...

I went to a large state school, and as nice as the Olympic-sized pool, largest fitness complex in the nation, and new high end dorms were, I'm skeptical of the educational value of such things that colleges build to attract kids for what seem to be lifestyle rather than educational reasons.

Secondly, I can tell you that a LARGE number of students who are not prepared or qualified for college are getting in. Freshman English classes at my school were on about an 8th grade level (I placed out with SAT II scores), and many students found them too hard. Before the third semester, all students had to take a standardized writing test to prove we could read at an 8th grade level and write a 5-paragraph essay; students who failed it had to take remedial English courses. What would the cost savings be for schools if they stopped accepting students who were not remotely ready to do work on a college level and having to catch them up to what they didn't learn in middle school? I think before we solve the problem of the unaffordability of college, we have to accept that graduating, even with high grades, from high school doesn't mean you're able or ready to handle college.

Brandi said...

But who are you to say who is qualified for college and who isn't?

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