This struck a chord in me as I recall one of the discussions I had with other college students and some doctorate holders socially, on the topic of Associate or Vocational education. In CA apparently there is either little or none. I remember at the time being struck by how much pressure that should have put on colleges to do skill based education, but as you point out they are businesses and research institutions primarily, and outside of engineering, some science, computer information services, or accounting degrees/certs I did not see evidence of skill teaching. Rather, an accumulation of GED courses and people memorizing answers to textbooks written by the professor teaching the class who does research at the University and hasn’t had to do a job search in several years.

To this one point I have experience: “That issue is then exacerbated by education officials who continue to insist that all we must do is simply raise standards further…”

The differences between education ‘levels’ in the requirements Universities have was a personal barrier to me. On the one hand I did graduate, but the requirements for graduating with a bachelors are not the requirements needed to continue my education – they are in fact much greater. These seems the delicate point you are seeking, lowered requirements to make the graduation rates increased, with raised requirements to progression in the chosen field of study reducing drop outs. Imagine my surprise when my naive sensibilities and trust in my personal ‘academic counselor’ had created a two year gap in my education needs for Ph.D or even Masters course work! In my case, and in my degree, the raised barriers have left me with 7 years of my life dedicated to the approach of higher education and only a B.D which is considered theoretical (Economics) to show for it. I wonder how generally that separation exists for other degrees?

Thank you for writing this article.

I just read your article, “Open Education, free education for all”. A friend of mine keeps telling me we need more money for colleges.

I employ 30 people with just 4 college graduates. We need more money spent at the high school and community college level. Give me a person who can read and write English with good math skills and I can provide him a $40,000 to $50,000 a year job.

While reading your article I realized that research should be separated from teaching. My son just graduated from CalTech with a degree in Physics. One-third of the professors are Nobel Prize winners and Caltech professors are required to teach. My son’s average class size was six students and always taught by a professsor.

I live in Houston, Texas and Texas has a good community college system. I have taught at the community college. My wife grew up in El Paso which is 90% Hispanic. We talk about education a lot and the biggest problem Texas has is the Hispanic community does not value education. Only 25% of the students who started high school with my wife graduated in El Paso. A few years ago we attended her 20 year high school reunion and the graduation rate is still 25%. The Federal, State and school district have spent millions on this school over the years without a significant increase in graduation rates. We toured the school and it was better than anything I or my kids ever attended.

I attended Catholic and public (government) schools. I look at the graduation rates of Catholic schools and how Catholic graduates perform in society. Maybe we should emulate the Catholic model. I will never forget a parent orientation meeting when my youngest son started attending Jesuit High School. The parents were given a two-page hand out. Father Zee, the principal, addressed the parents and said, “The Jesuits have been teaching for 500 years. We know what works, and we know what doesn’t work”. He held up his hand and said, ” the five fingers of knowledge are; theology, literature, math, science and history. As you move away from these, the value of education is diminished”.

A few weeks later I attended a parent orientation meeting for my other son who attended a public high school. We were given a fifty page hand out and the principal spent two hours telling us how the admisntration was complying with government rules and regulations.

Have a great and glorious day!

Tim Mattingly
Houston, TX