Comments on: If Education Leads to Prosperity, Every Student Should Have the Opportunity for College http://www.openeducation.net/2009/06/18/if-education-leads-to-prosperity-every-student-should-have-the-opportunity-for-college/ Free Education for All Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:50:19 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Joseph Thibault http://www.openeducation.net/2009/06/18/if-education-leads-to-prosperity-every-student-should-have-the-opportunity-for-college/comment-page-1/#comment-6729 Joseph Thibault Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:00:43 +0000 http://www.openeducation.net/?p=2016#comment-6729 I agree that the costs are prohibitive and that the actual benefit of a degree from an inept institution is not as valuable as it once was. But these are unaligned aspects of the problem with higher education today. I think we need to figure out what we are so concerned about in higher education and focus on that, if getting a degree isn't worth nearly as much, then students not getting into college are receiving a favor (namely no debt and the short road to a profession)... It's not that I'm not all for equity in college admissions and outcomes, it's just that if we truly believe the value of a bachelors or masters has decreased then there arises a host of other issues facing the US. I still tend to think that our post-secondary education system is world class, but if I were in a place to affect policy I would be putting more funding and energy into the development of strong, flexible, and career specific 2 year (or less) programs. The shortage of nursing alone is a great example of how a 2 year program could easily meet the current demands of a national crisis, and yet, many of these programs have 2-3 year waiting lists forcing those students with the means to go after a 4 year program. That doesn't make a lick of sense. I agree that the costs are prohibitive and that the actual benefit of a degree from an inept institution is not as valuable as it once was.

But these are unaligned aspects of the problem with higher education today. I think we need to figure out what we are so concerned about in higher education and focus on that, if getting a degree isn’t worth nearly as much, then students not getting into college are receiving a favor (namely no debt and the short road to a profession)…

It’s not that I’m not all for equity in college admissions and outcomes, it’s just that if we truly believe the value of a bachelors or masters has decreased then there arises a host of other issues facing the US.

I still tend to think that our post-secondary education system is world class, but if I were in a place to affect policy I would be putting more funding and energy into the development of strong, flexible, and career specific 2 year (or less) programs. The shortage of nursing alone is a great example of how a 2 year program could easily meet the current demands of a national crisis, and yet, many of these programs have 2-3 year waiting lists forcing those students with the means to go after a 4 year program. That doesn’t make a lick of sense.

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