flâneur

Universities are broken. Time for an alternative

sotaletters.substack.com · 2,223 words · saved by 1 readers

Higher education is ripe for change. Universities have become bloated, corrupt and inefficient, and the education they provide is very often irrelevant, untruthful and vastly more expensive than is necessary. Very few students end up using what they have learned at university, and little if any evidence suggests that any significant transferable skill, such as critical thinking, is effectively taught there. Contradicting the higher education system’s advocates, research suggests that little of the value of a degree lies in the education itself. Instead, most of that value lies in the signal a degree gives to employers about the person who holds it. Degree programs certify students, but they teach very little. University has become a means for signaling, not for creating human capital. Higher education is dominated by nonprofits. For-profit universities do not qualify for the same tax benefits, i.e. subsidies, which effectively protects nonprofits from for-profit competition. Nonprofits

Dear SoTA The rot in higher education Higher education is ripe for change. Universities have become bloated, corrupt and inefficient, and the education they provide is very often irrelevant, untruthful and vastly more expensive than is necessary. Very few students end up using what they have learned at university, and little if any evidence suggests that any significant transferable skill, such as critical thinking, is effectively taught there. Contradicting the higher education system’s advocates, research suggests that little of the value of a degree lies in the education itself.…

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