Posted on 04/17/2020 10:23:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
Some of America's most beautiful spaces -- our colleges and university campuses -- are closed and empty these days. Schools have canceled their spring semesters and commencements because of the COVID-19 virus; classrooms, dormitories and athletic facilities have been closed.
Students at many institutions are told that they can continue to access instruction online. But exams and grades have been canceled in many cases, and one suspects that online viewership will be sporadic and concentration intermittent.
But students shouldn't hover around their home mailboxes waiting for an envelope with a tuition rebate check. And students -- and parents -- who expect that their campuses will reopen in fall, next spring or the fall after that may be in for surprise and disappointment.
American higher education has been in serious and increasing trouble in the past two decades. Yes, it's true that American university science and technology departments lead the world, and the (increasingly unscientific) social sciences and (often inhumane) humanities departments can still boast some brilliant scholars.
But at some point, too much of a good thing stops being a good thing. People have observed for years that college graduates make more money over their lifetime than non-college graduates. But it doesn't follow that people not headed to college will make money if they go there.
A dismaying number of American college freshmen never end up graduating, not after four or six or 20 years. An even more dismaying number of non-graduates and graduates end up with daunting amounts of college loan debt, non-dischargeable in bankruptcy, which reduces or prevents significant wealth accumulation. Americans today have more college debt than credit card debt.
And for what? In his new book, "The Breakdown of Higher Education," John M. Ellis, an emeritus professor at the notoriously left-wing University of California, Santa Cruz, cites multiple studies showing that half of graduates make no intellectual gains -- "no statistically significant gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing skills," as one study puts it. As the American Council of Trustees and Alumni surveys have shown, many schools don't teach the basics of American history or government. College degrees are not so much evidence of learning as of plodding persistence.
And a willingness to put up with left-wing agitprop, force-fed by "tenured radicals," in Roger Kimball's phrase, in traditional academic disciplines as well as grievance studies departments. American universities keep grinding out more Ph.D.s (writing theses no one may ever read) than they have tenure-track teaching jobs so that an increasing number accept hourly wages as adjuncts and look forward to increases in the minimum wage.
Meanwhile, administrators now outnumber teachers at American colleges and universities. Many spend their time in meetings and conferences promoting "equity, inclusivity and diversity." Some spend time enforcing speech codes prohibiting free expression that colleges and universities at one time fostered. Others are occupied in regulating adult students' social behavior, conducting kangaroo courts in which those accused of sexual harassment or assault are denied any presumption of innocence, the ability to call witnesses and knowledge of any charges.
The notion that adults, who are eligible to vote and serve in the military, need such guidance is rooted in the Latin phrase "in loco parentis," the notion that students at residential colleges need something like parental supervision -- even if that supervision is irksome and increasingly expensive.
The fact is that the residential college, the model of American higher education since its 17th-century foundations, is the exception rather than the rule in most of the world. University students typically live in parental homes or with roommates in cheap nearby apartments. That's true of most undergraduates in Britain, where Cambridge and Oxford and their beautiful quads were the models for Harvard and William & Mary.
For the 100 or so selective colleges, the residential college model will continue to be profitable. But even Harvard, with its $37 billion endowment, saw fit to lay off hundreds of subcontracted campus dining hall workers.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of lesser-known schools, whose graduates never get interviews with Goldman Sachs, may be thrust into bankruptcy if the perceived need for social distancing closes classrooms or reduces enrollments. As Heather Mac Donald writes in City Journal, "Students and their parents may start to ask why they should pay astronomical fees for a campus experience if they can get the same instruction over the web."
And perhaps some college and university administrators will ask whether they can somehow cut back on administrative bloat, especially if the alternative is figuring out some other use for their beautiful but suddenly obsolete campuses.
is the residential college model obsolete?
Is the college model of actually going to class becoming obsolete, if people can take courses over the internet?
Interesting questions come up . Changes to our colleges and universities may well be part of the fallout from the corona virus.
These Schools along with K-12 are funded with Property Tax Dollars, shouldn’t We the People be Entitled to an Exemption from Property Taxes, especially if we have been deemed “Non-Essential”??
They’ve got endowments deeper than the Marianas Trench.
Time to tap them.
A good internet course is only rarely as good as a good brick-and-mortar course.
Of course, it may be greatly superior to a bad brick-and-mortar course, and Lord knows, most of them are bad enough.
“When Universities cut back on the Departments of affirmative action, equality...”
No problem here folks. Just give them all a diploma. It doesn't mean anything these days.
Obsolete is right. College should cost one tenth of the amount it currently costs, or less. Research could be done thru corporate endowments, the rest is bloat. The kids don’t need books, either. They could be in the cloud or downloadable. Time for a major CAPITALIST shakeup in the Fawlty Ivory Towers.
Online colleges have a foothold, hopefully this solidifies that because they are also more affordable.
Well the reality is the Traditional education model is based on students with similar levels of intelligence and drive being in a class with a quality Professor who challenges them. That model is still the best model. But what has been going on at all Universities is doing more and more instruction on-line. While that model can provide learning, it will never, in my view, equate to the traditional model. However, Universities in terms of tuition charge essentially the same amount. So any student and parents who understand basic economics is going to ask, why am I paying the same tuition for on-line, and that is going to start a drive down of cost or students are going to say well I can get traditional education at another school vs. paying high price tuition for on-line education at a big name type school.
So I can see this COVID-19 causing a major change in higher ed.
Marking for later, but will throw out that online classes will increase polarization in performance. High achievers will continue to achieve, low performers will drop even lower. A lot of students need a teacher to push them to complete assignments. It’s easier to ignore an email than a conference.
Where are the tuition rebates for this crappy on line education they are getting. How are Harvard, Yale, Stanford and other elite universities doing as far as (mis) educating their students on line? Any complaints from parents yet? About paying for educations that are not absorbed by their children?
You are correct. Taking in an elite college education online is only for the motivated and disciplined who will set certain hours at home (might be a public library) to go to class at Harvard or State U etc. And stick to them.
I am taking a guess that responsible Universities have a real time class on line (say biology 101) with students questions and answer, and then have it on re-run. on demand for students who want to see it again.
How much does a safe space cost in 2020. These expensive college housing communities aren’t able to sign new leases for the fall if schools are closed.the residents from the past semester haven’t moved out either.These little college Towns will become ghost towns without Fall sports and summer classes.
‘These little college Towns will become ghost towns without Fall sports and summer classes.’
afraid you’re right...
In the very first sentence, Barone proves to the world why he is no longer relevant, and never really has been.
Svck it colleges! Time to ATM the $BILLIONS in endowments.
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