Is College Worth It? (the coming digital revolution in academia)

Forbes ^ | 3/26/2006 (issue) | Rich Karlgaard

[Dark Skies]

My prediction for the future...Free Republic University!

[Siena Dreaming]

Okay, enough Harvard/Yale whipping. Like oceanfront property, their degrees will always command a premium

Not so sure about this. I think the Ivy Leagues are going to lose their reputation in 10-20 years.

[jdm]

Good post. Thank you. Anyone know if there's a financial / stock market ping list on Free Republic? I've been looking for one.

[Moonman62]

Invest that $100 grand plus into the Dow Industrial index and your child can retire by the time they are 50. And he or she won't need a high paying, high stress job.

[Dark Skies]

Not so sure about this. I think the Ivy Leagues are going to lose their reputation in 10-20 years.

Or sooner.

I imagine he wanted to avoid a slap at Steve Forbes' alma mater (Princeton IIRC).

[TheOracleAtLilac]

OK, aside from technical or professional degrees...

Alternate path = 2yrs at the local J.C. & a $100,000 down payment on a Cat D8, etc.
better return
faster return
no workplace drama/trauma
in charge of one's destiny.

Democrats need not apply !

[Lou L]

Okay. Allow me to pose a question. Suppose you are an employer and are filling jobs for which no credential is required. In other words, for typical white-collar jobs--product design and engineering, sales, marketing, non-CPA accounting work and so forth. Would you pay a steep salary premium for a four-year degree holder versus a high school grad?

Rightly or wrongly, there is a certain amount of credibility one has, even in "non-credentialed" fields like those above, that a degree brings. A non-degreed person may very well be as or more intelligent than one with a degree. But that non-degreed one will find it harder to be accepted professionally, as his or her peers that went to college will say, "what do you know about <-fill in the blank->?"

[Drango]

Wanna take a class at Cal? MIT? Stanford? They're FREE

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/index.htm
http://itunes.stanford.edu/
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses/index.php

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Interesting.

[Dark Skies]

See post #2 above.

Whaddya think? Any chance?

[RussP]

Considering what is going on in these days (see Horowitz, The Professors), I see zero (or perhaps even negative) value in a so-called "liberal arts" degree. Sooner or later, the public will wake up to this reality, one would hope. Then the looney "professors" will have to find another scam.

Engineering and science is another matter, of course.

[flying Elvis]

Elite liberal arts schools are not worth the money because they stopped hiring professors based on merit but rather skin color and gender, forcing the best and brightest to seek employment elsewhere.

[wireman]

I think the Ivy Leagues are going to lose their reputation in 10-20 years.

They should, but they won't.

[voletti]

Its REALLY gotten me thinking as well....

Is education a free market? apparently not. Like healthcare, its regulated, protected, subsidized and pampered. Which is why its product prices dont reflect their true value in a more competitive environment.

I too think the overrated 4 yr college education craze will fall by the wayside. I don't quite think that art=fart but can see why people who do, do. The liberal arts education offered today is plain atrccious.

[reformed_democrat]

A degree from one of the elite institutions is like a Dior dress. It proves you have money, and (possibly) good taste.

As for the degree proving you have intelligence or ability . . .

[Dark Skies]

Equivalency exams do the trick.

[CheyennePress]

Honestly, state schools are the way to go for undergraduate education. Having attended both a top 15ish university and a standard State U, I'd choose State U hands down. Better environment, more enjoyable people, and a lot less $$$.

Unless you're going to Wharton undergrad or a top-notch engineering field, why bother with all that expensive tuition?

Save the money for UVA, Chicago, or Penn Law. Much better return for your money there. Same thing goes for business schools. Not really medicine.

[Falconspeed]

Excellent essay.

I give a career talk to my college students once a semester and say: get a degree that is fast, cheap and easy. Then get a job in a place where they will teach you what you need to know, in such industries as movies, computers, fashion, pharmaceuticals, and real estate. The goal is to support a family and the means is job that takes what the author describes:

...intelligence, numeracy, communications skills and a strong work ethic.

[petercooper]

bttt