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Is College Worth It? (the coming digital revolution in academia)
Forbes ^ | 3/26/2006 (issue) | Rich Karlgaard

Posted on 03/11/2006 12:56:51 PM PST by Dark Skies

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To: Dark Skies
(Princeton IIRC).

You mean the place that hired a "professor" that would rather spend his time making rap albums than what he is being paid
to do, like "teach". What was Princeton thinking?

The problem are the "trustees" that let schools get away with crap like that.

41 posted on 03/11/2006 2:38:25 PM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: The Fop

Oddly, students from all over the world have no problems with our universities. Nearly every country on the planet sends their best and brightest to America for an education...


42 posted on 03/11/2006 2:40:02 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: COEXERJ145

I wish you well, but I don't think I'd want to be in that field today. I understand that "liberals" (i.e., Leftists) outnumber conservatives by something like 20 or 30 to 1 in history departments. Maybe not at your school, but nationally.

Unless I've been misled, I think you will have a hard time getting hired and tenured if you let your conservative views be known. Then again, maybe things are finally starting to change. For your sake, I hope so.


43 posted on 03/11/2006 3:00:58 PM PST by RussP
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To: RussP
Well, it will be a while before I have to worry about even thinking about tenure. :-)

I picked this field because it is what I've wanted to do since I was 13. I can't stand revisionist historians and I decided that I was going to be a different kind of history professor.

44 posted on 03/11/2006 3:05:15 PM PST by COEXERJ145 (Real Leaders Base Their Decisions on Their Convictions. Wannabes Base Decisions on the Latest Poll.)
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To: Dark Skies
It really seems to depend on one's chosen career. I am at one of the top private Christian colleges, where I can get a very good education. I chose this school over an Ivy League university, for a variety of reasons. I hope to get a job in investment banking, but it is very difficult to even get an interview since I don't go to a top school.

Though I should be able to break into banking eventually, it may take several more years for me because of this.

45 posted on 03/11/2006 3:05:41 PM PST by Young Scholar
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To: Dark Skies

I think that a four-year degree will continue to be vital to success -- especially if it is from a top Chinese university or from one of the Indian Institutes of Technology.


46 posted on 03/11/2006 3:27:21 PM PST by Lessismore
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To: Lessismore
I think that a four-year degree will continue to be vital to success -- especially if it is from a top Chinese university or from one of the Indian Institutes of Technology.

You may be correct. I posted this article because I thought it would get people thinking. The status quo needs to be challenged so that the bad parts are chipped away and the good ones are refined.

On the other hand, I hear that some of our troops in the ME (on land and sea) are continuing their education via the internet. Vy exciting time for education...

I think those institutions that think they are beyond competition should think again. Competition is a good thing...keeps us sharp.

Life is a kind of revolution.

47 posted on 03/11/2006 3:33:34 PM PST by Dark Skies ("A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants." -- Churchill)
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To: Dark Skies
Equivalency exams do the trick.

Equivalency exams?

Who will sanction these exams, how will recognize which exams are legitimate, and which ones aren't? It'll come down to which exams are considered more prestigious, and those will be used to separate the cream from the crop. You'll have "prepatory schools" for the better exams, and someone will charge a lot of money for those--it'll be no different than the Ivy League is today.

Higher education should not be solely about choosing the correct answers on an exam. There are too many intangibles that an institution of higher learning should provide that a multiple choice exam could never duplicate.

48 posted on 03/11/2006 3:39:14 PM PST by Lou L
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To: Dark Skies
There are three things that make college valuable
1. the admissions process, which selects bright, high-achieving students in the first place,
2. the educational process, and
3. the degree and placement process, which opens doors to opportunities to succeed.

Of these, the admission process is as effective as ever. The placement process is deteriorating, since the positions on offer are typically in a deteriorating American business and government organizations. The educational process is in the worst shape, because students are not getting the training needed to take advantage of the opportunities that actually exist.

49 posted on 03/11/2006 3:44:06 PM PST by Lessismore
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To: Lou L
Higher education should not be solely about choosing the correct answers on an exam. There are too many intangibles that an institution of higher learning should provide that a multiple choice exam could never duplicate.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with a lot of what this article is saying. I just think that theoretically, a classic university education should provide its students with much more than a standardized exam could ever measure. This may, or may not be true in practive.

50 posted on 03/11/2006 3:44:43 PM PST by Lou L
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To: Dark Skies
My prediction for the future...Free Republic University!

I did not realize it until recently, but Donald Trump now has an online university: trumpuniversity.com

And, although some people have made fun of it -- such as Gary Trudeau, author of Doonsbury comics, you can't argue with the fact that investing in real estate has proved a wise move for many people.
51 posted on 03/11/2006 3:49:24 PM PST by summer
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To: summer

Yes, when Donald Trump hit the Big Apple he nothing but a few million dollars, his father's contacts, and some inside deals...


52 posted on 03/11/2006 3:51:59 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: durasell

True. he started out wya ahead -- but, he has grown his fortune. Another type of person could have easily blown it. He didn't. And, I have no doubt he has learned a lot along the way.


53 posted on 03/11/2006 3:54:30 PM PST by summer
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To: durasell

True. he started out way ahead -- but, he has grown his fortune. Another type of person could have easily blown it. He didn't. And, I have no doubt he has learned a lot along the way.


54 posted on 03/11/2006 3:54:40 PM PST by summer
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To: Lou L
Who will sanction these exams, how will recognize which exams are legitimate, and which ones aren't?

You make a good point. The exams themselves and their issuers take a premier role.

As pertains to law and accounting (can't speak to medicine), this has been going on for a long time.

In my very young days, I became a CPA without taking anything but the basic college accounting courses.

My state (which is quite rigorous) provided an exception to being an accounting grad. All the course requirements could be exempted by passing equivalency exams...and they were tough. I bought all the texts and stood the exams...and passed them all in less time than I could have taken the courses. And then went on to pass the CPA exam (in two sittings). And as any CPA will tell you...that isn't an easy test.

Bottom line...academia doesn't and shouldn't have a lock on education.

Academia should compete with the real world. Let's examine the evidence and make our decisions accordingly. Make academia compete...it will resist for all the wrong reasons.

55 posted on 03/11/2006 3:55:02 PM PST by Dark Skies ("A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants." -- Churchill)
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To: summer

I think one might learn more from a successful real estate developer than a professor who has never risked a dime.


56 posted on 03/11/2006 3:56:59 PM PST by Dark Skies ("A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants." -- Churchill)
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To: Dark Skies

Professional real estate developers do teach for him, according to him.


57 posted on 03/11/2006 3:58:06 PM PST by summer
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To: summer

Sounds great to me!


58 posted on 03/11/2006 4:00:39 PM PST by Dark Skies ("A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants." -- Churchill)
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To: Lou L
The problem is there are too many colleges, putting out too many students in fields that you don't need a degree in. You can't be an engineer unless you get a degree, unless you manage to teach yourself calculus, differential equations, quantum mechanics, etc, and you can't be a CPA with out an accounting degree. But the majority of students get degrees in Liberal Arts studies that have zero applications in the free market.

I'm lucky enough to be a resident in a state with a top 5 engineering school, so I get a cheap education, and a world class education.
59 posted on 03/11/2006 4:01:41 PM PST by RHINO369
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To: Dark Skies

Well, if you take an online course there, let me know what you think of it! I am curious about it.


60 posted on 03/11/2006 4:02:42 PM PST by summer
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