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Dinesh D'Souza floats a proposal to humble the Ivy League: Proposes a novel and seemingly workable solution to the problem of leftist bias in our nation's colleges and universities
American Thinker ^ | 02/28/2021 | Bill Hansmann

Posted on 02/28/2021 10:03:03 AM PST by SeekAndFind

Dinesh D'Souza, the Indian-American conservative political commentator, filmmaker, and survivor of the Obama virtual gulag whom President Trump later pardoned, has come up with a novel and seemingly workable solution to the problem of leftist bias in our nation's colleges and universities. He proposes a national online university utilizing a hundred or so of the country's finest educators. He states that this "Harvard-level education" could be had for around $5,000 a year while avoiding the requisite radicalization that occurs on a majority of campuses.

D'Souza's outside-the-box thinking has provided a solution in keeping with the times. Thanks to the often oppressive school shutdowns that our students have been forced to endure, online Zoom-style learning is familiar to all. At the university where I teach, Zoom lectures are followed by "break-out rooms" of smaller groups of students to handle aspects of the curriculum requiring individual input. Each of D'Souza University (DSU, perhaps?)'s hundred educators would be responsible for choosing a subset of teachers to further his subject matter. The emphasis would be on the curriculum, not on the "racist evil" of our country's founders.

How ironic would it be if the tyrannical school closings we have endured due to the politicization of COVID were to provide the spark to end the progressive bias forced upon our college-age youths?

A likely tsunami of students migrating to this online opportunity would provide massive competition to existing colleges and universities. This change might well be as significant as was seen with the advent of digital photography. (Has any of you purchased any film lately?) Certainly, the elitist legacy Ivy League education would still be available to those willing to pay the price, but even those costs would be lowered because of the competition. The incredible burden of college loan debt would be greatly diminished.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: bidenvoters; college; dinesh; dineshdsouza; dsouza; education; leftism; onlineeducation; universities; university; zoom
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1 posted on 02/28/2021 10:03:03 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

The main question people will be asking is this — Will the credits and degrees they receive from these alternatives be ACCREDITED and RECOGNIZED by government, institutions, businesses and companies?


2 posted on 02/28/2021 10:04:20 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Youtube lectures by Richard Feynman seem to be a pretty good coverage of Freshman Physics.

Only a few likely do better in an current classroom.

I’m sure there are others in other disciplines.

Jordan Peterson comes to mind.


3 posted on 02/28/2021 10:07:26 AM PST by Paladin2
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To: SeekAndFind

No more government student loans.

That would benefit academia immensely.

Possible exception for STEM majors only. NO liberal.arts.


4 posted on 02/28/2021 10:09:05 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.)
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To: SeekAndFind

They key thing, in my opinion, would be national, accredited testing centers.

There are already outfits like “The Great Courses” that allow anyone to attend college-level courses on video or audiotapes. Wonderful professors, wide variety of course material. You can get quite a good education in one way or another. But can you prove it?

Set up testing centers (we already have many of these for various fields). Go to the center, prove your identity, take a test, if you pass the test, you get college credit for a course.

4 years? $50,000 a year? Marxist indoctrination? It can all go away in the blink of an eye.


5 posted on 02/28/2021 10:09:49 AM PST by ClearCase_guy ("I see you did something -- why you so racist?")
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To: SeekAndFind

Harvard hasn’t been known for the quality of its undegrad teaching for a century. It is all about 1) the seal of “got into Harvard” approval and 2) connections from the time in person at the University.


6 posted on 02/28/2021 10:10:04 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: SeekAndFind

The accrediting organizations will fight it tooth and nail.

People don’t realize that they have been pushing “wokeness” for quite some time. I know of a medical school they wanted to ding for lack of black faculty. They are also the ones who originally pushed “diversity” administrators.


7 posted on 02/28/2021 10:11:02 AM PST by Reily
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To: SeekAndFind

We ought to be able to take the courses which train us for fields of work, and bypass the collectivist doctrine.


8 posted on 02/28/2021 10:13:11 AM PST by lurk ( )
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To: SeekAndFind

Jordan Peterson discussed this very similar thing a couple of years ago and, in fact, said, this is probably the way things are headed anyway due to the ridiculously high cost of a university education. Of course, on line learning does not translate well into many different areas.


9 posted on 02/28/2021 10:13:48 AM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: Paladin2

Peterson has suggested this. I’ve listened to hours of his lectures, which are brilliant.


10 posted on 02/28/2021 10:14:41 AM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: SeekAndFind

I like this plan. Why forgive student loans when we can do it for much cheaper?


11 posted on 02/28/2021 10:15:32 AM PST by boycott
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To: boycott

Student loans are already forgiven for people who take jobs with the government or “non-profits”. It’s time to a nonprofit status. People who want to donate to legitimate charities and organizations will continue to do so without any special deals like student loan forgiveness and no taxation.


12 posted on 02/28/2021 10:19:58 AM PST by Freee-dame
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To: SeekAndFind

ACCREDITED and RECOGNIZED by government, institutions, businesses and companies? who have set the rules in their favor


13 posted on 02/28/2021 10:20:18 AM PST by ronnie raygun
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To: SeekAndFind

Abolish tenure. Abolish financial aid. Let competition drive down the cost. Let the school’s customers (the parents) decide what they are willing to pay for.


14 posted on 02/28/2021 10:20:23 AM PST by SeeSharp
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To: Freee-dame

To END non-profit status. IMHO.


15 posted on 02/28/2021 10:23:56 AM PST by Freee-dame
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To: Paladin2

Discussion on the topic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52utWFa6M0s


16 posted on 02/28/2021 10:24:54 AM PST by Jeff Chandler (Pathetic Pierre Delecto, the Pestiferous Potentate of Enchanted Chones.)
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To: 9YearLurker

Harvard hasn’t been known for the quality of its undergrad teaching for a century.

It is all about:

1) The seal of “got into Harvard” approval.
2) Connections from the time in person at the University.

You nailed it. Just substitute or add any Ivy League School for Harvard. Throw in Georgetown, GW, Johns Hopkins and the University of Virginia for full coverage of America’s eastern half.


17 posted on 02/28/2021 10:31:25 AM PST by Grampa Dave (History, as we know it, is written by the winners not losers! Who is rewriting our history, now????)
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To: SeekAndFind

That’s good but you still have to get around the accreditation issue. That’s all leftists and without an accreditation, companies will not look at a resume with an unaffiliated college on it.

Been there, done that.


18 posted on 02/28/2021 10:32:11 AM PST by EQAndyBuzz (Keep the Faith. Everything happens for a reason.)
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To: Paved Paradise

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL_f53ZEJxp8TtlOkHwMV9Q

Not an academic link, but a very interesting JP video.


19 posted on 02/28/2021 10:33:34 AM PST by Paladin2
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To: Reily
The accrediting organizations will fight it tooth and nail.

They will demand that for accreditation the studies must include all the same BS CRT and other left wing garbage coerces be included.

There will be nothing for them to fight they already own the entire process.

20 posted on 02/28/2021 10:36:08 AM PST by usurper ( version )
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