
An Education Debate for the Books - mattmcknight
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/26/AR2009082603408.html?hpid=topnews
======
johnnybgoode
A liberal education is great, but you don't need to attend an obsolete,
inflexible university and pay through the nose to get one.

Ask yourself this question: If, after you finish your college program, you
will not receive proof of having obtained a degree, would you still pay tens
or hundreds of thousands of dollars for your "education"? I suspect, for most
people, the answer is no.

So we have two functions here:

1) Education 2) Credentialing

We should think about them individually instead of just pretending they're the
same.

------
wyclif
If you're going to get a liberal arts education and are self-motivated and
dislike cancerous bureaucracy, St. John's Annapolis is a great place to do it.
Committed faculty and students make all the difference.

~~~
xiaoma
I agree. It's really easy to overlook how important peer-effects are.

------
Ixiaus
St. Johns College in Santa Fe, NM (their second campus) is an awesome school;
I've met a number of interesting and intelligent people there.

My best friend's step-father was also a professor there, an absurdly smart
dude.

I am, however, pre-disposed to the autodidactic route; while
University/College is a fun idea, nothing beats the satisfaction gained from
self directed learning.

------
mattmcknight
A liberal arts education seems worthwhile, but also quite possible to pursue
without a status-seeking payment of $50k per year for a degree. What exactly
are you paying for- most of the great books are free with your library card.

~~~
gnosis
You're paying for some external motivation, for one thing. The pace of
learning in a typical university is pretty fast. You'd need a whole lot of
self-motivation in order to learn as much, and as fast on your own as you'd
learn at a university.

Another thing you get at a university is teachers (hopefully great ones, if
you're lucky enough and have chosen well). Great teachers can not only explain
things in ways that make learning easier than learning from books, but they
can inspire as well. Many of the interests that I have now I credit to having
some great teachers (though great books count for a lot as well).

Then there's the fact that you can't really ask questions of a book. Books are
just not very interactive, despite some of them containing questions/answers
for the student.

At a university you also get a community of peers that can both inspire and
help you as you work towards a common goal.

This is not to mention the social opportunities you'll get at a university
that all but the most social people will never dream of getting if they're
stuck at home all the time reading books. Many friendships are formed at
universities that last a lifetime.

And if it's cost that worries you, consider going to a university abroad. They
tend to be much cheaper than US universities. If you only speak English, you
should be pleased to learn that many foreign universities are growingly
switching to a curriculum taught in English. If you know a foreign language,
all the better. You'll get to practice it and get exposed to a whole new
culture. Of course, sometimes the high cost of a US university might be worth
it, but other times foreign universities offer just as good or better
education for a much, much lower price.

So I'd think twice before rejecting school for home-study. It can be done, if
you're very self-motivated. But you're going to be giving up all sorts of
advantages that schools offer.

~~~
mattmcknight
I guess my point was more around the return on investment- not a point against
universities in general, but a point against paying a lot of money for a
subject where the proof that you have learned something is simply not there
with a degree. I claim that most of the benefits to oneself from a liberal
arts education can be garnered without the fee.

"You're paying for some external motivation, for one thing." What is the
external motivation- that I have sunk $50k into the year of school so I should
try learn more? That I will get a bad grade? I think it still takes self
motivation to learn.

I am not for home study, but a liberal arts education is sometimes more of a
dilettante's dalliance than a useful economic move. The status associated with
such a degree appears to be dropping, and hopefully the price will follow.

