
Why Degrees Are Overrated - mjfern
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1967580,00.html
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yanilkr
The current education reminds me of waterfall model of software development.
You wait for 23 years of learning and planning on what you might want to do
for the rest of your life and then when you get a degree you go do something
productive in life. It would be interesting to see if any cultures/countries
promote an iterative model of education. You learn a little and try to earn
your way with what you learned and then you learn some more etc..

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mnemonicsloth
Interesting that the words 'web' and 'internet' don't appear in the body of
the article.

Virtually all of the material covered in the course of an undergraduate
education is already online in multiple places/formats/presentation styles.
All that's needed are business models for packaging that content and getting
it to students in a way that they are credited for their learning in the job
market.

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pw0ncakes
Radical left thinks that if the proles go to college, they'll realize how
screwed they are and revolt.

Center-left has a misguided belief that widespread college is increasing
inequality, never mind the severe social damage wrought by mounting student
debt.

Right-wing gets a sorting mechanism for corporations that someone else (i.e.
those being sorted) pays for.

So everyone has the illusion that widespread higher education is a good thing,
with no introspection as to whether it actually is doing us any good.

My opinion: we should make up our minds about what college is, what percentage
of the population should be going (I'd say 10-20%), and allow free public
education (no debt) for those who qualify, and grant a dollar-for-dollar
voucher if they choose to attend private colleges. Get rid of federal loans
entirely, and make student loans regular, dischargeable loans. Then private
universities can charge whatever they want and admit whoever they want.

