How I'd fix the college system

Fedorgasm

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Here's the main flaw I see in the current system:

Your student is also your customer.

That's it. That one flaw leads to all the other dumb shit involved in getting a college education.

If you make your classes too hard, your customers will leave and go to another college. So you make them easy, fun, whatever. You offer useless degrees and tell them they'll be able to get jobs.

I think a better model would be to have corporations be your customer, not the student.

So instead of applying for college, you apply for, let's say Microsoft. And if Microsoft accepts you, then they pay for your college and you have to work for Microsoft for a certain number of years after you graduate.

Now the colleges have to cater to their real customer, Microsoft, so they'll be incentivized to focus on actual useful classes that are relevant to the work they'll be doing.

And the college is not pressured to make it easy, they can hold students to the standard that Microsoft expects. And if they deliver shitty graduates that don't know anything, then Microsoft will choose a different college next time.

It's a win-win. Corporations get employees that actually have the skills they need, and students are happy because they don't have to pay for college, but they still get highly in-demand skills.

In this system it wouldn't take 4 years to graduate either. Since the college is incentivized to produce competent graduates, they'd remove all the useless fluff classes and you might graduate in 2 years instead of 4.
 
Instead of handing the universities over to corporations, how about we cut 90% of the administration? Professors didn't turn students into customers, admin departments did and now they outnumber and are paid more than the professors.

Or, just get rid of the professors and have college be an all admin institution that ties huge debt around the necks of the youth.
 
Here's the main flaw I see in the current system:

Your student is also your customer.

That's it. That one flaw leads to all the other dumb shit involved in getting a college education.

If you make your classes too hard, your customers will leave and go to another college. So you make them easy, fun, whatever. You offer useless degrees and tell them they'll be able to get jobs.

I think a better model would be to have corporations be your customer, not the student.

So instead of applying for college, you apply for, let's say Microsoft. And if Microsoft accepts you, then they pay for your college and you have to work for Microsoft for a certain number of years after you graduate.

Now the colleges have to cater to their real customer, Microsoft, so they'll be incentivized to focus on actual useful classes that are relevant to the work they'll be doing.

And the college is not pressured to make it easy, they can hold students to the standard that Microsoft expects. And if they deliver shitty graduates that don't know anything, then Microsoft will choose a different college next time.

It's a win-win. Corporations get employees that actually have the skills they need, and students are happy because they don't have to pay for college, but they still get highly in-demand skills.

In this system it wouldn't take 4 years to graduate either. Since the college is incentivized to produce competent graduates, they'd remove all the useless fluff classes and you might graduate in 2 years instead of 4.



The biggest problem is the cost, the belief that everyone needs to go, and the further belief that you can’t make money without it. It’s nothing more than a business model being sold to the masses under the guise that they’ll be special for getting a degree.


The reality is much more nuanced tho and it winds up being nothing more than a debt trap for most.
 
The biggest problem is the cost, the belief that everyone needs to go, and the further belief that you can’t make money without it. It’s nothing more than a business model being sold to the masses under the guise that they’ll be special for getting a degree.
But my plan would fix that. Cost would go down because corporations being the customer means they will be very selective in ensuring they're getting value. So colleges will have to be competitive in terms of cost. Plus it would be free for students.

Also, it would eliminate the belief that everyone needs to go. Because if Microsoft hasn't hired you into the program yet, then there's no reason for you to get a degree related to that job.
 
Its not a bad idea. Its just unnecessary bc of that the market regulates itself. Corporations know a worthless degree when they see one. Students know that companies know this and enroll accordingly. Colleges know this and offer decent education. Thats the theory.

People enroll in worthless gender Studies crap because not all market participants are competant and have complete Information. So theres always some inefficient allocation of resources. Thats the result of freedom. People make mistakes. But thats just me, I could be wrong.
 
Its not a bad idea. Its just unnecessary bc of that the market regulates itself.
Did the market start to ask for degrees for jobs that did not require them before regardless how little the jobs have changed?
 
A political bias test for any courses.

Any material that is presented needs to be done in a non-biased, measured manner that tells BOTH sides of the argument. I have dated a handful of women over the years who have gone through university and left only having ever heard one side of any political argument with all nuance and context stripped. Even when they have done a hard science degree like physics... they couldn't get the degree without completing a handful of other courses which amount to political indoctrination.

Go download a full course description, for example for an IT degree. Look at the core and non-core courses and see how many crap units, they force you into that are not even related to IT.
 
Its not a bad idea. Its just unnecessary bc of that the market regulates itself. Corporations know a worthless degree when they see one. Students know that companies know this and enroll accordingly. Colleges know this and offer decent education. Thats the theory.

People enroll in worthless gender Studies crap because not all market participants are competant and have complete Information. So theres always some inefficient allocation of resources. Thats the result of freedom. People make mistakes. But thats just me, I could be wrong.
But this market can't regulate itself because of the flaw I mentioned. The students are the customers. And most are straight out of high school and they don't know yet that half the degrees offered are completely useless, and by the time they find out, the college has already saddled them with a lifetime of debt.

Corporations are run by savvy people who won't be so easily conned. If I'm Microsoft, I'm going to call the college and say, "hey fuck tards, why am I paying for this student to take a class called 'gender roles of pornography.'? That doesn't help them prepare to work at Microsoft. Cut that shit out so they can graduate faster and start working for me."
 
How about Americans look outside their bubble and realize they have 12 years to teach GE in their primary and secondary education systems and ditch the absurd amount of GE in your tertiary education system?
 
just do a degree with the defence force

 
This is a horrible fucking idea. Talk about perverse market incentives.

Anyway, the way to fix it is to make it free for anyone.

Also, they don’t make the curriculum easier if students are failing. Not usually anyway. I think USC does that, or they hand hold you all the way through. But they’re a private school.

You are paying the college. But if they graduate a bunch of fucking morons (like USC) then their reputation takes a dive and they make less money.
But most of their money is made from international students and football anyway.
 
What you describe is a school-sponsored internship.

I had an internship as a programmer with the Navy my sophmore year of college. If I would have stayed with them throughout my college career for all internship periods, they'd had paid my tuition. But then I'd have to sign a contract to work for them for however many years that they paid off.
 
So your idea basically eliminates the need for college all together. Any business would rather train an employee their own way vs paying for someone else to do it. Makes no sense.
 
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