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Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

nytimes.com

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Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#31

Post by cdoxsey »

sjg007 wrote: post #27
chiefalchemist wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't expect the edus to say no to easy money. And the students are raised to think they are entitled tto success, whether they are cut out for that path or not. It's PC to say "everybody gets a degree." The reality is, that's a very expensive empty promise.

We should really improve K-12 education. The fact that kids are not qualified for college after 18 years in public school is a travesty.

The fact that so many jobs require a college degree is a travesty. We should get teenagers into the workforce sooner and provide more relevant and on-the-job training.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#32

Post by yelloweyes »

kristianp wrote: post #25
jseliger wrote: post #2

This is a fine thing to do with $1.8B and that amount could be used in worse ways. Still: Together, the federal and state governments should make a new commitment to improving access to college and reducing the often prohibitive burdens debt places on so many students and families. There may be no better investment that we can make in the future of the American dream — and the promise of equal opportunity for all. At…

It is just insane that 1.8B should be spent on just Johns Hopkins. This doesn't sound like anywhere near the most efficient way to help the most students who are missing out on places because the institution looks at their ability to pay. Does Bloomberg have an alterior motive to limit his donations to just his Alma Mater? Does he just want a wing of the library named after him or something? I'm frustrated reading th…

1.8B is not that much, really. at 50k tuition, that's only 36k people.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#34

Post by joefranklinsrs »

Good for Bloomberg; I'm sure it will also play nicely for his presidential campaign ;)

But it would be interesting if Bloomberg were to win in 2020 - we would have back-to-back businessman turned chief in command. So far, Trump has been pretty good for US economy. Bloomberg might be even better.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#35

Post by chiefalchemist »

sjg007 wrote: post #27
chiefalchemist wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't expect the edus to say no to easy money. And the students are raised to think they are entitled tto success, whether they are cut out for that path or not. It's PC to say "everybody gets a degree." The reality is, that's a very expensive empty promise.

We should really improve K-12 education. The fact that kids are not qualified for college after 18 years in public school is a travesty.

It's not that they're not qualified. They're just not college material __and__ there's not enough mid / highend jobs for them. At the same time, the trades are hurting for good people. But the entitled are too good to be fully employed. They'd rather taken on debt.

Given where AI is headed the higher edu route is not going to improve. Yet BHO, who knows better, kept beating the "higher edu for all" drum.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#36

Post by chiefalchemist »

cdoxsey wrote: post #31
sjg007 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should really improve K-12 education. The fact that kids are not qualified for college after 18 years in public school is a travesty.

The fact that so many jobs require a college degree is a travesty. We should get teenagers into the workforce sooner and provide more relevant and on-the-job training.

Thos jobs will be replaced by AI. But let me see a Roomba fix your broken toilet.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#37

Post by chiefalchemist »

docbrown wrote: post #28
chiefalchemist wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "At the moment, zero incentivizes colleges to reduce costs. If they can get a student in the door" This has been the standard for a while now. Why does higher edu charge more? Because they can!!! The market has been injected with cheap money and relatively under qualified candidates. The edus make out. The lenders make out. The students loose. And the public is completely clueless as to why. Most actuallt believe m…

>This has been the standard for a while now. Why does higher edu charge more? Because they can!!! Partially true but there are many other reasons why. Personally, I always thought it was administrative bloat which in turn put higher costs on the students. A 2015 study[0] shows that the real culprit could be as simple as less state support per research institution.[1] >more than half of core educational expenses at “p…

> "A 2015 study[0] shows that the real culprit could be as simple as less state support per research institution"

But that's still a "because they can" reason.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#38

Post by DannyBee »

gnulinux wrote: post #7
master_yoda_1 wrote: post #3

Until you won't fix hiring discrimination based on school name, you can't fix the problem. Just see around in silicon valley you can find the example.

This is bizarre I think. Are we supposed to pretend all CS degrees in the world (or US?) have the same value as MIT, Stanford, Berkeley et al?

For undergrad, yes.

Having interviewed 500+ people at this point (and screened many many more resumes and github accounts), i'd there are rarely, if ever, meaningful differences in quality of candidate based on where they got their CS degree from.

I see much greater variation in masters/graduate candidates than in undergrad.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#39

Post by [deleted] »

wenc wrote: post #26
jorblumesea wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US does have numerous vocational schools and training programs, and they result in placement in positions which do pay reasonably livable wages. They are pretty effective, the problem here is a class issue. Getting into the middle class in the US still means you are at the mercy of a variety of problems. Higher education is still the ticket to an upper middle class life, partly due to ingrained structures like la…

On a related note, we often hear about folks losing their jobs and having a hard time retraining. A college degree is theoretically supposed to teach one critical thinking and self-didactic skills. I wonder if vocational education is less robust to economic shifts than a college degree? Certain trades like cooking, plumbing and electrical work are always going to be in demand, but suppose one trained as a machinist a…

[deleted]

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#40

Post by mmanfrin »

spikels wrote: post #33

Actual Reason: Bloomberg is planning to announce his presidential candidacy soon.

The cynical part of me is in complete agreement. I hate that I assume ulterior motive to charity, but Bloomberg wants to be in politics, and this is a big move at the very beginning of the primary races.
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