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Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

stanforddaily.com

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Re: Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

#31

Post by pc86 »

epmaybe wrote: post #13
tyingq wrote: post #9

My son's state university is forcing students to return in person. I fully expect a notable outbreak in some college to start a wave of media noise, followed by all the universities sending everyone back home again. Sucks because students are signing leases, moving crap, buying meal plans, etc, right now. Aside from the obvious safety issues.

It's absurd here in my state as well. We have peak number of cases in one of the biggest college towns, and students are moving in as we speak. I give it two or three weeks before we cancel everything again. As an aside, equally scummy are universities that pulled the rug from under students very close to move in. My sister got kicked out of her housing by the university a few days before move in, and basically had t…

Are you in Pennsylvania because that sounds exactly like my experience. I'm extremely thankful that I graduated long ago and don't have children or relatives having to deal with this.

Re: Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

#32

Post by netcan »

eric4smith wrote: post #12

I firmly think there is a sea change going on from standard “college” degrees to more practical training that will be a mix of apprenticeship and solid training like air/vac, electricians and online skills, since the vast majority of jobs don’t really need a college degree. This has actually begun already at the high school level. Once again I believe net/net the beer virus will be positive for America in the long ru…

Somewhat different take.

The student debt problem is not really related to the college format. The format existed in earlier decades, exists in other countries and exists in K-12 education without runaway costs and student debt.

It's mostly a matter of policy. The US' method to expand third level education to most of the population was by government backed and/or subsidized loans, without price controls. This caused an inflation in credit, prices, and cost. This is reversible, but deflation is always painful.

Meanwhile, I disagree that “underwater basket weaving” degrees are the problem. At least, these tend to be real subjects that students are actually interested in. The real problem is "Online Marketing" degrees, or most business degrees excepting accounting and finance.

These business degrees are fake subjects. The material was invented for the purpose of creating a textbook, course or somesuch. Nothing they teach is useful. Worryingly, these have the greatest intake... because they're easy, and sound relevant to getting a job.

I do agree the college format should change completely, go online, etc. I think efficiency should be a part of that.

But, I also think we should try to keep the level of investment (time, money, social capital) in education high. Get efficient by doing more, not doing the same for less.

Re: Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

#33

Post by feralimal »

I think we're not demanding technological, remote learning enough yet! We will have to go through this charade a couple of times more.

IMO, all teaching as we know/knew it is gone. And those controlling the governance will be happy about that as it removes unnecessary costs.

Re: Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

#34

Post by sjm-lbm »

pgrote wrote: post #18
tyingq wrote: post #9

My son's state university is forcing students to return in person. I fully expect a notable outbreak in some college to start a wave of media noise, followed by all the universities sending everyone back home again. Sucks because students are signing leases, moving crap, buying meal plans, etc, right now. Aside from the obvious safety issues.

>I fully expect a notable outbreak in some college to start a wave of media, followed by all the universities sending everyone back home again. If you are referring to the USA, I disagree. Unless the local county health departments or states require schools to go virtual, I don't see it. If a large public university experiences an outbreak, I don't think they will go virtual until someone dies. I do not think large p…

Your'e exactly right - at least one large state university (UT Austin) has explicitly set a student dying a scenario that would cause them to close: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/17/ut-austin-reopening-....

Re: Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

#37

Post by gedy »

TechBro8615 wrote: post #20
danso wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My immediate thought to your comment was that "frosh" is actually very common and accepted slang for "freshmen". That said, I did not expect to see it in the article's lede – or in the president's official statement [0]: > We will continue planning with the hope and expectation of bringing undergraduates back to Stanford at the earliest possible time. If public health conditions allow, we plan to invite frosh, sophom…

I imagine that's because "fresh men " is problematic in $CURRENT_YEAR, but it sounds too weird to say "freshpeople" so they went with the existing slang of "frosh."

Doubleplusfresh

Re: Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

#38

Post by elliekelly »

dustingetz wrote: post #17
tyingq wrote: post #9

My son's state university is forcing students to return in person. I fully expect a notable outbreak in some college to start a wave of media noise, followed by all the universities sending everyone back home again. Sucks because students are signing leases, moving crap, buying meal plans, etc, right now. Aside from the obvious safety issues.

They are transferring economic losses to the students/parent

This is my biggest concern. They’re going to charge students full price, force them on campus along with all the expense that entails, and once the bursar’s office is sufficiently flush send them all home again.

Considering every college in America takes federal student loan money this seems like a really easy place for the federal government to take decisive action to force a semester online and cap charges for the benefit of students and the federal budget.

Re: Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

#39

Post by 32notp »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #7
Overtonwindow wrote: post #3

Have any universities stated how they will handle all of the fees that are tacked on to tuition, such as the parking fees?

I think by this point we can guess what their intent, generally, is: to keep the money. Schools have had plenty of time to say that tuition will be reduced if the campuses are closed, but I have yet to find a single major school announcing this.

Princeton's tuition was reduced by 10%.

https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/07/06/princeton-announce...

Re: Stanford cancels plans to bring half of undergrads back to campus

#40

Post by muh_gradle »

red_admiral wrote: post #29
muh_gradle wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I would like this, I don't see this happening. Universities are stonewalling the complaints for lowered tuition. It's in a private university's best interest to keep their schools away from being "career preparation" institutions.

Of course universities will fight against anything that cuts into their income streams. That doesn't mean they'll win though. Market forces can't solve all problems, but they may solve this one.

The top prestigious universities don't have any real competition though. I don't see mid tier colleges suddenly creating a paradigm shift any time soon.
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