1. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691122946/on...
I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
761–770 of 1001 posts
Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#762I think the writing on the wall is clear regarding student loans. The entire notion of taxpayer funded student loans is a scam on both taxpayers and students. It’s a system that allows the colleges/universities to charge any tuition they want and guarantees there will be an artificial demand. For about a decade at least 1M student loan holders default per year. Long before the defaults reached that high, everyone inv…
>The entire notion of taxpayer funded student loans is a scam on both taxpayers and students. It’s a system that allows the colleges/universities to charge any tuition they want and guarantees there will be an artificial demand. Just for what it's worth, Australia has a taxpayer-funded student loan scheme (HECS) and the obscene fees you see in the US simply aren't a problem here. A full 4-year Electrical Engineering…
For comparison, student loans are a problem in the UK as well to some extent, where tuition is ~9000£ a year. Student loans get forgiven after 30 years and most graduates will never pay backtheir loans in full because they won't be done after 3 decades.
Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#763Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sam Altman and his buddies are incredibly out of touch with the real world. In a related tweet, he said [0]: > A version of college replacement I'm super interested in: Find the smartest and most driven 18 year olds in the world, and give them 'tenure'--say a decade+ of salary, resources to work on whatever they want, and a smart peer group--in exchange for small % of future earnings. Completely agree with your state…
Didn't he also make a lot of money already? So at least also good at making money.
Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#764Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's plenty of examples of universities being run as not-for-profit and doing just fine. Pretty much all of Europe since the concept of a University has existed, for example. Sure, you can nitpick problems with European universities and they are not perfect. But nobody is going into debt slavery in Europe from getting a degree and nobody is talking about the collapse of European universities. So maybe the problem…
The problem with the European model is that it creates an economically regressive system. The less affluent citizens who didn't attend higher education are paying for us who did attend. This is usually motivated by the idea that society as a whole benefits from us educated people so much that they should pay for it. I find this idea a bit offensive. I would actually prefer a system financed purely by student loans. I…
The data supports the claim. A higher educated citizen generate more tax and in general use less money in the healthcare system. It's a net surplus to pay for the education, so the "less affluent" citizens are not paying for anything. At least that is what the Danish government claims.
> would actually prefer a system financed purely by student loans. It does put a lot more responsibility on the prospective student to judge the quality of an education programme and the opportunities it affords. Some programmes would no longer be sustainable if they were not given free of charge.
This is rather simple to correct for. If the unemployment is high for a given education it can be reduced. It is in Denmark.
Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#765Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#766Earlier quoted context omitted.
The SAT's past racial bias is still echoing through the nation. There were still test questions based on Very White Things like cotillions and yachting as recently as 40 years ago. The repercussions of those things could be that some person barely missed getting admitted to a university, took a lifetime earnings hit, lived in a poorer town with worse schools, and now their kids who may be very smart and talented also…
That sounds stretched. Smart kids failing because their parents didn't know yachting trivia 40 years ago... And in 4 decades their family couldn't crack open a math book? The main reason for failing education is not money, it's family attitude towards education. Educational parents get better results than rich parents. Look at how the Asian group is faring. In fact having too rich parents is pulling down the kids.
Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#767Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The entire notion of taxpayer funded student loans is a scam on both taxpayers and students. It’s a system that allows the colleges/universities to charge any tuition they want and guarantees there will be an artificial demand. Just for what it's worth, Australia has a taxpayer-funded student loan scheme (HECS) and the obscene fees you see in the US simply aren't a problem here. A full 4-year Electrical Engineering…
I have to say those prices still seem very high to me, that's 10.000$ a year. Maybe salaries are just outrageously higher in Australia than where I live, but I find it hard to believe most artists can comfortably pay back 1000$ a month. At least in Germany that would be a big ask even for a fresh engineering graduate (source: I'm a fresh engineering graduate). For comparison, student loans are a problem in the UK as…
However, with typical grad wages here (you're looking at around 60k on average; a little more for engineering and a little less for arts), one very comfortably could.
Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#768Sam Altman makes a lot of grandiose predictions and statements. For example, in 2019 he said “Human radiologists are already much worse than computer radiologists. If I had to pick a human or an AI to read my scan, I’d pick the AI.” [0] However, most people with domain knowledge in this space still would not want their scan not to be read by a human. The AI radiology apps are generally narrowly focused and useful for…
To add to this, I would suggest that if Altman were able to predict the future, he wouldn't be betting so hard on the idiotic/alarming WorldCoin boondoggle, nor would his previous startup have failed. The only thing he seems to have succeeded at is convincing Paul Graham he should lead YC.
Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#769Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Higher education in the US is trying to fulfill so many roles it's unsustainable. You forgot the most important one for companies: use college or the preference for "ivy league" institutions which is on its own a neutral requirement as a proxy to weed out "undesirables" without violating the ADA and other laws: people with mental health issues and many physical disabilities don't stand a chance for the top grades,…
>It's all about keeping "corporate culture" aka White, rich and able. What world are you living? Colleges and "Corporate culture" these days are all about opposing "whiteness."
In reality?! Just look at the C and VP level of most large companies. Old white men galore [1] [2], and lower management and the drones aren't much better. And by the time a woman takes the helm, the company has often been run into the ground so hard that the board can't find another man willing to risk his reputation.
To make it worse, during the 'rona female representation at C-level actually fell [3].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_CEOs_of_Fortune_...
[2] https://cooleypubco.com/2021/06/09/board-diversity-fortune-5...
[3] https://www.channelpartnerinsight.com/news/4045218/fewer-wom...
Re: I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears
#770Sam Altman makes a lot of grandiose predictions and statements. For example, in 2019 he said “Human radiologists are already much worse than computer radiologists. If I had to pick a human or an AI to read my scan, I’d pick the AI.” [0] However, most people with domain knowledge in this space still would not want their scan not to be read by a human. The AI radiology apps are generally narrowly focused and useful for…
Sam Altman and his buddies are incredibly out of touch with the real world. In a related tweet, he said [0]: > A version of college replacement I'm super interested in: Find the smartest and most driven 18 year olds in the world, and give them 'tenure'--say a decade+ of salary, resources to work on whatever they want, and a smart peer group--in exchange for small % of future earnings. Completely agree with your state…
He leads OpenAI
> Find the smartest and most driven 18 year olds in the world, and give them 'tenure'--say a decade+ of salary, resources to work on whatever they want, and a smart peer group--in exchange for small % of future earnings.
Why do you think this is a bad idea?