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I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

blog.alyxandria.org

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Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#71

Post by brudgers »

pdxandi wrote: post #39
jelloPuddin wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just looking briefly at excelsior, they don't even have a true CS degree. It looks like mostly IT, network admin, and technician kind of stuff. I don't think this really fulfills the need he was discussing.

I just filled out the tuition estimator, and for an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering Tech (not sure what "Tech" means), it costs almost $67k for four years. I haven't looked into online education before, but that just seems outrageous. I graduated 10 years ago from a public university with an EE degree and it cost me $17k for four years. I realize college tuition has skyrocketed, but I see no rational r…

Look at WGU. It's quasi-public and last I checked tuition was $6000 a year flat rate. It's designed to solve the affordability and access issues faced in states like Montana by leveraging technology and distance learning...essentially it's a modern approach to the teacher's college.

Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#72

Post by webhat »

nmrm wrote: post #56
alphaoverlord wrote: post #27

This blog post seems like a jumble of ideas that are neither consistent or connected. It starts with colleges should be more than job training centers, then ends with trying to create an accreditation process to prove value to external entities (of which I assume employers are a big part?). It mentions the high cost of education, then describes how his current options are lacking because the number of classes in each…

You make some good points, but many of your objections are shallow. > It starts with colleges should be more than job training centers, then ends with trying to create an accreditation process to prove value to external entities (of which I assume employers are a big part?). It is absolutely consistent to realize that a degree is not about job training, but should probably produce employable graduates. Ensuring the q…

He does have some critique of the institutions which have received accreditation: ...even though some terrible schools and programs are accredited by the respected accrediting agencies...

There are different levels of approval and accreditation in the US, and as a layperson the distinction might be unclear. Due to this lack of transparency means some agencies might be seen to be doing a better job that others.

My experience with the education board in Vermont was very good. And although it wasn't exceptionally hard to get approval to give course credit, which is what you can get if you don't yet have all the prerequisites for a full degree program, it was certainly not a rubber stamp.

Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#73

Post by MisterNegative »

Universities force students to learn, otherwise students will fail courses etc. I usually make plans to learn stuff etc next to my courses, but while I'm motivated to do so, it never seems to be enough. Therefore, I fail to do this additional work because nobody enforces me to do it.

I hope that the author of the article at least thinks about motivational problems such as mine before going through with it.

Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#74

Post by prof_hobart »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #35
alphaoverlord wrote: post #27

This blog post seems like a jumble of ideas that are neither consistent or connected. It starts with colleges should be more than job training centers, then ends with trying to create an accreditation process to prove value to external entities (of which I assume employers are a big part?). It mentions the high cost of education, then describes how his current options are lacking because the number of classes in each…

Considering that it is their first degree, I made the possible inaccurate assumption that this person was just getting out of the US equivalent of high school. My thoughts at that age were pretty jumbled too. Many of my peers didn't really have any idea why they were in college until maybe their third year. It wasn't until they had the benefit of having gone through such a program and looked back on it to appreciate…

>My response is that graduating from college is the first thing you can do where it's reasonably hard, takes a multi-year effort, and is completely optional

That's not entirely true - taking a job also falls into that category. Not saying that college isn't a valid choice, but 3 years of work at the same point can be an equally valid choice.

Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#75

Post by ecocentrik »

senand wrote: post #67
alphaoverlord wrote: post #27

This blog post seems like a jumble of ideas that are neither consistent or connected. It starts with colleges should be more than job training centers, then ends with trying to create an accreditation process to prove value to external entities (of which I assume employers are a big part?). It mentions the high cost of education, then describes how his current options are lacking because the number of classes in each…

I'm diverging from the topic, but isn't it terrible that "a good football team" is a major cost to running a university (in the US)?

It's my understanding that a "good" college football team generates considerable sums of money for a univerity. You're probably thinking about the cost of starting a football program or maintaining an unsuccessful football team.

Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#77

Post by JackFr »

ecocentrik wrote: post #75
senand wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm diverging from the topic, but isn't it terrible that "a good football team" is a major cost to running a university (in the US)?

It's my understanding that a "good" college football team generates considerable sums of money for a univerity. You're probably thinking about the cost of starting a football program or maintaining an unsuccessful football team.

A great college football team makes money, but does require a substantial capital investment. Typically the only private institutions you will find in the AP Top 25 are Stanford and Notre Dame. The bulk of schools outside the Top 25 lose money on their football teams. Before we weep over that however, they lose money on all of their sports teams, their student newspapers and student theater productions and a flagship state university, the non-student state residents often do consider a quality football program through the auspices of the university a benefit they are willing to pay for.

Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#78

Post by fillskills »

Michael-XCIX wrote: post #19
amorphid wrote: post #13

Personally, I think this idea is awesome. My off the top of my head suggestion would be to open source the requirements for accrediting a specific course. For example, it's determined that students from the "Intro to Calculus for Programmers" course need to meet certain qualifications to pass. If they finish the course on their own, with no help from an instructor, then they only need pay an Instructor to oversee an…

Thanks! That's really nice of you to say. What you suggested is 100% what will be happening. Everything, with the exception of the actual instruction between a professor and a student/class (not recorded lectures, actual instruction) will be open source and freely available for anyone to use with a non-commercial clause in the license allowing for the author (or anyone the author permits) to generate revenue from the…

Absolutely fantastic idea Michael. I have been trying to solve the same problem from a different perspective. Would love to see you succeed.

Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#79

Post by gdewilde »

I had a bad idea for you Michael. Every day there are news articles about university professors who did something wrong or have some other reason to quit. You could contact them and point them at your project.

A sample for today:

Professor John Schindler posted a photoshop http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/higher-education/navy...

Professor Bacevich retired http://www.bu.edu/today/2014/good-bye-professor-bacevich/

and is starting a MOOC https://www.edx.org/course/bux/bux-intl301x-war-greater-midd...

Reddit user 20kadjunct is adjunct professor with an annual salary of $20,000 and 2 other jobs. http://www.businessinsider.com/adjunct-professors-ama-on-red...

professor Thomas Docherty, a nationally recognised critic of higher education leadership and policy, was suspended last term in March. http://theboar.org/2014/06/23/suspended-professor-prevented-...

A fresh badge of Professors every day.

(the plot thickens)

Re: I Can’t Afford a Bachelor’s Degree, So I’m Making My Own

#80

Post by eitally »

I got really excited about something similar, in 2011, when I read this post about the DIY-MBA movement: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/i-started-a-diy-mba-group-youre...

I haven't done it yet, but I am still contemplating the idea. One of the biggest problems that can arise with not actually attending a university in person is the lack of relationship and teamwork education. That can be partially mitigated via videoconferencing and online team projects, but it's not the same as being in an office and leading a group of individuals in person. One of these years I'm going to actually have time to do this....

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