I do not have the interest in continuing this discussion. I'll only mention a few points. 1) Those who can bootstrap their education have no need for college.

I do not have the interest in continuing this discussion. I'll only mention a few points. 1) Those who can bootstrap their education have no need for college. A college provides support in various forms, for those who cannot do it all on their own. It also provides external validation, either to the student or to the world at large, that certain thresholds were achieved. To point out, students in traditional liberal arts schools are also encouraged to learn all they can on their own in addition to what the professor teaches. I already mentioned New College. Quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College_of_Florida#Academics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College_of_Florida#Academi... : > Four core principles form the base of New College's academic philosophy: (1) each student is responsible in the last analysis for his or her own education, (2) the best education demands a joint search for learning by exciting teachers and able students, (3) students' progress should be based on demonstrated competence and real mastery rather than on the accumulation of credits and grades, (4) students should have, from the outset, opportunities to explore in-depth, areas of interest to them. To the end of putting this philosophy into practice, New College uses a unique academic program that differs substantially from those of most other educational institutions ... They certainly reject your view that 'instruction by someone connected to my institution is only to provided as a last resort', and yet they are also not a 'traditional liberal arts school' in the style you dislike. 2) Yes, I used standard/standardized with different meanings to point out that you have done the same shifting in your statements. Consider your statement 'Advising best practices can not be expected to be standard across all industries'. This is of course nonsensical. But you used 'standardized testing' to include one-off tests created by a teacher for a single class room. If that meaning were valid - and you have said that you won't be using it - then teaching best practices for a specific industry niche is also teaching to a standard. 3) Regarding what 'college' vs. 'technical/career education', it doesn't matter. Your said '66% of high school graduates enroll in college within a year', so you need to use the same definition as the source for where you got the 66%. You can't pick an alternative definition that better suits your personal beliefs.