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The high prices of education are still worth the lifetime earning potential, or so I've read many times. But that doesn't mean it is a good deal. The cost of K
by jostmey 11y ago
The high prices of education are still worth the lifetime earning potential, or so I've read many times.
But that doesn't mean it is a good deal. The cost of Knowledge is trending to zero because of the Internet. So why is the cost of Education skyrocketing out of control? There is a growing disconnect between the actual expenses of education, and the shady accounting practices used to justify the exorbitant prices. I'm a graduate student paid below minimum wage to grade papers and carry out research, and yet the University rewards itself with huge sums of grant money from taxpayers to "educate me".
> Correction: I used to grade papers, now I just do research.
- superuser2 11y ago>The cost of Knowledge is trending to zero because of the Internet. So why is the cost of education skyrocketing out of control? Because the purpose of higher education is not (just) knowledge transfer. Colleges that are expensive and worth it consist of a a great deal more than doing the readings and sitting in the lectures.
- jkestner 11y agoGreat, so what are those things? Let's break them out so we can discuss whether they're a good deal and whether there are more affordable alternatives. Some people do just want a good education.
- srtjstjsj 11y agoCommunity College. Half the cost of State College, half again the cost of Private College. The problem is (a) talented students don't choose community college, so they don't get the economy of scale of filling a classroom with likeminded students, so you don't get advanced classes. It's still an amazingly great solution for students to do 2 years at Community College and then 2 years at a State College, especially at prestigious state colleges like Washington and Michigan. But it takes a thick skin and a lot of initiative to overcome cultural biases and pressures.
- jostmey 11y agoVery True! But are Universities today orders of magnitude better at educating people? Because it certainly cost a lot more today than it used to [1]. 1. https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/college-cost-inflation-us-consumer-price-index_chart.png?w=1024&h=577 https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/college-cost-infl...
- cinquemb 11y ago>But are Universities today orders of magnitude better at educating people? And this is where people start to see the clothes on the emperor for what they are.
- branchless 11y agoWe have a usury system. The cost of education is set by available credit with the upper ceiling at the expected total earnings less existing costs. Creating the credit consumes zero resources. The state/banks don't care if you don't pay it back. If you can pay it back they get a share of your labour.