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The system here in Israel is roughly as follows: The gov sponsors universities almost to 100%. The means going to university is almost free for me as a student

The system here in Israel is roughly as follows: The gov sponsors universities almost to 100%. The means going to university is almost free for me as a student - about $2500 per year. I can acquire a law degree and become a lawyer for less than $8000. The government is involved in the way the public universities are run so as to keep the subsidies manageable. Total government funding for university education in Israel is about $1.5B [1]. Since universities have high admission standards, many colleges have sprouted to service those who can't or don't want to go to one of the public universities. However, since university prices are so low, even private colleges are forced to operate with tuition fees of roughly $5000 per year, which means they are also very manageable for students. Even so, the quality of education in Israel is amongst of the highest in the world, especially when considering its tiny population. Hebrew University, Israel's best institution, has been ranked 26th in the world [2]. This system has attracted a lot of snark here in Israel, but from what I gather it's actually pretty effective. Israel is the 2nd most educated country in the world, with 46% of its population possessing a university degree [3]. :-) Sorry for the Hebrew sources! [1] Hebrew: https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/אוניברסיטאות_בישראל#.D7.9E.D7.A1.D7.9C.D7.95.D7.9C.D7.99.D7.9D_.D7.9E.D7.99.D7.95.D7.97.D7.93.D7.99.D7.9D https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/אוניברסיטאות_בישראל#.D7.9E.D7.... [2] Hebrew: http://www.calcalist.co.il/world/articles/0,7340,L-3693018,00.html http://www.calcalist.co.il/world/articles/0,7340,L-3693018,0... [3] Hebrew: http://mako.co.il/special-mako-news/Article-6489f432bb2f931006.htm http://mako.co.il/special-mako-news/Article-6489f432bb2f9310...

logfromblammo 10y ago
Every Jew I have ever known in the US, to the last individual, has always placed a high value on education. It would seem to be a cultural value--or at least it is among Ashkenazis. So it does not surprise me that Israel has a decent, functional higher education system. US culture, as a whole, does not value education for its own sake. We value education only as a business. And much of that business is to suck money from the pockets of those who do value education as intrinsically beneficial, and blow it along to those who provide the illusion of education at the lowest operating cost. If a greater proportion of the population valued real learning, the focus would be on making high school graduates more relevant and useful in the modern workforce, rather than using bachelor's degrees as an arbitrary qualification for jobs that clearly do not require them. If >25% of kids think they need to go to university to get a "good" job--or even to just not be considered a low-status, ignorant loser--it is not the university system that has failed, but the 12-13 years of public education that usually precedes it.

logfromblammo 10y ago

Every Jew I have ever known in the US, to the last individual, has always placed a high value on education. It would seem to be a cultural value--or at least it is among Ashkenazis. So it does not surprise me that Israel has a decent, functional higher education system. US culture, as a whole, does not value education for its own sake. We value education only as a business. And much of that business is to suck money from the pockets of those who do value education as intrinsically beneficial, and blow it along to those who provide the illusion of education at the lowest operating cost. If a greater proportion of the population valued real learning, the focus would be on making high school graduates more relevant and useful in the modern workforce, rather than using bachelor's degrees as an arbitrary qualification for jobs that clearly do not require them. If >25% of kids think they need to go to university to get a "good" job--or even to just not be considered a low-status, ignorant loser--it is not the university system that has failed, but the 12-13 years of public education that usually precedes it.