3 ms·

When I look at the grad school system, I am really confused. I really, really wanted to go to grad school at a top 10 history program, where I also did an under

When I look at the grad school system, I am really confused. I really, really wanted to go to grad school at a top 10 history program, where I also did an undergrad honors' thesis. I was prepared to accept $18,000 a year as a living wage, and I was excited to be an adjunct for $35,000 a year with crazy hours and no health benefits in a small college town. Now I am paid usually $45,000 - $60,000 per year to talk on a phone to people who need help filling out a web form in order to buy something. It's a bit absurd. I don't mind this work and it is good money. It keeps me and my girlfriend fed and sheltered. Why is the university system so negligent and abusive towards those who invent new ideas and teach new inventors?

nonbel 8y ago
>"Either millions of students are overpaying every year, or the system provides some value." Its the former, except the government is paying for it... EDIT: I say this as someone who got paid by the government via academia to torture rodents for no reason for years.
- anoncoward111 8y ago
  I can guarantee you that the $30,000 I wired from my bank account to my student loan company was not given to me by the government. The government of course gave me the loan for inflated price of attending uni, but goddamnit I paid for it myself with my own blood and tears.
  - nonbel 8y ago
    I had a scholarship.
  - garmaine 8y ago
    Grad school, in academic research not engineering and MBAs, is mostly done on scholarships/grants. Your tuition is paid by your PI using a grant from the government (or sometimes a private foundation or company).
    - anoncoward111 8y ago
      No worries, we are talking about two different things. I'm saying that when a grad student or adjunct teaches a class, they get paid a few thousand dollars. The students in that class are paying 100x that amount in tuition. I'm implying that grad students should be paid more for this service, instead of the money going to administrator salaries and football stadiums.
      - garmaine 8y ago
        Oh I agree. It's just if you're doing grad school and you're paying with student loans, not the government, you're doing it wrong.
        anoncoward111 8y ago
        Yes 100%. Sometimes it works out profitable for "professional schools", but definitely not for history majors or even sometimes biology majors.
nonbel 8y ago
>"Why is the university system so negligent and abusive towards those who invent new ideas and teach new inventors?" Have you considered the possibility that academia is paying researchers/etc what they are worth on average? Its just that the majority of people being paid are generating near zero, or negative, value to society.
- anoncoward111 8y ago
  I've definitely considered it. However, interestingly, to attend university in the USA usually carries a pricetag of $20,000 to $30,000 per year minimum after all the smoke and mirrors of "grants and financial aid". So, you have consumers (students and their parents) paying real money for a real education that they are hoping will result in gainful employment. Either millions of students are overpaying every year, or the system provides some value. Now, the ones delivering that value (grad students) are receiving maybe $8,000 per semester while teaching 100 students lets say, while the students are paying collectively nearly $1,000,000 for 4 months of tuitoon. Where does the other $992,000 go, besides administrator salaries and football stadiums?
  - mitochondrion 8y ago
    Besides administrators and sports programs, glamorous campus amenities and affirmative action admittees.
    - chrisbennet 8y ago
      “Besides administrators and sports programs, glamorous campus amenities and affirmative action admittees.” Is affirmative action really that expensive?
      - anoncoward111 8y ago
        I believe in funding affirmative action but yes it is expensive, the university accepts the students into the school and covers much of the cost of their housing and tuition. The actual cost isn't $60,000 per year like the sticker price says, but it is certainly around $8,000-12,000 in operational costs.
im3w1l 8y ago
In capitalism it's better to create a small amount of value that you can capture, than a large amount of value that you can't. You will be more rewarded if you can say I made those people buy $500k more in widgets then they would have otherwise bought last year and back that up with stats, then if you write a paper that leads to better widgets years down the line or even worse, write a paper on the sociocultural effects of widgets.

nonbel 8y ago

>"Either millions of students are overpaying every year, or the system provides some value." Its the former, except the government is paying for it... EDIT: I say this as someone who got paid by the government via academia to torture rodents for no reason for years.

anoncoward111 8y ago
I can guarantee you that the $30,000 I wired from my bank account to my student loan company was not given to me by the government. The government of course gave me the loan for inflated price of attending uni, but goddamnit I paid for it myself with my own blood and tears.
- nonbel 8y ago
  I had a scholarship.
- garmaine 8y ago
  Grad school, in academic research not engineering and MBAs, is mostly done on scholarships/grants. Your tuition is paid by your PI using a grant from the government (or sometimes a private foundation or company).
  - anoncoward111 8y ago
    No worries, we are talking about two different things. I'm saying that when a grad student or adjunct teaches a class, they get paid a few thousand dollars. The students in that class are paying 100x that amount in tuition. I'm implying that grad students should be paid more for this service, instead of the money going to administrator salaries and football stadiums.
    - garmaine 8y ago
      Oh I agree. It's just if you're doing grad school and you're paying with student loans, not the government, you're doing it wrong.
      - anoncoward111 8y ago
        Yes 100%. Sometimes it works out profitable for "professional schools", but definitely not for history majors or even sometimes biology majors.

nonbel 8y ago

>"Why is the university system so negligent and abusive towards those who invent new ideas and teach new inventors?" Have you considered the possibility that academia is paying researchers/etc what they are worth on average? Its just that the majority of people being paid are generating near zero, or negative, value to society.

anoncoward111 8y ago
I've definitely considered it. However, interestingly, to attend university in the USA usually carries a pricetag of $20,000 to $30,000 per year minimum after all the smoke and mirrors of "grants and financial aid". So, you have consumers (students and their parents) paying real money for a real education that they are hoping will result in gainful employment. Either millions of students are overpaying every year, or the system provides some value. Now, the ones delivering that value (grad students) are receiving maybe $8,000 per semester while teaching 100 students lets say, while the students are paying collectively nearly $1,000,000 for 4 months of tuitoon. Where does the other $992,000 go, besides administrator salaries and football stadiums?
- mitochondrion 8y ago
  Besides administrators and sports programs, glamorous campus amenities and affirmative action admittees.
  - chrisbennet 8y ago
    “Besides administrators and sports programs, glamorous campus amenities and affirmative action admittees.” Is affirmative action really that expensive?
    - anoncoward111 8y ago
      I believe in funding affirmative action but yes it is expensive, the university accepts the students into the school and covers much of the cost of their housing and tuition. The actual cost isn't $60,000 per year like the sticker price says, but it is certainly around $8,000-12,000 in operational costs.

im3w1l 8y ago

In capitalism it's better to create a small amount of value that you can capture, than a large amount of value that you can't. You will be more rewarded if you can say I made those people buy $500k more in widgets then they would have otherwise bought last year and back that up with stats, then if you write a paper that leads to better widgets years down the line or even worse, write a paper on the sociocultural effects of widgets.