4 ms·

Why not skip college and just have a standardized test to get a degree?

mymythisisthis 7y ago
I think with some things this is possible. Start a school that is just about testing. Make sure it has a good reputation for catching cheaters. Post the passing grades online, with a photo of the student. Some people/employers just want written documentation.
- enjoyyourlife 7y ago
  >Post the passing grades online, with a photo of the student This goes against FERPA.
specialist 7y ago
I very much support achievement based credentialing. Like earning an Eagle Scout. With two caveats. There still needs to be minimum hours invested. Skin in the game. Even someone with mastery over a topic must still do something constructive, useful, formative. Work on a project. Mentor, tutor others. Teachers assistant. Whatever. For undergraduate degrees, there still needs to be off topic study. Ethics, humanities, finger painting, banging the rocks together, study abroad, whatever. Anything to expose young minds to stuff outside of their own bubble.
- specialist 7y ago
  I'm sad that at least two people prefer Taylorism (grades) over humanism (achievement).
- travisoneill1 7y ago
  So you set an hour limit that is appropriate for the average person and ensure that 50% of people are not ready and the other half are wasting their time.
  - specialist 7y ago
    Are you criticizing the current system? Or my proposal?
    - travisoneill1 7y ago
      Criticizing the part of your proposal that would require a minimum time investment.
      - specialist 7y ago
        Because everything worth knowing is in a book or on a test? Because experience doesn't matter? No matter. What's your plan?
vonmoltke 7y ago
It used to be possible to become an engineer that way. If you had enough experience working with licensed engineers, and got recommendations from two or three of them, you could take the PE exam without any academic credentials beyond high school. Sadly, even engineering has become credentials-obsessed now.
rhc2104 7y ago
Wester Governors University is like that to some extent. A class is completed when you pass a test. So some people that already have the knowledge get the degree pretty quickly. https://www.wgu.edu/ https://www.wgu.edu/
dredmorbius 7y ago
What would you test? What does college serve as, other than simply a testing service?
- zdragnar 7y ago
  Four years to "find yourself", get drunk, and generally waste time? That's what the majority of people do (in the US at least). The majority of my undergraduate classes amounted to: * practicing reading * practicing writing * practicing participating in group discussions * practicing demonstrating concepts (maths and proofs) * practicing a second language For most of those courses, I could have been handed a syllabus of topics to learn on my own, and then taken a final exam- I'd already had plenty of practice writing and speaking at that point outside of school, so everything but the second language requirement for my degree could have boiled down to a few weeks or months.
  - dredmorbius 7y ago
    Having access to professors, multiple subject areas, libraries, laboratories, computing environments, field-excursion opportunities, alumni networks, university partnerships, visiting vaculty, lecture programmes (both inside and outside ordinary course materials), and opportunities to meet and know students from a wide range of backgrounds, interests, inclinations, personal histories, and political inclinations, are all part of my own college experience. There was also introduction to specific skills, some of which proved useful, and subject areas. Numerous of my courses outside my major areas of study or even areas of general interest have proved highly durable and relevant, in ways I could never have guessed. The opportunity to develop my own skills in research and areas of interest as well. And, I realise several decades later, numerous missed opportunities. Along with some socialising. I'm not of the view that uni is for everyone, or that its benefits (or financing) are fairly sold. But it most definitely can and does have considerable value.

I think with some things this is possible. Start a school that is just about testing. Make sure it has a good reputation for catching cheaters. Post the passing grades online, with a photo of the student. Some people/employers just want written documentation.

enjoyyourlife 7y ago
>Post the passing grades online, with a photo of the student This goes against FERPA.

specialist 7y ago

I very much support achievement based credentialing. Like earning an Eagle Scout. With two caveats. There still needs to be minimum hours invested. Skin in the game. Even someone with mastery over a topic must still do something constructive, useful, formative. Work on a project. Mentor, tutor others. Teachers assistant. Whatever. For undergraduate degrees, there still needs to be off topic study. Ethics, humanities, finger painting, banging the rocks together, study abroad, whatever. Anything to expose young minds to stuff outside of their own bubble.

specialist 7y ago
I'm sad that at least two people prefer Taylorism (grades) over humanism (achievement).
travisoneill1 7y ago
So you set an hour limit that is appropriate for the average person and ensure that 50% of people are not ready and the other half are wasting their time.
- specialist 7y ago
  Are you criticizing the current system? Or my proposal?
  - travisoneill1 7y ago
    Criticizing the part of your proposal that would require a minimum time investment.
    - specialist 7y ago
      Because everything worth knowing is in a book or on a test? Because experience doesn't matter? No matter. What's your plan?

vonmoltke 7y ago

It used to be possible to become an engineer that way. If you had enough experience working with licensed engineers, and got recommendations from two or three of them, you could take the PE exam without any academic credentials beyond high school. Sadly, even engineering has become credentials-obsessed now.

rhc2104 7y ago

Wester Governors University is like that to some extent. A class is completed when you pass a test. So some people that already have the knowledge get the degree pretty quickly. https://www.wgu.edu/ https://www.wgu.edu/

dredmorbius 7y ago

What would you test? What does college serve as, other than simply a testing service?

zdragnar 7y ago
Four years to "find yourself", get drunk, and generally waste time? That's what the majority of people do (in the US at least). The majority of my undergraduate classes amounted to: * practicing reading * practicing writing * practicing participating in group discussions * practicing demonstrating concepts (maths and proofs) * practicing a second language For most of those courses, I could have been handed a syllabus of topics to learn on my own, and then taken a final exam- I'd already had plenty of practice writing and speaking at that point outside of school, so everything but the second language requirement for my degree could have boiled down to a few weeks or months.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  Having access to professors, multiple subject areas, libraries, laboratories, computing environments, field-excursion opportunities, alumni networks, university partnerships, visiting vaculty, lecture programmes (both inside and outside ordinary course materials), and opportunities to meet and know students from a wide range of backgrounds, interests, inclinations, personal histories, and political inclinations, are all part of my own college experience. There was also introduction to specific skills, some of which proved useful, and subject areas. Numerous of my courses outside my major areas of study or even areas of general interest have proved highly durable and relevant, in ways I could never have guessed. The opportunity to develop my own skills in research and areas of interest as well. And, I realise several decades later, numerous missed opportunities. Along with some socialising. I'm not of the view that uni is for everyone, or that its benefits (or financing) are fairly sold. But it most definitely can and does have considerable value.