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Do universities actually make sense anymore? For me, I felt the majority of the benefit of college was not the classes but the social experience. But that is a
by throwawaysea 6y ago
Do universities actually make sense anymore? For me, I felt the majority of the benefit of college was not the classes but the social experience. But that is a hell of a price to pay for social experience. Most subjects also do not need expensive facilities or specialized equipment. More typically, the knowledge gained over the course of four years can be learned in a self-guided way. In fact I would say that most subjects are better learned elsewhere, because you can pace yourself, you can choose to go deep or broad selectively, you can seek out multiple sources/perspectives, and so forth. I definitely am concerned that US universities are turning into a monoculture, and an especially dangerous one that is hostile (at times, physically!) to different viewpoints. Self-learning will lead to a diversification of admissible ideas. I also should mention that in big universities, professors are by and large not interested in teaching as much as their own research. The lectures can largely be replaced with a video that is recorded once and viewed by many.
The only real value a university confers is certification. Grades are really the result of a couple exams per class. The value of top universities' name on a degree is also largely built on the selectivity of their admissions process. But those students that they admit are not valuable because of the university - they're valuable regardless. So why not pivot to a world where companies administer certification tests for different subjects, at different degrees of difficulty/proficiency, at a low cost?
- ThrowawayR2 6y ago> "Most subjects also do not need expensive facilities or specialized equipment." The sciences, medicine, and engineering disciplines do. Computer science is a rarity in being a high-paying field that doesn't. (Although, given that the average developer doesn't really require a CS education, as many on HN say, I wouldn't count on CS remaining a high-paying field.)
- throwawaysea 6y agoAren’t these facilities replicable at a much lower cost? My university had meager equipment for physics and mechanical engineering for example. I’m less familiar with the chemical and biology side of things though.
- andrew_eit 6y ago"Do universities actually make sense anymore? " I think the question is better phrased 'Do universities IN THEIR CURRENT FORM actually make sense anymore?'. I used to share your opinion, especially after completing my bachelors but now that I am back in the system doing a masters (in the EU), I 100% see the value of university education (though I believe it should be free for all). The idea that you can meet in a room, full of likeminded individuals and be taught by experts in their fields, given deadlines, exam pressure, assignments and struggle together with other students carries weight. Most especially if you are interested in science and research, in investigating and discovering, you will be taught the rigour and discipline involved in this. Science is as much about the community as it is about the subject itself. All research builds off of previous ideas/experiments and many well-known scientists often conferred regularly and deeply with their counterparts around the world. I think universities are an important place where young generations of future minds can come into contact with the members of these communities.