4 ms·

I've been saying this for a long time now. Modern universities are a mix of two contradictory ideas. It's a place for "higher learning"; trying to fit the same

I've been saying this for a long time now. Modern universities are a mix of two contradictory ideas. It's a place for "higher learning"; trying to fit the same role as institutions from hundreds of years ago where academic learning was much rarer and was fitted for the aristocracy. While simultaneously being something that you need for a job to make money. Oh, and also the people doing the teaching are more interested in their research than actually teaching. Forget teachers putting in 100% of their effort into teaching and making sure people really get the material (here's some slides the T.A. made, deal with it), you're lucky if a professor is a half-way decent orator. There are so many better ways to get different kinds of education, particularly for humanities. There are books, online videos, etc. that provide a better education on writing, philosophy, etc. than what a single professor charging thousands of dollars can provide.

wbl 6y ago
Many of the professors I admired were top notch researches as well as great teachers. They go together more often then not.
lumost 6y ago
From what I understand, a top-notch professor of philosophy at a first-tier university will teach 1-2 classes per semester to 300ish students per class for which they will earn no more than 300k per year ( although typically 3-6x less ). This works out to roughly $250 per student per semester. It's difficult to price the work of T.As as they are often students themselves, but assuming each student requires an average of 2 hours per week of dedicated grading/tutoring time, then at $20/hr the total cost of providing a first tier class should be $730 dollars. This number is roughly 1/3rd to 1/2 the cost of a class at a community college, 1/6th of the effective cost per class for UMass Amherst, and roughly 1/10th the effective price per class of MIT. I can assure you that the lecturer at your community college is not making 300k either. But this calculation does show that most of the tuition costs do not end up in the hands of the teaching staff, and that providing a first rate education could be done for an order of magnitude lower cost than current first tier universities charge. Or hell, offer professors 1 million per year and still charge 1/3rd the price of MIT.
- kevinventullo 6y ago
  I started tutoring halfway through grad school to supplement my income. It was such easy money that it prompted me to do a similar calculation, based on my own observed income and the public salaries of professors at the university. This was at UCLA, a highly ranked school for math PhD’s, but for which very few profs were making anywhere close to 300k. This epiphany acted as a catalyst for me to leave academia.

wbl 6y ago

Many of the professors I admired were top notch researches as well as great teachers. They go together more often then not.

lumost 6y ago

From what I understand, a top-notch professor of philosophy at a first-tier university will teach 1-2 classes per semester to 300ish students per class for which they will earn no more than 300k per year ( although typically 3-6x less ). This works out to roughly $250 per student per semester. It's difficult to price the work of T.As as they are often students themselves, but assuming each student requires an average of 2 hours per week of dedicated grading/tutoring time, then at $20/hr the total cost of providing a first tier class should be $730 dollars. This number is roughly 1/3rd to 1/2 the cost of a class at a community college, 1/6th of the effective cost per class for UMass Amherst, and roughly 1/10th the effective price per class of MIT. I can assure you that the lecturer at your community college is not making 300k either. But this calculation does show that most of the tuition costs do not end up in the hands of the teaching staff, and that providing a first rate education could be done for an order of magnitude lower cost than current first tier universities charge. Or hell, offer professors 1 million per year and still charge 1/3rd the price of MIT.

kevinventullo 6y ago
I started tutoring halfway through grad school to supplement my income. It was such easy money that it prompted me to do a similar calculation, based on my own observed income and the public salaries of professors at the university. This was at UCLA, a highly ranked school for math PhD’s, but for which very few profs were making anywhere close to 300k. This epiphany acted as a catalyst for me to leave academia.