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I believe there are two kinds of colleges, the Rich Kids Daycare (RKD) and the Trade & Professional Formation (TPF). RKD doesn't always have a ROI, but it does

I believe there are two kinds of colleges, the Rich Kids Daycare (RKD) and the Trade & Professional Formation (TPF). RKD doesn't always have a ROI, but it doesn't need to - people attending those are usually very rich. They just want to stay four years away from their families, attending a multitude of classes, play instruments, join clubs and create their network of similar minded rich kids. They can stay even longer than the required time, for extra activities or pursuing a masters. Then they'll move on and get good jobs due to the social value of their diploma and network, and start to learn their jobs by actually doing them. Maybe those jobs aren't that good and don't pay so much, but it's in their passion and they have old money to spend on their passions. TPF is for the not so privileged people, for the ones who have no energy to waste, need to learn useful stuff in the least amount of time. ROI is essential to those and if they could pay less, learn stuff on Coursera and get good jobs, they would. So when accounting for the ROI of a college tuition, one must first separate the institutions into those two buckets, for clearer results.

animalgonzales 5y ago
> I believe there are two kinds of colleges, the Rich Kids Daycare (RKD) and the Trade & Professional Formation (TPF). jesus christ can we stop trying to redefine bourgeoisie and proletariat? what is with americans and hating karl marx and darwin
- sudosysgen 5y ago
  It's pretty egregious. Every time there is a discussion on HN that involves wealth (wealth inequality, trends for different wealth levels, intergenerational wealth, wealth taxes, etc...), people end here up basically redefining bourgeoisie and proletariat three levels down into the comment thread, and getting it slightly wrong in different ways each time.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    That's because a bunch of people who have houses in nice school districts, drive nice cars, have plenty of PTO, can afford a maid/babysitter, etc, etc, would rather redefine bourgeoisie than acknowledge that they're part of the bourgeoisie per the standard definition. Current social trends toward redefining words on a whim for rhetorical and ideological convenience certainly exacerbate the issue.
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      But that in and of itself is not even being bourgeois, it's middle class in the standard definition.
      - animalgonzales 5y ago
        American definitions of "class" are just a way to obscure the lines between the owners and the workers. Most middle class people are petite bourgeoisie or labor aristocracy proletariat
skeeter2020 5y ago
This is an attractive narative but doesn't stand up to even initial scrutiny. Where does an engineering degree from a decent public school fit? What about a law degree from an ivy? Where do you place a teaching degree from a small private or religious university?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
Ir0nMan 5y ago
It has nothing to do with the institution, it is about the major. A Gender Studies degree from Harvard has a negative ROI.

animalgonzales 5y ago

> I believe there are two kinds of colleges, the Rich Kids Daycare (RKD) and the Trade & Professional Formation (TPF). jesus christ can we stop trying to redefine bourgeoisie and proletariat? what is with americans and hating karl marx and darwin

sudosysgen 5y ago
It's pretty egregious. Every time there is a discussion on HN that involves wealth (wealth inequality, trends for different wealth levels, intergenerational wealth, wealth taxes, etc...), people end here up basically redefining bourgeoisie and proletariat three levels down into the comment thread, and getting it slightly wrong in different ways each time.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  That's because a bunch of people who have houses in nice school districts, drive nice cars, have plenty of PTO, can afford a maid/babysitter, etc, etc, would rather redefine bourgeoisie than acknowledge that they're part of the bourgeoisie per the standard definition. Current social trends toward redefining words on a whim for rhetorical and ideological convenience certainly exacerbate the issue.
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    But that in and of itself is not even being bourgeois, it's middle class in the standard definition.
    - animalgonzales 5y ago
      American definitions of "class" are just a way to obscure the lines between the owners and the workers. Most middle class people are petite bourgeoisie or labor aristocracy proletariat

skeeter2020 5y ago

This is an attractive narative but doesn't stand up to even initial scrutiny. Where does an engineering degree from a decent public school fit? What about a law degree from an ivy? Where do you place a teaching degree from a small private or religious university?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

Ir0nMan 5y ago

It has nothing to do with the institution, it is about the major. A Gender Studies degree from Harvard has a negative ROI.