3 ms·

I agree with this. The biggest issue I see is not that the Harvard admissions process is arbitrary and perhaps biased. No, the biggest issue is the size of th

I agree with this. The biggest issue I see is not that the Harvard admissions process is arbitrary and perhaps biased. No, the biggest issue is the size of the student bodyis kept stagnantly small to maintain exclusivity. Perhaps this made sense in an analog age but at some point in the digital world of plenty this will get/needs to be disrupted. The game changer will be when some University figures out how to become the Apple of higher education. Previously high end phones achieved prestige by adding diamonds, gold plating, a high price tag and only a select few stores that people in the know could find (i.e. the Nokia Vertu). Somehow Apple figured out how to maintain prestige/exclusivity while essentially servicing the entire market. It will be a breakthrough for humanity when a University figures out how to replicate this combo of prestige and quality at scale for higher education.

solatic 5y ago
> The game changer will be when some University figures out how to become the Apple of higher education. You think it hasn't been tried? First, there's a chicken-or-egg problem. By virtue of being one of the oldest universities in America, Harvard was originally an elite institution that was powered by the tuition paid for by the children of elite parents. To start a new "Harvard-but-bigger", you need to figure out where the "elite" part comes from. In the absence of a pre-existing elite alumni body, you need to enforce rigorous academic standards on your early graduating classes and let your reputation grow from there. But, you also need to deliver the rigorous academic standards at scale. MOOCs were one attempt, but it's impossible to defend against cheating online. It's hard enough to stop cheating in real-world exam rooms, letting people go through examinations at home makes it impossible. If you require people to show up in-person, then you reach physical limits to scale very quickly. Even if you try to combine MOOC-style lectures with building out a network of controlled examination centers in the real world, the attempts to expand American standardized testing abroad show that you begin to run into problems of corrupt test center administrators. It's like the fast food franchise model, where the restaurant corporate headquarters finds it increasingly difficult to maintain the same standards across all of their franchised locations, except that with examinations, your day-to-day users want your standards to be compromised.
analog31 5y ago
The state university systems are already doing this quite well. In my state, there's one "flagship" university, that also has the football and basketball teams. And a number of regional universities, commuter campuses, trade schools, and so forth. The regional universities have the same admission standards as the main campus, but fewer graduate and professional programs etc. Some of them specialize, e.g., one campus has the big nursing school. Sure, there is more prestige at the big campus, and students try to get in there if they can, but it's a well kept secret that the regional colleges are just as good for basic undergraduate education. And cheaper. The community colleges in my state are so great. They do such a huge service, and they do it economically. You can get a 4 year degree by spending 2 years at a community college and the other 2 at a state university. That's like the bargain of the century. The CoCo's keep an eye on the curriculum at the big schools, so the students are prepared, and there's no hassle with transferring credits. And their focus is on teaching. Disclosure: One of my kids attends the big school, the other is at one of the regional schools, both are in good situations. I think that the "elite" schools can be left to their own devices, on their own funding, and turn themselves into a freak show if they want. Public attention should turn towards supporting and developing better access to education for the rest of us, starting with the community college system. In a few decades, I hope we will look back on privatized higher education, the way we look on privatized health care today.

solatic 5y ago

> The game changer will be when some University figures out how to become the Apple of higher education. You think it hasn't been tried? First, there's a chicken-or-egg problem. By virtue of being one of the oldest universities in America, Harvard was originally an elite institution that was powered by the tuition paid for by the children of elite parents. To start a new "Harvard-but-bigger", you need to figure out where the "elite" part comes from. In the absence of a pre-existing elite alumni body, you need to enforce rigorous academic standards on your early graduating classes and let your reputation grow from there. But, you also need to deliver the rigorous academic standards at scale. MOOCs were one attempt, but it's impossible to defend against cheating online. It's hard enough to stop cheating in real-world exam rooms, letting people go through examinations at home makes it impossible. If you require people to show up in-person, then you reach physical limits to scale very quickly. Even if you try to combine MOOC-style lectures with building out a network of controlled examination centers in the real world, the attempts to expand American standardized testing abroad show that you begin to run into problems of corrupt test center administrators. It's like the fast food franchise model, where the restaurant corporate headquarters finds it increasingly difficult to maintain the same standards across all of their franchised locations, except that with examinations, your day-to-day users want your standards to be compromised.

analog31 5y ago

The state university systems are already doing this quite well. In my state, there's one "flagship" university, that also has the football and basketball teams. And a number of regional universities, commuter campuses, trade schools, and so forth. The regional universities have the same admission standards as the main campus, but fewer graduate and professional programs etc. Some of them specialize, e.g., one campus has the big nursing school. Sure, there is more prestige at the big campus, and students try to get in there if they can, but it's a well kept secret that the regional colleges are just as good for basic undergraduate education. And cheaper. The community colleges in my state are so great. They do such a huge service, and they do it economically. You can get a 4 year degree by spending 2 years at a community college and the other 2 at a state university. That's like the bargain of the century. The CoCo's keep an eye on the curriculum at the big schools, so the students are prepared, and there's no hassle with transferring credits. And their focus is on teaching. Disclosure: One of my kids attends the big school, the other is at one of the regional schools, both are in good situations. I think that the "elite" schools can be left to their own devices, on their own funding, and turn themselves into a freak show if they want. Public attention should turn towards supporting and developing better access to education for the rest of us, starting with the community college system. In a few decades, I hope we will look back on privatized higher education, the way we look on privatized health care today.