All of this wringing of the hands could be dealt with summarily: by ending the monopolistic power of the accreditation agencies and the universities on higher e

All of this wringing of the hands could be dealt with summarily: by ending the monopolistic power of the accreditation agencies and the universities on higher education. A college degree—all college degrees—should have a basic set of requirements that are made publicly available for anyone to access. If one meets those requirements, whether that is through individual study, or group study or through the help of an institution, it shouldn’t matter. Offer standardized exams, written and/ or oral if there is concern over competency. College as it is now is a racket. The whole racket is based on marketing: socializing (drinking and partying), campus amenities, paid rankings in magazines, sports hoopla, etc. Sure, it’s all fun. Lots of fun. But you can make a good a downpayment on real estate or a business with 4 * $60k for goodness sake. I have three traditional college degrees. And I can’t count the number of hours and dollars wasted on taking useless, outdated classes using useless and outdated textbooks. Seriously, we need real change in higher education. No bandaids. It’s ridiculous.