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Given that this is quillette one would think they would be hesitant to question the wise and steady hand of the free market. Surely the rationally-acting ratio

Given that this is quillette one would think they would be hesitant to question the wise and steady hand of the free market. Surely the rationally-acting rational actors at all of these institutions are acting rationally in accordance with rationality? After all, we live in a time when any "entrepreneur" can affix his name to a suburban sprawl wasteland strip mall storefront, open a University, and get accredited by at least SOMEONE and drive all of the wasteful and bloated (and liberal sissy-manchild-- their words not mine) institutions out of business, using the holy and righteous motive of PROFIT to deliver a better, cheaper, more rationally rational product to all of the young impressionable minds out there, right?

School-Cotton 4y ago
University education in the US is very far from a free market. They’re kinda the worst of both worlds: massively subsidized by the state and federal governments, with very little government oversight.
- rocket_surgeron 4y ago
  What man or law or king can stop me from opening a university and getting it accredited? None. Several open every year. All you need is the capital and that’s what we’re all about, baby! And then you can get the same subsidies and low levels of oversight as the big boys!
  - AlchemistCamp 4y ago
    The supply is still constrained, though. Despite massive population growth and a simultaneous increase in the percentage of people choosing to go to college, new institutions are accredited at a lower rate now than they were in the mid 20th century. It would be interesting to see the trends in the costs of getting accredited over the decades.
  - notacoward 4y ago
    Yes, you can open a college/university without being accredited, but you might find it's not such a good idea. Direct subsidies will be out. Most kinds of student loans and other aid will be out. You're going to have a bit of trouble attracting faculty or students, except those who are desperate. And if your students are demonstrably not getting any benefit from attending you'll be shut down as a fraud. People really lost patience with that crap after Corinthian, Capella, etc. so there are a lot of new limits and regulations. Basically the only non-accredited colleges that can make a go of it are those that have some other kind of rich sponsor - most often a religious one.
HKH2 4y ago
I didn't realize that guaranteed loans and government subsidies are part of the free market.
- rocket_surgeron 4y ago
  If every player gets them, they could be.
  - HKH2 4y ago
    No, they could not; that is either wealth redistribution or pointless. You can't make risk disappear magically.

School-Cotton 4y ago

University education in the US is very far from a free market. They’re kinda the worst of both worlds: massively subsidized by the state and federal governments, with very little government oversight.

rocket_surgeron 4y ago
What man or law or king can stop me from opening a university and getting it accredited? None. Several open every year. All you need is the capital and that’s what we’re all about, baby! And then you can get the same subsidies and low levels of oversight as the big boys!
- AlchemistCamp 4y ago
  The supply is still constrained, though. Despite massive population growth and a simultaneous increase in the percentage of people choosing to go to college, new institutions are accredited at a lower rate now than they were in the mid 20th century. It would be interesting to see the trends in the costs of getting accredited over the decades.
- notacoward 4y ago
  Yes, you can open a college/university without being accredited, but you might find it's not such a good idea. Direct subsidies will be out. Most kinds of student loans and other aid will be out. You're going to have a bit of trouble attracting faculty or students, except those who are desperate. And if your students are demonstrably not getting any benefit from attending you'll be shut down as a fraud. People really lost patience with that crap after Corinthian, Capella, etc. so there are a lot of new limits and regulations. Basically the only non-accredited colleges that can make a go of it are those that have some other kind of rich sponsor - most often a religious one.

HKH2 4y ago

I didn't realize that guaranteed loans and government subsidies are part of the free market.

rocket_surgeron 4y ago
If every player gets them, they could be.
- HKH2 4y ago
  No, they could not; that is either wealth redistribution or pointless. You can't make risk disappear magically.