3 ms·

I don't know the national average of my major. I paid something around 35-40k/year in tuition for an english literature degree. My MD and MS (CS) were more expe

I don't know the national average of my major. I paid something around 35-40k/year in tuition for an english literature degree. My MD and MS (CS) were more expensive but also done later. All undergraduate degrees in the US have a pricing issue. I don't believe anyone should be paying 30-60k/year for one. > There’s ideological value in everything, but we’re talking business here. No, we're talking about university education which should not be a business. I don't consider an undergraduate degree training for a specific job, that's what technical colleges are for. If you want to argue we shouldn't subsidize university in general I could understand that but think it's a bad idea. I don't agree that STEM degrees are inherently more valuable than the humanities from a general education perspective which is what I view undergraduate degrees as. If we treat it as a business we should only subsidize courses essential for the workplace. Why am I subsidizing a web developer or a physician taking undergraduate calculus and physics? Having worked as both I have needed neither. > “hazardous warning label: hey, we are going to charge you 15k a year for this. you won’t likely make more than X in the real world with this degree. You cool with it? No refunds.” I think it's common knowledge that STEM graduates earn more, this was the case when I was in high school during the 2000s.

lsmeducation 3y ago
No, we're talking about university education which should not be a business. Money and loans are involved, people pay, and people get paid. If we go even further on the money part, many consider it an investment. Anyways. Perhaps we should make the core liberal arts courses free of charge, and then create a pricing model for professional courses where the pricing model is more realistic about what is being offered, for what price, where the question truly becomes “is this worth it?”. That way we can finally separate the holiness of a core education away from specialized professional paths.
- haldujai 3y ago
  That’s interesting. I could get behind 1-2 years of core liberal arts training for everyone. I think it would be better for society. I find the skills I developed in my English degree have been very useful during my medical training and practice and has been commented on by my teachers during this journey. It’s certainly a better use of resources and time than a pre-med curriculum that gets repeated in the first 2 years of medical school anyway.

lsmeducation 3y ago

No, we're talking about university education which should not be a business. Money and loans are involved, people pay, and people get paid. If we go even further on the money part, many consider it an investment. Anyways. Perhaps we should make the core liberal arts courses free of charge, and then create a pricing model for professional courses where the pricing model is more realistic about what is being offered, for what price, where the question truly becomes “is this worth it?”. That way we can finally separate the holiness of a core education away from specialized professional paths.

haldujai 3y ago
That’s interesting. I could get behind 1-2 years of core liberal arts training for everyone. I think it would be better for society. I find the skills I developed in my English degree have been very useful during my medical training and practice and has been commented on by my teachers during this journey. It’s certainly a better use of resources and time than a pre-med curriculum that gets repeated in the first 2 years of medical school anyway.