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More than a third of the US population has a college degree. [1] When you consider the fact that 20% of the US population are children [2] that means that rough

by raddan 2mo ago

More than a third of the US population has a college degree. [1] When you consider the fact that 20% of the US population are children [2] that means that roughly half of the eligible US population has a college degree. If “half” is elite, then I’m not sure what “elite” means, because it’s not very exclusive. > Not sure what your point is. Well, you said > All universities are for the elites. And then I countered that, actually, many are not selective. I am asking you to reconsider your statement. In reality, many college programs confer _skills_, not _status_. This narrative that colleges are for the elites is demonstrably untrue, runs counter to the founding mission of many of them, and strikes me as sour grapes. I know because I was one of the kids who struggled to afford college, went to a public one where I learned _skills_, which I then leveraged into a satisfying career. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_... [2] https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/2024/comm/under-18-population.pdf https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizat...

estearum 2mo ago
[flagged]
- neuroticnews25 2mo ago
  > All universities are for the elites. I would love for that not to be the case What would have to change for you to declare it's not the case?
  - estearum 2mo ago
    The costs would have to go down significantly. And I don't just mean the direct price to students – even public universities are extremely costly overall. It costs ~$55k/year to educate a student at UMich. That's more than half of the median US family's income. And UMich is a massive success story. Excellent academic output at a relatively great price – but even there the actual cost would bankrupt a normal American family. That's a lot of money to spend educating someone into a non-elite trajectory in life, no? Never mind the opportunity cost of 4 years where one could be acquiring direct skills in whatever job they're going into?

by raddan 2mo ago

estearum 2mo ago

[flagged]

neuroticnews25 2mo ago
> All universities are for the elites. I would love for that not to be the case What would have to change for you to declare it's not the case?
- estearum 2mo ago
  The costs would have to go down significantly. And I don't just mean the direct price to students – even public universities are extremely costly overall. It costs ~$55k/year to educate a student at UMich. That's more than half of the median US family's income. And UMich is a massive success story. Excellent academic output at a relatively great price – but even there the actual cost would bankrupt a normal American family. That's a lot of money to spend educating someone into a non-elite trajectory in life, no? Never mind the opportunity cost of 4 years where one could be acquiring direct skills in whatever job they're going into?