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US is #1 at caring about being #1. (we'll see if this shifts to whatever next country becomes #1) > U.S. education is always said to be in crisis. But 17 of th

by Dewie 12y ago

US is #1 at caring about being #1. (we'll see if this shifts to whatever next country becomes #1) > U.S. education is always said to be in crisis. But 17 of the world’s top 20 universities are in the U.S., and 34 of the top 50. Yes, we all know that the smart and/or rich/connected have ample opportunity in the US. But that says nothing about the median.

byerley 12y ago
Having studied at both a cheap state university and also one of the famed "top 20," I'd wholeheartedly argue that the educational opportunities at the two were similar if not the same. The degree from the latter is potentially worth more in the job market, but the level of education you come away with is largely a matter of personal drive - especially now that information is so readily available everywhere.
- Dewie 12y ago
  > Having studied at both a cheap state university and also one of the famed "top 20," I'd wholeheartedly argue that the educational opportunities at the two were similar if not the same. Which I guess means that people living in other countries than the US may be getting a good education despite being, you know, not in the US.
lomnakkus 12y ago
> US is #1 at caring about being #1 That seems like a bit of an overstatement[0] considering all the categories that the US isn't #1, e.g. Life expectancy (#49) [1]. Granted, these rankings are quite old, but you can pretty easily find others, for example Hans Rosling's presentations on health care. EDIT: This is not a dig at the US as such. I just think it's time for a reality check for many people. [0] Or, rather, the US doesn't seem to be very effectual at improving the situation. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_the_U...
- alexeisadeski3 12y ago
  Actually, the US probably does lead in life expectancy... As usual, you can make the data do anything you like, but this methodology makes a lot of sense. http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/does-the-us-lead-in-life-expectancy-223/ http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/does-the-us-lead-in-life-exp...
  - lomnakkus 12y ago
    I may be off my rocker, but it seems kind of weird to specifically discount murders and such when calculating life expectancy. I mean, I get that the health care system probably can't have much effect on murder as a cause of death, but life expectancy is life expectancy no matter what eventually ends up killing you. (My reference to Hans Rosling was more of an aside, I didn't mean to conflate average life expectancy with the standard of health care. I apologize if that wasn't clear.)
    - alexeisadeski3 12y ago
      You're totally correct, but so is the paper discussed in the WSJ link. Different measures of life expectancy for different purposes. It's a bit like the inequality data "showing" that the US has higher post-tax&transfer inequality than does France. -News flash- nations with stronger social safety nets have stronger social safety nets! It seems that the pertinent measure would be pre-tax&transfer income inequality... a measure which just so happens to show the US and France have identical GINIs. But you won't read that in the NYT...
- Dewie 12y ago
  > That seems like a bit of an overstatement[0] considering all the categories that the US isn't #1[...] I wrote caring about being #1. Not necessarily being nr. 1.

by Dewie 12y ago

byerley 12y ago

Having studied at both a cheap state university and also one of the famed "top 20," I'd wholeheartedly argue that the educational opportunities at the two were similar if not the same. The degree from the latter is potentially worth more in the job market, but the level of education you come away with is largely a matter of personal drive - especially now that information is so readily available everywhere.

Dewie 12y ago
> Having studied at both a cheap state university and also one of the famed "top 20," I'd wholeheartedly argue that the educational opportunities at the two were similar if not the same. Which I guess means that people living in other countries than the US may be getting a good education despite being, you know, not in the US.

lomnakkus 12y ago

> US is #1 at caring about being #1 That seems like a bit of an overstatement[0] considering all the categories that the US isn't #1, e.g. Life expectancy (#49) [1]. Granted, these rankings are quite old, but you can pretty easily find others, for example Hans Rosling's presentations on health care. EDIT: This is not a dig at the US as such. I just think it's time for a reality check for many people. [0] Or, rather, the US doesn't seem to be very effectual at improving the situation. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_the_U...

alexeisadeski3 12y ago
Actually, the US probably does lead in life expectancy... As usual, you can make the data do anything you like, but this methodology makes a lot of sense. http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/does-the-us-lead-in-life-expectancy-223/ http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/does-the-us-lead-in-life-exp...
- lomnakkus 12y ago
  I may be off my rocker, but it seems kind of weird to specifically discount murders and such when calculating life expectancy. I mean, I get that the health care system probably can't have much effect on murder as a cause of death, but life expectancy is life expectancy no matter what eventually ends up killing you. (My reference to Hans Rosling was more of an aside, I didn't mean to conflate average life expectancy with the standard of health care. I apologize if that wasn't clear.)
  - alexeisadeski3 12y ago
    You're totally correct, but so is the paper discussed in the WSJ link. Different measures of life expectancy for different purposes. It's a bit like the inequality data "showing" that the US has higher post-tax&transfer inequality than does France. -News flash- nations with stronger social safety nets have stronger social safety nets! It seems that the pertinent measure would be pre-tax&transfer income inequality... a measure which just so happens to show the US and France have identical GINIs. But you won't read that in the NYT...
Dewie 12y ago
> That seems like a bit of an overstatement[0] considering all the categories that the US isn't #1[...] I wrote caring about being #1. Not necessarily being nr. 1.