CalTech, Too! This Even Surprised Me. Sirs, do you have no shame?

They Paid Thousands for a Caltech Boot Camp. Caltech Didn’t Teach It. – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

I wrote the following in the comments.

This started decades ago. By “this” I mean…Well, let one of America’s most revered observers of both America and higher education, explain it.

“…advantage can still be taken of [students] by unscrupulous instructors and institutions.”

That was from David Riesman’s 1980 book “On Higher Education: The Academic Enterprise in an Era of Rising Student Consumerism”.

By 1980, some professors and administrators were just beginning to realize how easily students and the public could be scammed. As Riesman put it in the same book,

“…the “wants” of students to which competing institutions, departments, and individual faculty members cater are quite different from the “needs” of students”

This article shows how the process has been fine-tuned, and how the rot has metastasized throughout this system. It has even spread into K-12 through the poor education of HS teachers. See more about this on my blog inside-higher-ed.com

This must change. Holding colleges accountable is the only way this will happen.

Student Chimes in on How Hard Students Work – Good Read with Good Comments

Opinion | College students study plenty. What they need is more social life. - The Washington Post The title is misleading. It's still a good view from a student. You can read my comment on the site. … [Continue reading]

He sums up the problem as an inversion of authority: ‘The less wise, who are the students, rule over the more wise, the professors.’

This is quoted from an opinion piece in the WSJ. The essay focuses on the political orientation of universities, but for my purposes, I'm only interested in what 92 year old Prof. Mansfield has to say about the changes in higher education. If you … [Continue reading]

WSJ: Insight into High School

Here are some quotes. "He passed students so long as they tried, even if they hadn’t mastered the material. Now he teaches history..." [Oh good, just "try" at history, then go vote.] "One increasingly common approach is a minimum grade—often … [Continue reading]

“Fake studies have flooded the publishers of top scientific journals, leading to thousands of retractions and millions of dollars in lost revenue. “

This from today's WSJ article, Flood of Fake Science Forces Multiple Journal Closures - WSJ . That this is happening plays right into the grips of science deniers. That is bad news. In addition to keeping grifters out of education, we need to keep … [Continue reading]

Excellent Quote From “How Fascism Works” by Yale Professor Jason Stanley

Intelligent debate is impossible without an education with access to different perspectives, a respect for expertise when one's own knowledge gives out, and a rich enough language to precisely describe reality. When education, expertise, and … [Continue reading]

On Campus Protests

Other than higher education, I try to stay clear of expressing any political views on this blog. In this comment on the campus protests, I'm going to try to not take any political side while I am going to point out how the deplorable state of … [Continue reading]

Employers Less Likely to Hire From Ivy League Now Than Five Years Ago

This is according to a study by Forges Magazine. I find it interesting. Exclusive: Employers Are Souring On Ivy League Grads, While These 20 “New Ivies” Ascend (forbes.com) … [Continue reading]

“Some schools also seem confused about their fundamental academic mission.” David French, NY Times

Here is a link to his excellent piece. Opinion | How to Reboot Free Speech on Campus - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Here is part of the comment that I posted. No one could address the current problem better than did David Riesman, one of … [Continue reading]