I’m going to start posting excerpts from comments on news article that I worry are warnings, and that seem to substantiate what I have seen elsewhere. I’m doing this because I don’t have personal experience with those colleges and need to rely on others’ reports. I will stick with what they say they have seen. Expanding Community College […]
Community College Comments On: Expanding Community College Access – NYTimes.com.
January 15, 2015 by
“Expanding Community College Access” or University Revenues
January 15, 2015 by
This is from the Editorial Board Expanding Community College Access – NYTimes.com. I commented. As a former math professor, I have seen firsthand how past attempts to expand education only expanded “degrees”, while limiting education, especially in high school. In a nutshell, here is what happened. In the 60’s and 70’s, money flowed into universities […]
Groucho Again. This Time on “Playing College Moneyball – NYTimes.com”
January 13, 2015 by
Playing College Moneyball – NYTimes.com. I wrote, ” “…universities are simply not built to run a multibillion-dollar entertainment industry…” Dean Quincy Adams Wagstaff had a solution for that. GROUCHO (Dean Quincy Adams Wagstaff ): Have we got a stadium? FACULTY: Yes. GROUCHO: Have we got a college? FACULTY: Yes. GROUCHO: Well, we can’t support both. […]
Playing College Moneyball – NYTimes.com
January 13, 2015 by
Playing College Moneyball – NYTimes.com. I commented on what I think was Mr. Nocera’s misunderstanding of what universities are now “built” for. ” ‘…universities are simply not built to run a multibillion-dollar entertainment industry…’ Running an “…entertainment industry…” may not have been their initial business, but many have done quite well at it, thank you. […]
Obama’s free community college tuition plan: Four questions – The Washington Post PLUS ONE FROM ME
January 12, 2015 by
Obama’s free community college tuition plan: Four questions – The Washington Post. Here is what I wrote. Here is the most important question: What will this do to quality? Will we start paying universities to mint new community college teachers, and just take their word that they are doing it honestly? I am a retired […]
Time for Groucho to Weigh in on College Football.
January 11, 2015 by
I commented on this article College Football Is Powerful: The Proof Is in the Alcohol – NYTimes.com. This reminds me of two quotes. The first is from John Warner, Carnegie Mellon’s 4th president. The year was 1961 .“…We haven’t yet found any satisfactory reason for an educational institution to provide an athletic “show” on a […]
The Roots of Obama’s Ambitious College Plan – NYTimes.com
January 9, 2015 by
The Roots of Obama’s Ambitious College Plan – NYTimes.com. I will have more to say, but I commented as follows. “”If 13 years of education — K-through-12 — was the right amount of education for the typical citizen back then, it surely is not still the right amount today.” There is a plethora of evidence […]
Colleges’ New Aid Target Sometimes is Just a Way to Make More “Profit”, Especially at Private Schools.
December 30, 2014 by
Colleges’ New Aid Target: the Middle Class – WSJ. Here was my comment. “Most private universities have only raised their published tuition. For over a decade, their net tuition has remained fairly constant. Basically, they give a discount by calling it “financial aid”. (I think economists call it discriminatory pricing, a way to maximize revenue and profit.) […]
If We Don’t Test Students, How Will We Know Which Colleges Don’t Teach?
Duncan lays out priorities for education law: Testing, preschool funding, teacher evals – The Washington Post. I commented. I’m a former math professor. I have seen firsthand why so many high school students don’t have a chance to learn. It all starts in college. Here is how it happens, what to do about it, why […]