Good article about student loan defaults. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323420604578650420166447266.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Dcomments About 22% of those not in school are either in default or forbearance. Even in a bad economy, that is a big number. Here is what I think it says (posted as a comment on the article). “As a former professor, my advice is, follow the money. Ask […]
Washington University Engineering Says Northwest Missouri’s Calculus and Physics is “Equivalent” to Theirs
July 26, 2013 by
There is an article in today’s NY Times that mentions Randolph College and some of the problems they, and others, are having filling freshman slots. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/education/in-a-recovering-economy-a-decline-in-college-enrollment.html?pagewanted=all I commented and will include that at the bottom of this post. But first this. Randolph College is one of the schools affiliated with Washington University’s 3-2 Engineering Program. […]
NY Times Post on Academic Advising Is Good But Needs to Address Issues of Trust
July 23, 2013 by
The NY Times had a recent article on Saturday (“Frayed Prospects, Despite a Degree”) and this follow up post about the lack of advice about majors http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/college-counseling-and-job-prospects/#more-165893 The problem is probably more than a lack of advice. The question is, when the advice is available, can it be trusted? Here is the comment I made. […]
Thank The Chronicle of Higher Education for their New Blog: “The PH.D. Placement Project”
July 8, 2013 by
The Chronicle of Higher Education is working to accumulate and publish data on Ph.D. placement. It is a vital and important task. Here is the link to the blog. http://chronicle.com/blogs/phd/ It is a start. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to know when a school grants a Ph.D. to a candidate who should not be […]
Chinese Firms Reject American Degrees
July 8, 2013 by
I have argued in this blog that far too many of our universities are delivering degrees but not education. This is even true at many “elite” universities. (See the book Academically Adrift for data that show how much worse university education has become across the spectrum in the past 30 years.) According to an article in the […]
Oregon College Funding Plan May Have Potential
July 3, 2013 by
Instead of paying tuition, students will pay into a fund after graduation. The plan is reported in today’s Wall Street Journa. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324251504578582101593420808.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1#articleTabs%3Dcomments As I wrote in a comment, it has the potential for improving education. “If everything goes right, this could be a move in the direction of holding schools accountable to both individuals and […]
“The Fish Stinks From the Head”
June 25, 2013 by
The following is a comment about how administrators may have taken a statement by David Riesman. The comment was made on the following article. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323836504578551904167354358.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle Let’s see, there’s teacher training, not so good, overall. Then there’s STEM training, not so good, overall. Oh, there’s lawyer training, not so good, even “unscrupulous”, according to some […]
High Unemployment for Recent Grads in Info Systems, Comp. Sci., and Engineering
Today’s USA Today has a good article on unemployment for recent grads. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/07/30/tech-job-unemployment/2595669/) I commented with my views. “After spending over a quarter of a century as a college professor, this does not surprise me. It does sadden me. We are seeing the observations of Clark Kerr (“…This shift from academic merit to student consumerism […]