Archives for February 2015

I think this is a good piece.  Note that she does realize that for-profits are not the only problem schools. A Strike Against Student Debt – NYTimes.com.  

https://www.inside-higher-ed.com/2175/

Rip Van Skillsgap on Paul Krugman’s Blog Is Wrong

Rip Van Skillsgap – NYTimes.com. “Please, Prof. Krugman, you are too important a voice not to pay attention to data that screams that there is a gigantic gap between what you think is an education, and what “customers” (once quaintly known as “students”) are actually getting – even in many so-called “elite” schools. There is […]

Rip Van Skillsgap? (Paul Krugman, Again)

Rip Van Skillsgap – NYTimes.com. Is Prof. Krugman asleep to reality?  See my post on his opinion.

Paul Krugman Thinks a Degree is an Education?

Knowledge Isn’t Power – NYTimes.com. Unfortunately, Prof. Krugman writes that there isn’t that much of an education problem.  Here is what I wrote.  (Please ignore the terrible writing.  I was in a big hurry and made too many changes, too fast. Embarrassing.) “I highly regard Prof. Krugman’s analysis of FACTS. So it is disturbing when […]

“Even With Debt, College Still Pays Off”(The Atlantic) NOT FOR SOCIETY

Even With Debt, College Still Pays Off – The Atlantic. I believe that the story is much more subtle.  Here is what I wrote. “There is a more nuanced view of the fact that “college grads out earn high school grads” than just “college is worth it”. Here is the short version. It is based […]

“Excellence Without a Soul” by Harvard Professor and Former Dean, Harry R. Lewis – A MUST READ

I may be wrong, but, if anyone reads Professor Lewis’ book, along with Academically Adrift and Aspiring Adults Adrift by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa; and, my Tale Out of School , they will have a full understanding of how horrible higher education has become.  Here is why. Prof. Lewis tells, mainly in greneral terms, […]

Mistaken Acceptance Letters Could Be Avoided

Johns Hopkins Mistaken Acceptance Letters: Part of a Long Tradition. I found this, after I saw the news that Carnegie Mellon had mistakenly sent acceptance letters for the CS M.S. program. I talked to an expert (who didn’t want to be identified).  That expert told me that “It isn’t a matter of money.  It doesn’t […]

Penn Professor Tells It Like It Is

I highly recommend reading this. College, Poetry and Purpose – NYTimes.com. Though I made a comment, it is so similar to others, that, for regular readers, I just recommend the NY Times piece.  Here is my comment. Prof. Hall is correct about students as “customers”; though the problem is not with them. It is with […]

Colleges’ Use of Adjunct Instructors Comes Under Pressure – WSJ

Colleges’ Use of Adjunct Instructors Comes Under Pressure – WSJ. I commented. “What matters is not whether a university uses adjuncts;  what matters is how a university sees its students and what goals the administrators have for themselves.   If the university sees students as naïve consumers; and the administrators’ goals are self-aggrandizement (from rankings and money), then the university will fit David Riesman’s  description,   […]