I would love to hear folks thoughts on this. Especially if you work for a college or university.
@patrickrhone I have been a university professor for 25 years. I wrote a book about this 10-ish years ago. Education as we knew it to be and expect it be is over. The writing has been on the wall for over a decade. The acceleration of absurd and ridiculous parental expectations and deep seeded belief that their child is a genius (the child most decidedly is not) compounded by an utter lack of cohesive national policy magnified most campuses driving so far from the baseline goal of educating has sent nearly every college and university in to a self cannibalizing death spiral. Students don’t have the discipline, intelligence, or curiosity and parents are too over involved to let the system evolve. Instead everyone is concerned about getting a “good job” and becoming a worker bee… like everyone else. Ultimately, parents ruined higher ed. Colleges and universities will undoubtedly remain, but they won’t ever recover. If you have a young person send them traveling around the world instead. They will learn more and be more resilient as a consequence of spreading their wings. That will never happen on a college campus.
@patrickrhone 35 years as a teacher/professor in higher education. My view may be slanted because I taught at a small, liberal arts state school in NY, but IMO you will waste a lot of money spending it on an undergraduate education at an “elite” university. Very broadly speaking, where you get your undergraduate degree is not as important as where you might possibly get your graduate degrees. If the goal is something like a JD, MBA, or PHD, that is where the “brand” of the school is more important. It’s financially better to graduate summa cum laude at a solid state school if a higher professional degree is the goal. The Harvards and Yales of the world don’t really give a crap about undergraduates anyway, so it’s better to find a college that prides itself on undergraduate teaching. While @velocykel paints an accurate but somewhat grim and pessimistic picture of higher education today, it remains true that this is an economy and society where credentials count. A young person is better off traveling the world after undergraduate school anyway, as a 22-yo who has an education is better positioned to take advantage of what the world can offer than an 18-yo without one.
@patrickrhone As an afterthought, I should note that many white-collar jobs don’t particularly care where you got your undergraduate degree (and often don’t care what your major was), as long as you have one. It’s also a little silly to assume that an 18-yo knows precisely what they want to do with their life. All three of my children have undergrad degrees, but none of them are working in the field in which they got their degree. So there’s that as well to consider when spending this amount of money.
@apoorplayer As another retired professor whose own education was at public universities and who taught only at public schools, I completely endorse @apoorplayer’s take. I will say this: my undergraduate degree is from the U of MN Twin Cities, and that was a mistake. The classes were too big, and undergraduates tended to take a lot of classes taught by grad students and adjuncts. (Nothing bad about that, except they usually are overworked.) Class size, though, is important and always will be.
@velocykel @apoorplayer Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I also got a couple of long and thoughtful responses via email as well. It is so appreciated. My soul is so craving reason and honesty and y’all have provided.
@patrickrhone As I hear about acceptance letters from someone in my extended family, I try to be supportive, especially because they would be the first in their family. But the financial aid packages these places are sending out strike me as anything but certain, never mind freedom-of-speech issues, safe and available medical care, and so on.
Nothing is ever certain, but this year things are especially uncertain. The main thing is to help our kids be nimble and find ways to thrive. This might mean college in the fall, or a gap year, or studying in a friendlier environment overseas, or whatever. It definitely means letting them know that we have their backs.
@patrickrhone I don’t work in higher ed but my husband does and a close friend does, and I don’t know what to say. Everyone is off-balance. International institutions are recruiting faculty away. No one knows what to do next. It’s a lot of uncertainty and seems to me that for families that can manage it, a gap year might be a good idea.
@patrickrhone sending hugs. I don’t have any insight on this but I share your trepidation on trying to help our emerging kids-as-adults navigate whatever the world is right now.
@patrickrhone Have you thought about my brother? He’s at a state school, of course, but both of his kids are at private universities and he’s been in the game for many years.
@markstoneman Yep. This:
> Nothing is ever certain, but this year things are especially uncertain. The main thing is to help our kids be nimble and find ways to thrive. This might mean college in the fall, or a gap year, or studying in a friendlier environment overseas, or whatever. It definitely means letting them know that we have their backs.
Thanks for the reminder of what’s really important in all of this.
@KimberlyHirsh We could manage that but even sending our kid away fills us with dread about what they might face as Americans elsewhere or what will happen if they come back.