A solution to higher education costs?

So the Federal Government handed out tens of billions of dollars in loans and grants in 2016. So you have to figure roughly have of that is being given out to underclassmen, freshmen and sophomores, for educational expenses. What if federal aid were only available to those students to attend junior colleges or community colleges. Students who eventually transferred to a four year university would be matriculating with far less debt due to the lower cost and students who drop out would be doing so with less debt as well. It may have the added affect of forcing universities to lower their costs since students could no longer attend on guaranteed loans.

 

The key to drastically reducing the cost of college is online universities. I don't know why everyone in the political arena, including Bernie, didn't hit on this. The entire university system can be restructured and geared to maximizing online learning and testing.

You can already access high-level course material online at most major schools. Beyond that, we have sources like the Khan Academy, which provide a universe of information, all for free.
https://www.khanacademy.org/

 

Step 1: Stop handing out student loans and financial aid.
Step 2: Stop funding private universities and reduce funding for public universities.

This would immediately burst the bubble of rising college costs, once burst we can start from scratch on something better.

These measures should be enacted temporarily at the very least in order to flush out the corruption and gluttony of American universities. American universities thrive on a captive market, young people who are pushed by all societal and economic pressures to toss tens of thousands of dollars into these institutions that try to milk every last cent out of them.

These universities function like businesses; when you take their customers away (no loans to pay for the absurd tuition and other fees) they will be forced to tighten their belts and reduce their prices. Moreover the cuts in federal funding will cause them to run more efficiently and sort out their priorities. Get rid of the excess and useless courses masquerading as academics and get back to the essentials.

Long-term however, I think this country needs a system of tests for various professions (open to any adult regardless of education) that demonstrates competency in particular professions. These tests can serve as a kind of bench mark for the kinds of skills necessary in particular jobs. I also think online courses should expand in number and accreditation to break the monopoly conventional universities have. Having gained both a bachelor's and master's degree I can state that much of the knowledge I gained could have been gained through independent study and was not worth the price I paid for it. Ultimately I only begrudgingly paid the costs for these degrees because the piece of paper matters to employers and to become certified in the work I do.

 

Just cut off all Federal funding for loans for higher education then let the market correct itself, if they had to charge what students could actually pay they would be forced to restructure the system and businesses would need to assist in new options for labor such as apprenticing like they do in Germany, technical high schools, certification courses and such this including the professions such as law and medicine. The only funds I would keep are for the service academies, ROTC candidates in officer training and those in the military using government funds and the VA education benefits.

 

or maybe the loan money used for tuition and books expense only not living expenses like it is now..

 

Good post. The classroom is obsolete in the age of the internet. Some of the labs may still be needed.

 

A solution to higher education costs

College IS NOT for everyone. A BS degree in Advanced Basket Weaving won't get one a good paying job. Open up some trade schools at an earlier age so we have electricians, plumbers, roofers, etc...

 

I have a friend who said get rid of Social Security once. I asked him about the money Americans had already paid into it, and he said that money was gone. We don't have the privilege of just putting whatever we want in place policy wise. Even the President doesn't have that power.

We're not getting rid of federal financial aid in its entirety. So how do we reduce the cost to students and taxpayers with policy that can be realistically set?

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Another good idea. High school graduates are functionally useless for the most part in the workforce. In many foreign countries students finish high school learning a trade because that's the educational path government put them on. I don't want government making that decision, but students who aren't headed to college should be able to do something to earn a living.

 

I have a friend who said get rid of Social Security once. I asked him about the money Americans had already paid into it, and he said that money was gone

I'm hoping you didn't believe him

 

Keeps out non-serious students looking for the "college experience"

 

There is no money in those funds, just debt notes. The money has been spent.
One highly indebted arm of the government promising to take on future debt to pay off debt it owes to another arm of itself, but don't believe him.

 

Beyond that, most subjects involve course material and lectures that haven't fundamentally changed for decades. Rather than having a million teachers giving lectures ranging in quality from fantastic to horrible, why not identify the best teachers and lecturers in their respective fields and have standard lectures done by the best of the best, that are presented as videos? In many universities, you attend a lecture just to watch a video or a grad student anyway. Assistance for specific subjects can be obtained online.

And none of this rules out occasional face-to-face meetings with grad students or professors. We would still need research centers and in some cases, testing centers. but no need for the typical classroom structure.

The early problems with student identity is solved with Skype and similar technologies. Some online courses already monitor students this way to be sure of who's taking a test.

 

What about classes that have labs?

 

"Debt notes" not unlike an other bond issued by the government or indeed by any entity.

Not unlike your MORTGAGE

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Sitting through a lecture is tough enough...ever tried sitting through an online lecture?

I have.

Good luck

 

As I said, research centers are still needed. These can double for lab classes. And many majors have no labs except for perhaps one or two.

 

Yes, and in college I often stayed home because I found study more productive than attending classes [I'm a physicist by degree]. Just attending a class required a minimum of one hour preparation, and about 90 minutes of driving, parking, and walking, round trip. So while trying to study 18 hours a day, attending class wasted another 2.5 hours or so just getting there and back; this plus the time often wasted in class. The professors often covered exclusively what was in the book and the author did a better job of explaining it.

I am constantly having to watch continuing education videos for my field of work. I was watching some last night.

I had a professor ask why I was absent so often. Attendance wasn't mandatory but I was one of the better students and she was curious. She didn't like my answer.

 

which can only be redeemed by the further borrowing of an already broke government.
There is no money in those funds. Only claims on future borrowing.
Sorry that you are wrong.

 

What the online stuff does is eliminate two thirds of the bureaucracy involved in the education system. NOne of the pols except possibly Trump especially those on the left are ever going to bring up any possibility that might in any way harm the education bureaucracy because it funds them.

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Gee you sound just like Newt Gingrich...

 

Yes, this isn't going to be popular with the educators. But the current mentor system is long outdated. And there is simply no need to sit in a classroom to get an education. As I indicated, I got most of mine at my kitchen table.

Socializing and networking still matter. But again, much of that can be done online. And staying away from schools means staying away from parties, alcohol, and other drugs. There are far fewer temptations. Not as fun but many students have too much fun. My lack of attendance and not living on campus offered several advantages.

The big disadvantage was that I didn't have access to all of the cheating information other students did - mainly old copies of tests. But that only meant that I actually had to learn the course material the old fashioned way - with many, many, many, long hours of study. And you remember most what caused the most pain. All of that suffering has a purpose.

 

You don't exactly need a whole lot of paraphernalia for a writing lab or a journalism lab. Outside of the hard sciences labs are mostly not much different than the basic course work they just have a different name or are just an attempt to see if you can actually do what you've been studying without giving you an actual test.

 

REALLY?!?! He can rarely keep up with me.

I am very non-partisan at heart and not an ideologue. What works best is what makes sense.

 

you should check out his website.

 

Okay here is an idea, and would work, tell the colleges and universities with endowments to use that to reduce tuition or lose accreditation, some of these schools just using dividend returns could drive down tuition for everyone significantly and sitting on this money is not doing anyone any good. Make it a mandate and you could slip this into a big budget bill as a small couple of lines. Now it might not be popular with schools but the population at large would likely support it if they find out Harvard is sitting on billions of dollars and could offer free tuition to every student if it was forced to. Now it wouldn't help all schools but it would free up lots of money and allow loans to be used for housing, meals and books.

 

I am a Chemistry professor, doing both research and teaching, currently teaching intro chem, but also teaching grad and upper level (can you guess from my avatar?).

I like Khan Academy. MIT also has a lot of good lectures online, all for free.

The truth is, though, that only the most motivated will get an education online all by themselves, amounting to something useful.

The vast majority needs to go to class, have the teacher motivate them and whip them into shape. The trick is to use both carrot and stick to make the students do the work. Nobody has ever learned Chemistry by watching me lecture in class or watch a Khan Academy video. You learn it by actually sitting down at home and going through countless problem sets, while having the textbook at your side in case you get stuck.

Our technique is to make the students work hard through constant exams and quizzes (the stick), but also provide lots of help from both TAs and professors through help rooms and office hours, both online and face to face (the carrot). The classroom, of course, is still part of it, but only a minor component. The lectures are, however, important to tell the students what material is important to know.

Our system works, since we have produced several percentage points above national norm in our final standardized exam for over a decade.

Does it cost money? Yes it does. However, you get what you pay for. There is no way getting freshmen to learn subjects without investing in them. People want cheap, stopping this investment? I say go for it, but don't be surprised if the vast majority of students will be left behind.

 

I saw a poll where 2/3 of students "expect" student loan "forgiveness". Todays liberal universities, and the types of students they attract, aren't really comfortable with reality. They're not compelled to enter into service, especially military service. Student debt is merely a prelude to deficit spending as far as liberal grads are concerned.