I wonder how much tuition would drop by if we ended all the worthless programs that give the kiddies worthless degrees and just left engineering, accounting and the sciences at the U of MN.
Of course this is laughable because it's little Susie's and little Jimmy's right to go to college, have their "college experience," while majoring in a hobby with no employment or productive prospects in the future, all while having it subsidized by the taxpayer.
Enjoy the decline!
Reminds me of The Little Rascals where they attached a goat to a cart and held out a carrot on a stick in order to get the goat to pull the cart.
ReplyDeleteEven if the goat eventually gets to eat the carrot, he's blissfully ignorant of how much work he had to do to pull the cart of kids when all he had to do was root around for his own carrot.
Goat = liberal arts major
Carrot = degree
Work pulling the cart = student loans and indoctrination
Cart of kids = liberal arts professors
Works every time, proving once again Darwin was right that some people evolved from lower life forms while others were made in the image of God.
Tuition would skyrocket. While 70% of the Professors would not have anything to teach, the University would not be allowed to fire them. Tuition from 70% less students would have to pay the salaries of all the professors. Tuition would triple at a minimum.
ReplyDeleteSurely, like all economic bubbles, sooner or later the post-secondary education business will collapse.
ReplyDeleteAs you have stated, many degree programs are poor investments - the return on investment of time and money is incredibly poor.
One of the natural consequences of such programs is that they should die off from lack of enrollments, unfortunately the education financing racket prolongs the problem.
One trend that one sees in more rural areas of the state is a shift back to trade school programs, electricians, plumbing, HVAC, truck driving, medical technology degrees, etc. and fewer going on the traditional 4 year colleges and even fewer going to the university. The value of going to the U of MN is a very hard sell out here in the boonies.
It's not true that universities can't fire tenured professors. In fact, the method for doing so fits well with the topic at hand.
ReplyDeleteThe university can eliminate an entire DEPARTMENT and all the tenured professors along with it. If they consolidate or reorganize departments they can rid themselves of unwanted dead wood too.
I came to this same thought while majoring in chemistry at BGSU, 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteOther benefits are accessible parking and better libraries.
I hope this bubble bursts before my kids matriculate. Otherwise, we may just homeschool them thru college too.