One can't help but think this could have all been avoided if they'd only just paid for a few Bill Clinton speeches. It's a wonder more companies don't use the Get out of Jail, Bill card.
No time soon. ITT was for-profit (openly), so it got Fed funding cut off. The others, with Studies degrees? They'll be welcome at the trough until the unions get the boot, somewhere around the heat death of the universe.
The saddest thing about these types of schools is that they could have offered a very viable and competitive alternative to the state-run money-sucks against which they've been competing. The problem, as with so many businesses these days, has been that 1) the stock value Ueber Alles mentality of the corporations that own these schools prevails at the expense of the product offered and customer service, 2) these schools failed to see that the traditional "brick and mortar" model of education, which even the "virtual" schools adopted, is an anachronism that is costly, inefficient, and ineffective, thus rendering them untenable alternatives to the status quo, and 3) taking advantage of the perverse financial incentives of the "education bubble" (i.e., gov't- backed student loans)rather than offering an alternative to it (i.e., making tuition cheap enough that student loans would be unnecessary).
In particular the fact that number 3 wasn't part of the business model means that these schools were motivated purely by the desire to take advantage of the current dysfunctional and unsustainable system, which shows a horrendous lack of foresight on the part of their founders. As such, they deserve to crash and burn, along with the State institutions that they compete against (and this WILL happen within the next two decades owing to a combination of economics and technology. It's just inevitable.).
I'm surprised how long they've been in business. But now, much of what's taught in regular colleges isn't helpful in making a living either. I saw a quote from someone in the know, shaking his head and saying something along the lines of they are lending money that will never be paid back for jobs that no longer exist in the states. Ridiculous.
"Now when will the public universities go out of business?"
That is the crux of the problem. They aren't in business. They are politically funded organizations run for the benefit of the staff and certain political groups.
Back in the early 90s Tuition at the State University was about $4000 a year, completely affordable. Now I hear it costs over $20K for the same thing. How on earth did costs go up so drastically? Its an EDUCATION RACKET for the employees to get easy paychecks fooling people into believing that giving everyone worthless degrees will automatically create all these high paying jobs. A cargo cult mentality.
One can't help but think this could have all been avoided if they'd only just paid for a few Bill Clinton speeches.
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonder more companies don't use the Get out of Jail, Bill card.
No time soon. ITT was for-profit (openly), so it got Fed funding cut off. The others, with Studies degrees? They'll be welcome at the trough until the unions get the boot, somewhere around the heat death of the universe.
ReplyDeleteThe saddest thing about these types of schools is that they could have offered a very viable and competitive alternative to the state-run money-sucks against which they've been competing. The problem, as with so many businesses these days, has been that 1) the stock value Ueber Alles mentality of the corporations that own these schools prevails at the expense of the product offered and customer service, 2) these schools failed to see that the traditional "brick and mortar" model of education, which even the "virtual" schools adopted, is an anachronism that is costly, inefficient, and ineffective, thus rendering them untenable alternatives to the status quo, and 3) taking advantage of the perverse financial incentives of the "education bubble" (i.e., gov't- backed student loans)rather than offering an alternative to it (i.e., making tuition cheap enough that student loans would be unnecessary).
ReplyDeleteIn particular the fact that number 3 wasn't part of the business model means that these schools were motivated purely by the desire to take advantage of the current dysfunctional and unsustainable system, which shows a horrendous lack of foresight on the part of their founders. As such, they deserve to crash and burn, along with the State institutions that they compete against (and this WILL happen within the next two decades owing to a combination of economics and technology. It's just inevitable.).
I'm surprised how long they've been in business. But now, much of what's taught in regular colleges isn't helpful in making a living either. I saw a quote from someone in the know, shaking his head and saying something along the lines of they are lending money that will never be paid back for jobs that no longer exist in the states. Ridiculous.
ReplyDelete"Now when will the public universities go out of business?"
ReplyDeleteThat is the crux of the problem. They aren't in business. They are politically funded organizations run for the benefit of the staff and certain political groups.
Back in the early 90s Tuition at the State University was about $4000 a year, completely affordable. Now I hear it costs over $20K for the same thing. How on earth did costs go up so drastically? Its an EDUCATION RACKET for the employees to get easy paychecks fooling people into believing that giving everyone worthless degrees will automatically create all these high paying jobs. A cargo cult mentality.
ReplyDelete