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One thing that's being brought to the front by the "occupy" movement in the US is the escalating cost of college/university level education. My parents pretty much paid their own way through school with part-time jobs. Considering the times they couldn't have gone any other way. When I was in school most kids had jobs and got some assistance from their parents with some having to borrow a modest amount to make up the difference. These days part-time jobs aren't going to go very far in paying for school. Tuition and fees have just gone up too steeply, too fast. The escalating average debt coming out of college is beginning put the value of a college education into question. As I was starting college there was a huge boom in enrollment over the decade earlier. With things as they are now, I expect that there will be a dramatic drop in college enrollment within the next decade. How the larger US universities react may determine the future availability of college for many years to come.
Traditionally large universities have cut programs with smaller enrollments first in times of economic troubles. This time I think it would be a mistake. Large departments in large universities don't tend to do the best for the average student. Great students? It doesn't matter where they go. They'll do fine. Average students are better off in smaller departments. For majors like Psychology, English and History the average student is better off in a small college. If the larger universities cut diverse programs to save jobs in what I think are bloated popular departments small colleges are going to suffer and in the end so is the average student. I don't think it's going to happen, but what the larger universities should do is improve the standards for enrolling in some of those popular majors that don't lead directly to any particular job or profession. If you had to have a B average in the lower level classes to enroll in upper level Psychology classes a lot of kids who plod through with a largely pointless degree waiting at the end are going to have to look in different directions, whether it be to other programs in the university or to small colleges where their needs can be addressed more readily. College degrees shouldn't be like a glorified high school diploma; it shouldn't be about I put in my time and now I deserve a job. It should be about I found something that really interests me, I worked at it, I ended up doing well at it and now, I'm ready to put in the same kind of effort to earn a living.
Changing gears .
Monday there was a report of an unnamed "Big XII official" bad mouthing Missouri, saying West Virginia would be a better fit. Yesterday national sports outlets started reporting that West Virginia would accept an invitation to the conference to replace Missouri. By the end of the day, word was that West Virginia was going to accept an invitation to the conference today whether or not Missouri intended to leave. This morning there are reports that there aren't any invitations currently on the table, though expansion certainly is being considered.
This story seems to have begun from a West Virginia fan posting in the guise of a Kansas supporter in a forum of the Kansas City Star website. Somewhat out of the blue this individual posted a mostly logical explanation of why West Virgina was the best candidate to replace Missouri giving a few reasons why they thought West Virginia had superior credentials to Missouri.
The Big XII will certainly look to quickly fill Missouri's place should they leave. But the consensus is the other schools would prefer Missouri stay. Though all indications are that Missouri will leave sometime soon, I can think of nothing that would insure Missouri's departure more than extending a single invitation to a school that would be as isolated as West Virgina in the Big 12. Missouri is seeking to get away from instability and having a school that isn't within 600 miles of any other member hardly reinforces stability.
West Virginia may be currently targeted by the Big XII, but I have doubts that without at least two other schools being added in that direction at the same time , say Cincinnati and Louisville, that a membership of West Virgina in the Big XII would end up a satisfactory situation.
Traditionally large universities have cut programs with smaller enrollments first in times of economic troubles. This time I think it would be a mistake. Large departments in large universities don't tend to do the best for the average student. Great students? It doesn't matter where they go. They'll do fine. Average students are better off in smaller departments. For majors like Psychology, English and History the average student is better off in a small college. If the larger universities cut diverse programs to save jobs in what I think are bloated popular departments small colleges are going to suffer and in the end so is the average student. I don't think it's going to happen, but what the larger universities should do is improve the standards for enrolling in some of those popular majors that don't lead directly to any particular job or profession. If you had to have a B average in the lower level classes to enroll in upper level Psychology classes a lot of kids who plod through with a largely pointless degree waiting at the end are going to have to look in different directions, whether it be to other programs in the university or to small colleges where their needs can be addressed more readily. College degrees shouldn't be like a glorified high school diploma; it shouldn't be about I put in my time and now I deserve a job. It should be about I found something that really interests me, I worked at it, I ended up doing well at it and now, I'm ready to put in the same kind of effort to earn a living.
Changing gears .
Monday there was a report of an unnamed "Big XII official" bad mouthing Missouri, saying West Virginia would be a better fit. Yesterday national sports outlets started reporting that West Virginia would accept an invitation to the conference to replace Missouri. By the end of the day, word was that West Virginia was going to accept an invitation to the conference today whether or not Missouri intended to leave. This morning there are reports that there aren't any invitations currently on the table, though expansion certainly is being considered.
This story seems to have begun from a West Virginia fan posting in the guise of a Kansas supporter in a forum of the Kansas City Star website. Somewhat out of the blue this individual posted a mostly logical explanation of why West Virgina was the best candidate to replace Missouri giving a few reasons why they thought West Virginia had superior credentials to Missouri.
The Big XII will certainly look to quickly fill Missouri's place should they leave. But the consensus is the other schools would prefer Missouri stay. Though all indications are that Missouri will leave sometime soon, I can think of nothing that would insure Missouri's departure more than extending a single invitation to a school that would be as isolated as West Virgina in the Big 12. Missouri is seeking to get away from instability and having a school that isn't within 600 miles of any other member hardly reinforces stability.
West Virginia may be currently targeted by the Big XII, but I have doubts that without at least two other schools being added in that direction at the same time , say Cincinnati and Louisville, that a membership of West Virgina in the Big XII would end up a satisfactory situation.
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She's well into the applying herself part. She's been taking classes as CSCC for three years now. Graduated this past June with 24 credits already behind her. And, yes, I'm bragging on her a little because she deserves it.