<p>I’ve seen some discussion about how Obama will help students attend college, so I decided to make a thread outlining my solution for this great problem America faces.</p>
<li><p>College should be affordable. No one should be denied a college application based on financial circumstances. Public colleges in other countries cost much less for residents to attend. We should look to the examples set by Canada and
Europe for some tips here.</p></li>
<li><p>College should not become High School Part II. This means that people will need to take entrance exams and prove that they should attend college. If we’re making college affordable to everyone, we must also ensure that we preserve the value of a college degree. Let’s face it: A high school diploma is virtually worthless. This is because anyone with half a brain can graduate from high school. While it’s important to educate everybody, we still need to have a way for the best and the brightest to excel in their fields.</p></li>
<li><p>By the time people graduate from college, they must be ready to enter the workforce. This means that colleges should improve their internship and co-op programs. They should also educate students in practical matters such as personal finance, workplace behavior and ethics, and basic things about the real world. Too many college graduates don’t know how to balance a checkbook, and even more don’t know when to keep their mouths shut at work. This is the real way to a Great Society.</p></li>
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<p>So what are your opinions on this? This plan is meant to actually work, so tell me why you think it’s good or total crap.</p>
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<li><p>College costs what the market says it costs. If people dont want to pay 50K for a education then go to a state U like I did and pay 4K a year. Your choice. Nobody forces anybody to pay the big bucks, especially when its usually from a degree mill. Its simple, if people don’t want to pay the top dollar for a top 50 school, then they don’t pay it. Just let market forces determine price. if people arent applying then schools will lower prices. Its that simple. </p></li>
<li><p>College already is HS part 2, and im afraid to say with what Ive read, it seems the higher the school is ranked, the more the school is like HS. I can also say from experience, that anybody with half a brain can get a College degree. ive met fellow graduate students whom in their undergrad has 2.4 gpa’s and a 500 on the gre quantitative and are now in grad school studying engineering. Our education system is in shambles, and the only way to fix it is to get Government out if it. </p></li>
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<p>-Nobody deserves a college education, if so then it will become HS pt 2 certainly. It needs to be earned and like you said it needs to be rigorous. So we need to let the people who know academia best handle it. Not the federal Government with tax incentives.</p>
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<li> Never nor will anybody ever be ready to go straight from academia to the work force. There will always be a transition period, due to academics being fake, easy and and students having no real responsibility. Im studied engineering and have worked it before and on all my first days, I can say the first thing I was told is “Now you may have learned a lot in university, Forget it all”, I have always been told to forget what I learned and come to work with a completly blank slate. Ive been yelled at for using ideas learned in school. The reason Industry level work is of a greater quality then academic grade.<br>
Nobody should have to teach students personnel finance, and please American education is the laughing stock of the world, due to our liberal arts/pre req’s. No place else in the world has a system with so much BS and Bulk. The last thing we need is more regulation on what needs to be taught. If you are studying English there should be no reason why you should have to take history and math classes, or philosophy or psychology. Its just a gimmick for the colleges to make more money.</li>
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<p>I agree with you on #1. I’m not at all advocating that we allow $50,000 per year for each student to go to college. Public colleges are good enough. There is a reason we have private and public schools now, and that’s precisely it.</p>
<p>While some government regulation in this would certainly help, some of the job has to be left to the people. The government can’t make students want to learn. The government can’t maximize the value of a degree. The government can’t alone fix college education. </p>
<p>And while it would be nice if everyone took the aforementioned courses, they don’t have to be required. It’s fine if they’re just available for people to take them if they want. This plan will work without excessive enforcement.</p>
<p>I think the Harvard’s and yale’s of the world should jack up prices even more. Maybe 300K for a education. because some people would still pay it.</p>
<p>No Place in the constitution does it say the word Education and its like that for a reason, the reason is freedom of choice. Like you said you cant force people to learn and you shouldn’t force them to. Communities should be responsible for their own education, and it has a lot to do with parenting. Such as I am a firm believer that if a Child lets say 8 years old doesn’t want to go to school anymore, and his parents agree, it should be their choice to do so. Their shouldn’t be law to force a kid to go to school. Personnel responsibility is the answer to the majority of our problems, not collectivism.</p>
<p>I disagree with you on the issue of mandatory education. We need to educate people enough so they can read and do simple math. We might as well forget about being internationally competitive if we don’t teach people how to read. And most 8 year olds I know have no clue about the real world, so they shouldn’t be making decisions on education. We need to require school up to at least age 14 or so.</p>
<p>They wont be making the decisions their parents will. The parent should be the #1 educator and schooling should always be secondary. Thats how its supposed to be, but currently parenting is is like 10th.</p>
<p>being competitive world wide is fine, but not if its artificial. If students don’t ant to learn and their parents agree I see no reason to force them to do it. Then when they get older and realize their mistake they should rot and the parents should to. But I believe in Freedom, not coerced eduction.</p>