Why College Is Never Coming Back, by Stephen McBride.
The end of college as we know it is a great thing.
It’s great for families, who’ll save money and take on less debt putting kids through school. It’s great for kids, who’ll no longer be lured into the socialist indoctrination centers that many American campuses have become. …
University has become mega expensive. It provides learning, but the real hook is the “experience” — partying mostly. Few 20-year-olds can resist the lure …
As recently as 1980, you could get a four-year bachelor’s degree at a public school for less than $10,000. These days, it’ll cost you $40,000 at a minimum, $140,000 for a private school, or well over $250,000 for a top school. …
When I wrote about this last year, I had little hope things would change anytime soon. Why? It’s a tough sell to convince an 18-year-old kid not to attend the four-year party all his friends are going to, especially when the US government is financing it through student loans. …
Covid has changed the equation and is forcing permanent change — no more partying!
The virus has forced practically every college to move their courses online for the next semester. So instead of living on campus and walking to lectures, kids will be sitting in their bedrooms watching professors on Zoom calls. …
Now, the “experience” has been stripped away. Do you think teenagers will be willing to mortgage their futures in order to watch college lecture videos on the internet? …
NOBODY is willing to pay $30,000/year to watch lecturers on Zoom calls. In fact, tuitions are already falling. New data shows colleges reopening “online only” this Fall have slashed costs by $9,000, on average. …
By slashing tuitions for online courses, schools have permanently changed the perception of what college is worth. …
Like department stores, which are being eaten alive by Amazon:
Top schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford will always attract elite kids and command huge tuitions. They are disruption proof. But the thousands of schools that sell “standard issue” degrees for tens of thousands of dollars are in for a rude awakening.
Think of them as the new department stores. You know how unspecialized, middle of the road retailers like Macy’s and Sears are dying off? Nimble online schools will do to traditional colleges what Amazon did to department stores.
The indoctrination of western youth with far left values has crippled our societies. The scaling back of universities is probably a good thing.
Technology has fundamentally changed learning. So much knowledge and teaching is available on the Internet, for free. This is a colossal change from even 20 years ago, when books and good teachers used to be hard to find.
