Dark Brightness

I’m an academic. I started medical school, as is usual in New Zealand, directly from school — nowdays there is an intermediate year, but the working class high school state education — which included integral calculus, Latin and statistics — was enough in my day. New Zealand uses the Scottish system — all professional or vocational degrees are taught at Batchelor’s level and a Master’s is a research degree.

Remember, I’m almost 50, and we put more miles in then (and yes, we did get taught computing. By doing batch processing in a subset of FORTRAN on Hollerith cards). We have arts programmes, but there is no need to complete a Batchelor’s to get into a course that trains you to do something useful. The US Liberal Arts Degree has always been a rort. But the cost is such that one should avoid it.

It certainly does to me. College is outrageously expensive. It’s insanely expensive when you consider what it actually confers: a fairly limited puddle of knowledge, even compared to what we used to get for free in high school. College is long on political correctness, and short on the achievements of Western Civilization.

What is to be done? Well, to first order, nothing will be done. According to this chart, we spend about as much on education as we do on health care. That much concentrated economic power won’t go quietly into the night any time soon. The puling sanctimony over the holiness of education also doesn’t bode well for putting a torch to the university system. People really believe that they will be undistinguished proles unless they have a bachelors degree in … whatever. Many people who would otherwise be directionless in life comfort themselves by acquiring masters degrees in subjects which didn’t exist 50 years ago. Excessive university education is a status bauble, as certainly as a Prius, Third World vacation or a Whole Foods shopping expedition. It is a phenomenon of people grasping after social status, rather than economic status. Until the idea of someone having a masters degree in public policy or women’s studies becomes ridiculous, this preposterous charade will continue. One thing which should be considered carefully: if you decide your house isn’t worth anything, you can default and walk away from it. You have to pay off your college education, worthless or not; bankruptcy can’t protect you from the collectors of that debt in the United States.

via The Academic Bubble.

If you live in the US, I strongly suggest you go somewhere else for your education. Your dollar will go further. You will learn that the world is not the USA (which Berkeley and Harvard remain woefully ignorant about). You will probably get cheaper fees. And the degree you get will have equivelant status. Then do your Master’s in the states.

(Oh, and if you can get into Harvard, go to the Sorbonne or Oxford or Cambridge. Same cost, better education).

And unless you really have a vocation to be a doctor, lawyer, accountant or engineer, just go and get a job. You will learn more real knowledge there.

The 4 year degree is a rort. It has priced itself off the market. Be wise in your choices.