Posted on 12/14/2012 8:10:10 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The best-kept secret in America today is the precipitous drop in the quality of college since the Left seized power in higher education. Every year, various magazines publish a list of rankings for American undergraduate institutions. Forbes assures parents that "Every school with a Forbes grade meets a high standard." U.S. News and World Report assures its readers that they consider a wide variety of factors in measuring a college's effectiveness. While American colleges were once great institutions of learning, those who know higher education today recognize that "high standards" of quality are casualties in the war against traditionalism and American values. Where religion and love of country and family were once revered, radical Leftist ideology now prevails. Traditional values have been replaced by moral relativism, anti-establishment teachings, and the breakdown of the family.
The radicalization of colleges did not happen overnight. What we have now is a product of past indifference and disinclination to do anything to reverse the spread of Leftist trends. John Howard's new book, America's Best Colleges! Really?, lays out his analysis of how the traditional purpose of education has been eradicated and replaced by radical ideologies of the Left. Howard outlines a brief history of how our Founders desired our public education system to reinforce religion and morality in order for our self-reliant experiment to survive and thrive. In contrast, he points out how the Left has imbedded its teachings in America's educational system and perverted the Founders' original intent in order to undermine the country's foundation.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“There’s nothing like paying big money to a university only to come out more ignorant, crushed by debt and unemployable. Talk about a scam.”
As a homeowner, parent and consumer I understand debt; the figures tossed around today for college debt boggle my mind. I went to a state school here in NJ about 20 years ago, working full-time in a crappy job while going to school full-time. I didn’t have a car, and made it without borrowing until senior year. When I borrowed a few thousand dollars I was asked if I wanted to start repaying it after graduation; I declined, since I was working. Within a year of graduation (without even getting a good job) the debt had been paid in full.
What do these kids do all day when they’re in school? “Full-time” means 18 credits (eighteen hours of class per week); what do the do with the rest of their time?
According to my university professor friends whom I have respect for, over the past 2 decades, the quality of students, and their attitudes about work and study, have been in a steady decline. Most undergrad students now are of the same quality of HS students just 10-15 years ago. They expect to be able to talk their way out of bad grades and do not expect the rules to be applied (like getting a 0 for missing too many lab classes, etc.)
Best kept secret? Well... Only if you don’t work in private business.
I could tell a bunch of stories here, just like many of you, of the type of person, (education and work ethic wise), that is coming out of the public school and public college systems. Not very good at all, in fact I would rather take a chance on hiring any person who had completed a full ‘hitch’ in the service with no degree than an current college graduate.
colleges are cash cows.
Particularly pencil and paper departments.
All these junk studies departments cost very little to run.
Think of the womyn feminazi departments. The produce NOTHING. Require zero equiptment. Generate only paper and now only digital output. YET, the federal government guarantees loans to these junk studies departments.
The ONLY hope for a job is either in personel departments pushing quotas OR being in some other university as a professor.
This is like law schools. There are now more first year seats than students.
Some of these schools have to be closed.
From what I hear, some of them sit and play with their cell phones in class, too.
There has been an explosion in the number of people going to college. As a result the average IQ has dropped along with average SAT scores.
Diversity study degrees are needed. Most of these new college students couldn’t major in math or physics.
When I was in engineering, a rule of thumb was to expect 3x the hours outside the classroom (or in the lab). So an 18 credit load would be mean close to 80 hour weeks.
I typically took a 12 to 15 hour load. That was enough, and I still didn't get much sleep around finals / major project due dates.
However that was engineering. I don't know much about the "Studies" majors. I did take an economics elective where the prof talked up a "MASSIVE PROJECT" that was going to be due right after spring break. Talked about it for weeks; frankly, I was a bit concerned. Turned out to be a 3-5 page paper on a topic that I've long forgotten. I knocked it out the evening before, pulled an easy 'A'.
I am certain that this will come as a complete shock to you but college is not primarily designed to provide one with vocational training. I am thinking that you have never seen the inside of a college classroom. Surprise me.
thanks for that interesting tidbit of american history.
If anyone want to download the pdf, I found it here:
http://archive.org/details/poisondropsinfed00montrich
The explosion of degrees in Womyn Studies, African Studies, Diversity Studies, White People Are Evil Studies probably have something to do with it.
i suspect this is a very minor issue. The big problem is the enormous government subsides. Stop the subsidies and most of the non sense stops.
Never saw "Animal House" huh?
I had 4-credit lab classes that involved maybe 2 hours in class and the rest you did on your own time (the lab work was built into the 4 credits). My classes weren’t easy (especially when you got into statistics and such), but I never had a problem getting schoolwork done while working full-time. Now that I’m twenty years older I might find it challenging, but back then it was no problem. Didn’t have much of a social life, but I REALLY didn’t want to borrow money to go to school.
Check out the email I received three days ago. My child laughed out loud at this and prefers to transfer to the local community college that offers “real classes” despite a FULL TUITION scholarship at this place.
Additionally, there were not enough “real classes” at the university and this kid knows kids can’t get into the ones for their degrees, much less even able to get into enough “real classes” either.
My favorite is What’s Political about Potato? Note: This is REAL and NOT SATIRE.
*************************
Hi,
Attached and below is a list of First Year Seminar courses at Northern Arizona University for Spring 2013 that still have open seats available. Please consider taking one of these Liberal Studies courses with great faculty and amazing topics. For course descriptions online, see class listings in LOUIE or go to http://home.nau.edu/FYSeminar/
Please contact me with any questions. I hope that you have a wonderful holiday break. Thanks!
Dr. Blase S. Scarnati
Director, First Year and Global Learning
First Year Seminar Program
Northern Arizona University
Spring 2013—SEATS ARE AVAILABLE NOW
Sustainability
FS 141 Democracy, Social Justice & the Environment
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 units
—Action Research Team (ARTs) course
FS 121 Environment & Social Change
Aesthetic & Humanistic Inquiry LS distribution credit, 3 units
—Action Research Team (ARTs) course
FS 111 Global Sustainability
Science LS distribution credit, 3 units
FS 121 Just Food (formerly ‘Seeds of Change’)
Aesthetic & Humanistic Inquiry LS distribution credit, 3 units
—Action Research Team (ARTs) course
FS 121 What’s Political About Potato?
Aesthetic & Humanistic Inquiry LS distribution credit, 3 units
—Action Research Team (ARTs) course
Hot Issues
FS 141 Activism & Migrant Justice (formerly ‘The Great Immigration Debate’)
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 units
—Action Research Team (ARTs) course
FS 121 Civil Discourse in Action
Aesthetic & Humanistic Inquiry LS distribution credit, 3 units
FS 121 Civility, Reason, Engagement
Aesthetic & Humanistic Inquiry LS distribution credit, 3 units
FS 141 Ethics for a Global Economy
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 units
FS 141 Healthcare - Right or Privilege?
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 units
FS 141 The Logo
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 units
FS 141 Religion and Politics
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 units
FS 141 Religion and Violence
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 units
—Action Research Team (ARTs) course
FS 141 Trafficking of Women & Girls
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 units
FS 141 21st Century US Foreign Policy
Social & Political Worlds LS distribution credit, 3 unit
The Arts
FS121 Public Art as Community Change
Aesthetic & Humanistic Inquiry LS distribution credit, 3 units
—Action Research Team (ARTs) course
Self Exploration
FS 121 Ecology of Mind
Aesthetic & Humanistic Inquiry LS distribution credit, 3 units
For course descriptions, see class listings in LOUIE or go to http://home.nau.edu/FYSeminar/
University First Year Seminar Program
University College
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5802 USA
“Never saw “Animal House” huh?”
That was a fiction from a different time (when college enrollment was a means of avoiding the draft); fraternities trying to emulate that movie just seemed pathetic by 1990. I really just don’t understand how these kids borrow so heavily (while apparently not working towards it)...
Yes it was and it existed mainly in the Ivy Leagues, but now it has invade most schools. Unisex dorms, bathrooms and free abortions. What could go wrong?
I think it did exist in other schools in that one point in time (where people who had no interest in/brains for college were there to avoid Vietnam), but the war for the US ended 30 years ago. Now kids are paying a lot more money (apparently borrowing it) to play “Animal House”.
Not really a secret. It is easy to see that college is not about an education and attended by people who are real achievers anymore.
Now, it is about fairness and indoctrination into progressive beliefs.
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