Big universities to become extinct within 18 years

[soldier]

It won't attract gold diggers because it won't be the ticket to big money.

It may, however, be the ticket to big insights.

So the right people will go, and it will "revert" back to the liberal arts.

The present day education is MAYA and has RUINED the whole world. Real education is meditation, humility, selfless service, fighting against injustice, working hard in the fields, loving your wife/husband. Real education is poetry, music, martial arts, natural medicines, massaging techniques.
Real education is to kiss your wife with love (instead of lust), to go in the evening to the beach for meditation.

[Unconventional Ideas]

I like that, especially the bit about kissing your wife with love rather than lust.

That is very true.

John Lennon's song, "Working Class Hero," has a line:

"keep you doped on religion and sex and TV, and you think you're so clever and classless and free, but you're still f***ing peasants as far as I can see."

True education moves past the lust, greed, and selfishness toward a state in which one has a cleansed heart and motives.

It's a state in which a person lives for the betterment of mankind rather than for satisfying his own lusts.

[soldier]

True education is to live a life without fuel and electricity. True education is to RESPECT the laws of nature. True education is to become a DOOMER.

[Unconventional Ideas]

by Donald Worster.

I've almost finished reading it.  Muir definitely fit the classic definition of true education.

A Passion for Nature:  The Life of John Muir

[soldier]

True education is to help the needy and the weak.
True education is to see the beggar and the king with the same eye.
True education is to learn self defence and RESPECT weapons.
True education is to fight against ignorance and arrogance, to fight against oppression and injustice.
True education is to live in this world like a temporary guest.

[Chesyre]

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/College-Grad-Cant-Find-Job-Wants--Back-52304162.html

college student sues for tuition reimbursement after she can't find a job 

[doomer]

I haven't a doubt in my mind when it comes to the fact that most conventional colleges willl either become strongly reformed or terminated within the next two decades.

The thing is, most university-level education seems to be ridiculously ineffective. Myself, I put up with five years of electrical engineering in a european country where education is state funded. A "good" university in the capital. We have exchange students from top tier universities in the USA, who seem to think the quality of lectures and materials are comparable to that of their home universities. Now, here comes the thing -

If I had to pay massive amounts in tuition - like so many Americans have to do, would I have put myself through these five years?

The answer is, of course, not a chance in heaven nor hell. In most courses I just went to the first lecture to gather up on the course structure. Because most lecturers and teaching assistants proved pretty worthless at actually teaching, I opted for sleeping in the mornings and self-educating myself using the Internet. Then went and wrote the exams. Left a whole lot of time for mind-expanding studies in more "human" subjects plus paid work as a carpenter + IT technician and it worked splendidly. No super high grades, but hey, guess i can't have everything.

Paying $100,000 for a diploma? Nah. Sorry. Being an avid internet user / library worm and caring for real-world problems seems like a more sound approach than acing exams.

//"Doomer".

[ralfy]

From what I know, universities follow different models. The logical one was that of a research university, which acts as the "R&D" of a country. But later some became more like polytechnics, which combined research careers with vocational ones, where students could even choose not to take research or even bachelor's degrees. But for others, all classes led to bachelor's degrees, which was not necessary.

Some countries came up with more logical solutions, such as not requiring college or university degrees for entry-level white-collar work, just technical or vocational training in various institutions, with the length of training or education dependent on what the student needed to take for his particular work. Further training, sometimes leading to a bachelor's degrees, could be taken as the employee participated in part-time or continuing education. This would have been a much more flexible option, as more students would probably not have to go to university, but it would still make universities dependent on the state or big business for funding. In the long run, though, the number of universities and researchers would have to be dependent on the economic conditions and social needs of the country.

In general, then, if we assume that universities are dependent on big business, increasing income from students who work for big business, and/or governments that also rely on big business through tax revenues, and if big business is heavily dependent on readily available oil and other resources, and if we face a resource crunch in the future....

[max_power]

We also have to watch the rise of Islamic world. If they get powerful, then there will be lots of madrasas and religious schools and universities will be reduced to dust.

Same thing with the fundie christians. Fundamentalists of all religions must not be allowed to take over.

[Unconventional Ideas]

Here in the USA because everyone's "smart" and "rich," we "all" go to college.

Unfortunately, that perpetuates a mindset that detracts from our real needs as a society.

We don't need to pretend everyone is smart or rich.  We need, rather, to respect especially those who make necessary items, or perform necessary services.  We need to respect less the corporate teamplayers who are essentially parasites, hucksters, and whores; who essentially provide nothing that is necessary.

Easier said than done, but it can be achieved quite simply in individual families, neighborhoods, and to an extent, municipalities.

[cjr]

As more universities (following MIT) put academic content in the form of video lectures on-line for free the structure of education will change.

I remember 40 years ago it used to take weeks to get get preprints and feedback from fellow researchers. Today it is all on-line long before formal print publication.

The Russian  mathematician Perelman did not even formally publish his great work on Poincare's conjecture but put up the outline in 2002-03 on the internet.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poincar%C3%A9_conjecture ). He did not even bother to attend the Fields Medal award (= 4 Nobel prizes) at the International Congress of Mathematician .

The function of a University is due for major changes.

[Unconventional Ideas]

Of course, not being able to get loans for college will force many into a premature change of mindset.

That will get the momentum going for sure.

[Texican]

We have universities in Europe and the Middle East going back over a thousand years in one form or another.
In America Harvard University comes to mind as the enduring university of this nation.
Take for example, someone from the graduating class of '95.

Is is 1695, 1795, 1895,or 1995

For this reason, is why I believe the demise of the university system is premature.

Yes, some might close, and some employees might never pay more than we get paid right now.

Yet, for some families the university system is the lifeline for them and their communities.

[Poppa Zao]

As Kunstler, et al. have said, the higher education system won't disappear entirely, but will severely contract.  I see a few big schools and more liberal arts colleges.  And a shift to vocational education.

Paul Fussell has some good insights on colleges in Class and BAD:  Or, the Dumbing of America.

And I'm going to check out Crisis in the Academy:
http://books.google.com/books?id=28fMNb8Rel4C&pg=PA9&dq

[ArmaGoof]

I only paid about $10K for my degree - in 1975.  Never was able to make a single penny from the "knowledge" I gained there, but did pick up several enduring habits like drinking, smoking, sex and drugs.   

I've imagined recently an ideal arrangement for learning what we need to know.  Call it a school or university if you like, but there would be no degrees, only greater achievement.  Five major areas of study:

Food Production
Energy Production
Water Utilization and Conservation
Structural Engineering (using only natural materials)
Homeopathic Medicine

From small children to senior citizens may attend - free.  In fact, the goal would be to produce enough to not only sustain the facility, but by extension an entire community, with significant profit.

Teach a 3 year old how to grow tomatoes, next year, corn and cucumbers - etc.
Teach an 8 year old how to harness energy from the sun, the wind and running water.
Teach a 12 year old how to catch and purify water.
Teach an 18 year old how to build comfortable shelter.
Teach a 72 year old how to live to be 90, with reasonable bodily comfort.

"Lesson plans" would include a good deal of humanity and culture, but not objectively, rather through natural observation and anecdotes.

It would be so novel in suburbia, the soccer moms would think it was cute without realizing they were affording their children a real chance at a future.  They'd just be happy saving the day care/high school/university fees.

An acorn grows a mighty oak that cleans the air we breath and is home to creatures who can sustain us . 
My diploma does nothing more than gather dust and qualify me to spend my life making other people rich at the cost of my own mental and physical health.

I suspect this is not a novel idea, but it would be a novelty (these days) if actually realized to fruition.