The Coming Meltdown in Higher Education – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education via kwout
Seth Godin argues that Higher Education’s run of 400 years in the US is about to end for the following reasons:
- Most undergraduate college and university programs are organized to give an average education to average students.
- College has gotten expensive far faster than wages have gone up.
- The definition of “best” is under siege.
- The correlation between a typical college degree and success is suspect.
- Accreditation isn’t the solution, it’s the problem.
While it is easy to agree with Godin and in particular the notion of accreditation promoting mediocrity for all but with universities controlling the parchment (degree granting) I don’t see this changing anytime soon. Sure, we have many wonderful examples of college dropouts doing exceptionally well (Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Marc Andreesen etc.) but these unfortunately the exception and not the norm. While I applaud the notion of DIY U and see its benefits we still live in a society that is dependent upon credentials.
