I am all for making higher education higher - but the educational institutions are not up for shrinking by 50%. The STEM subjects seem to have maintained their standards (to a greater or lesser extent) over the past half century. The social sciences and humanities have not. From what I saw of my daughter's engineering coursework 10 years ago, I think that expectations were reasonably comparable to what was expected of the engineering students that I TA'd 40 years earlier. It is my understanding that the average IQ of college graduates was ~115 around 1970 and is currently barely above average (note that some subjects require IQ's that are significanlty above average). No curriculium change will make up for the decrease in student capability. The fact is that a lot of students going to college should not be.
And I don't accept the working student excuse for reduced standards - it took me 5 years to do my MS in Materials Science, I was working full time, married, and rebuilding a house. I knew a fellow engineer who took 12 years to earn his engineering degree while working full time as a technician, being married, and raising a family.
I have a profound understanding of what you mean. But we should factor in the 'woke' ideology virus that hinders any progress in higher education. This is only part of the equation. Summary of Issues Affecting My Ph.D. Completion: Violation of Academic Freedom: These actions represent a concerted attack on academic integrity and freedom of expression; Ideological Censorship: The pervasive influence of "woke" and DEI ideologies created a hostile environment for intellectual diversity. You may find it helpful to read my complete interview: https://unbekoming.substack.com/p/heresy? https://palexander.substack.com/p/the-operation-warp-speed-ows-lockdown?
I am all for making higher education higher - but the educational institutions are not up for shrinking by 50%. The STEM subjects seem to have maintained their standards (to a greater or lesser extent) over the past half century. The social sciences and humanities have not. From what I saw of my daughter's engineering coursework 10 years ago, I think that expectations were reasonably comparable to what was expected of the engineering students that I TA'd 40 years earlier. It is my understanding that the average IQ of college graduates was ~115 around 1970 and is currently barely above average (note that some subjects require IQ's that are significanlty above average). No curriculium change will make up for the decrease in student capability. The fact is that a lot of students going to college should not be.
And I don't accept the working student excuse for reduced standards - it took me 5 years to do my MS in Materials Science, I was working full time, married, and rebuilding a house. I knew a fellow engineer who took 12 years to earn his engineering degree while working full time as a technician, being married, and raising a family.
I have a profound understanding of what you mean. But we should factor in the 'woke' ideology virus that hinders any progress in higher education. This is only part of the equation. Summary of Issues Affecting My Ph.D. Completion: Violation of Academic Freedom: These actions represent a concerted attack on academic integrity and freedom of expression; Ideological Censorship: The pervasive influence of "woke" and DEI ideologies created a hostile environment for intellectual diversity. You may find it helpful to read my complete interview: https://unbekoming.substack.com/p/heresy? https://palexander.substack.com/p/the-operation-warp-speed-ows-lockdown?