I wonder how much more of this "middle class" of colleges we will see hollowed out over the next few years/decades.
So many of these places are in really serious financial straits. Families are more and more unwilling to pay, and students are taking the possibility of trade/vocational school seriously.
Harvard will be fine. Stanford will be fine. Prestigious schools could last for quite a long while on their endowments alone, and besides, the Ivies have no shortage of eager customers. The brand value is too strong.
And I actually think 1) biiiiig state schools 2) small community colleges will mostly be fine. The government support is there, and the bang-for-your-buck is there.
But the middle-tier private university might be a dying breed.
In the US, community colleges general offer 2 year trade degrees. WVU is a typical public university offering 4 year bachelor (and above) degrees. It’s the kind of public school we want to keep around and well-run.
Community College is awesome and should be encouraged more. Too many people seem to fall prey to these "resort-style" universities where the education quality might be marginally better but not worth the 2-4x price difference.
Again, community colleges typically don't offer the same degrees as public or private universities. They're great for knocking out general education requirements like history or bowling, because why pay the full price for the requirements outside your major. They're also outstanding at trades like plumbing or HVAC. But at least in the states I've lived in, you usually can't get a 4 year degree from them. If you want a bachelor's of math or comp sci or chemistry, you'll have to get it from a university.
I graduated from a public state-run university and I've been completely happy with the quality of my education. It was actually affordable. A community college is something different.
I mean they should hollow out, its the employer’s deficiency that it lazily began screening for college degrees over the past 60 years
All these colleges are grifts on that concept
The upper class higher learning of Ivy League and adjacent predate this prerequisite, are tone death to the reasons that students attend for job eligibility over actual higher learning or satisfying a clause in a trust fund, and will survive this time period where students are there for jobs. These things are 300 years old in the US, the last half century and the tailend pushes for inclusion will totally be a footnote in their dynasty
So many of these places are in really serious financial straits. Families are more and more unwilling to pay, and students are taking the possibility of trade/vocational school seriously.
Harvard will be fine. Stanford will be fine. Prestigious schools could last for quite a long while on their endowments alone, and besides, the Ivies have no shortage of eager customers. The brand value is too strong.
And I actually think 1) biiiiig state schools 2) small community colleges will mostly be fine. The government support is there, and the bang-for-your-buck is there.
But the middle-tier private university might be a dying breed.