Exactly, and it’s not just the cost, but the cultural disenfranchisement as well.

I like this post! With the point about students not expecting to pay, I wonder what it would look like when some of these ventures try to monetize their efforts. It seems like a lot might hinge on the funding that supports these purveyors…

This is an interesting notion if extrapolated to a larger scale. It kinda sounds like you could envision the scenario in which there actually is no current because all of the streams and counter streams end up negating each other and rendering a state of inertia. I suppose in one sense that would make swimming easier, though, if keeping with the metaphor.

I would suggest that land grant universities were seen as a public good when they were first established in 1862. The purpose of their establishment was to give students a chance at achieving the same training as those attending a private university. The thought was that America would benefit from a technically advanced workforce.

This was an interesting post! Did the HBR article define critical thinking or what it meant for a conversation to be “smarter”?

It doesn’t need to remain broken, but, alas, I fear it will. The economy has been driving higher education and politics for too long at this point. we’d need a radical shift for change to occur.

Well said!

Hey, thanks for commenting. In my haste, I had forgotten to link to the article. It has been fixed now.
General legal consensus for adulthood is 18, which is what I am referring to here, though psychology would probably put mental adulthood somewhere around 25.

I would be interested in knowing more about what you do to create this environment! Also, do you think there’s anything that could be done to help student approach these topics in a way that facilitates the airing of controversial ideas?

Grade inflation is already an issue, but it is a pittance compared to what would happen if results began to be demanded. Right now, much like high school in the 1980’s, grade inflation is occurring as a result of internal inflation. However, given external motivators the rate of grade inflation would increase exponentially as it did for no child left behind.