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In Spain it is already the case that the "added value" of a private University education is not a higher academic standard, but access to a "job bourse" at the end of the degree, or an internship during the degree leading to a job afterwards. Public universities, by and large, lack this.

The same is true of Master's degrees: in most cases the point is not to receive an education but to access an internship or job with one of the firms sponsoring the program.

If you have any appreciation for education or knowledge, or believe in universal access to education or equality of opportunity, the system is already repugnant.

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jan 10th, 2011 at 08:41:49 AM EST
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Famous story of Euclid's response to a student who asked what gain he would get from studying geometry, "Give him three obols, since he must needs make gain out of what he learns."

In the US we've been constantly told a university education is a sure route to a high paying job.  A half-truth since most high paying jobs require technical knowledge easiest and quickest to acquire at a school of higher learning.  The other half of the truth: studying and acquiring knowledge to deepen understanding or only for the joy of learning, is hard to justify in a predatory capitalist climate where scientists, engineers, and other intellectuals are effectively 'hired guns,' or mercenaries, useful to our Masters only as much as we twiddle around making things capable of maximizing profits over the shortest amount of time.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Mon Jan 10th, 2011 at 12:20:08 PM EST
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Which makes me think y'all might find this article interesting:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?pagewanted=2

Karen in Bischofswiesen

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 10th, 2011 at 06:54:18 PM EST
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Alas, the NYT lies when it reports:

Like everything else about the law, however, the full picture here is complicated. Independent surveys find that most law students would enroll even if they knew that only a tiny number of them would wind up with six-figure salaries. Nearly all of them, it seems, are convinced that they're going to win the ring toss at this carnival and bring home the stuffed bear.

Neo-Classical Economics informs us in a rational world where people act only rationally based on rational decision making having rational expectations.  

Rationally.

Thus, the situation described in the article is UnPossible and should, therefore, be ignored.


She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Mon Jan 10th, 2011 at 07:42:03 PM EST
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What options do young people have? Get rich or die trying?!

The modern culture is full of stereotypical Darwinism, that there is not much choice neither economically nor socially.

by das monde on Tue Jan 11th, 2011 at 06:43:08 AM EST
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I was always surprised, when living in the USA, at how many people spent lots of money gambling.  I like the bumper sticker that says "Gambling is for the mathematically challenged."

I personally enjoyed law school, the learning part, but never had any expectations of becoming wealthy.  Unlike the guy profiled in the article, I didn't kid myself that it gave me any special status, especially among the people whose opinions mattered to me.

Karen in Bischofswiesen

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Wed Jan 12th, 2011 at 09:18:06 AM EST
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How did Euclid himself make a living?

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jan 11th, 2011 at 05:26:13 AM EST
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He was an academic, as you well know.  (I assume.)

When I first started looking into Complexity Theory, as an offshoot of my interest in General Systems Thinking, the "practical" benefit was nil.  Nobody was going to pay me one nickel per decade for the knowledge.  Now (30 years later) Complexity Theory is vital for a project I'm working on; a project that has a distinct change of making me a rather nice sum.  

Other knowledge I've acquired over the years hasn't made me a dime and most likely will never will.  

Acquiring knowledge for "it's own sake" gives the learner the same skill set as those who only acquire the knowledge to get a degree as a credential to get a job.  But, in my experience, those who take joy in learning will go on and continue to learn.  Those who only wanted to get a job will stagnate.  The economic benefit, which I do not deny, of continual learning is an ever-expanding skill set that, among other things, allows a person to recognize opportunities and take advantage of them as they arise.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Tue Jan 11th, 2011 at 01:04:50 PM EST
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