Midwest Chick's Place

(A.K.A. Non-Original Rants)

–Co-opting good stuff from all over the ‘Net and maybe some original thoughts—ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Colleges are not meeting their expectations anymore

 Truly, they haven’t for a while.  But academe is definitely leading the way on stupid when it comes to covid.  

Universities large and small are re-implementing masking and restrictions and some are once again going back to pure online due to rising positive tests (tests that even the CDC says should not be used as a litmus anymore).  Some universities never got rid of their original restrictions in the first place.

But they are also concerned about falling enrollments and can’t seem to make the connection between their covid tyranny and students not coming back or enrolling in the first place.

In this article (from NPR), the authors are wigging out because students are re-thinking college and are choosing jobs and income over decades of debt.  They actually do mention that one of the reasons that students are choosing to forgo college is because of online learning. 

This point is the crux, I think.  College was always touted as a place where a student could explore, learn, and grow (and ultimately get a good paying job).  And it’s not like that anymore.  Lockstep indoctrination is all pervasive.  With masking and lockdowns and online learning, students are not getting the social interactions that they were promised.  

And they are realizing that college is not the be-all, end-all to happiness, which has to have folks like the Lumina Foundation freaking out (the Lumina Foundation’s mission is to convince everyone that college is the only way to happiness and success).  The NPR article repeats this boilerplate which has been touted to families for decades.

It is about time that the college illusion was shattered and is probably one of the unexpected consequences of covid policies.  

ETA:  Apparently the Michigan Senate has put the dots together and has passed a resolution opposing all covid-related mandates on all college campuses (public and private) within the state of Michigan.  I’m not sure what weight this resolution carries, but it is truly a start.

Midwest Chick's avatar

Posted by:

Midwest Chick

4 responses to “Colleges are not meeting their expectations anymore”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    One of my biggest regrets is insisting my boys stay in college when they both wanted to quit.Each went another year, but did not graduate and just racked up one more year of loans they cannot afford (the government took over student loans and charges around 9% interest). Yes, I’m a slow learner. If I could go back in time I would have told both to not go at all.My daughter was focused on learning and was more classic “college material “. I have no issues with her getting degrees (BA and MA). The boys were smart enough, but not driven enough.

    Like

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Joe–For decades (since the 50s at least) parents have been told that the path to their childrens' success and happiness is a college degree. But then they took out the subjects that made that degree useful. Also, some kids just aren't right for college-it's not their path. Men are also looked down on and in some cases vilified in college just for their sex and I can't think that would be good for them.I remember in high school a bunch of kids would get on a bus and go to the trade school in the afternoons. And that was great—they were still getting useful information to take with them into the world–plumbing, welding, electric, engines. All of those things take smarts, just not 'quoting the Bard' smarts.

    Like

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    One of my biggest regrets is insisting my boys stay in college when they both wanted to quit.Each went another year, but did not graduate and just racked up one more year of loans they cannot afford (the government took over student loans and charges around 9% interest). Yes, I’m a slow learner. If I could go back in time I would have told both to not go at all.My daughter was focused on learning and was more classic “college material “. I have no issues with her getting degrees (BA and MA). The boys were smart enough, but not driven enough.

    Like

    Reply
  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Joe–For decades (since the 50s at least) parents have been told that the path to their childrens' success and happiness is a college degree. But then they took out the subjects that made that degree useful. Also, some kids just aren't right for college-it's not their path. Men are also looked down on and in some cases vilified in college just for their sex and I can't think that would be good for them.I remember in high school a bunch of kids would get on a bus and go to the trade school in the afternoons. And that was great—they were still getting useful information to take with them into the world–plumbing, welding, electric, engines. All of those things take smarts, just not 'quoting the Bard' smarts.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *