Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Obama Making Power Move On College and University Education System

This is very disconcerting. As if the government doesn't influence the education system enough with its propaganda nudging, Obama appears to want to have direct influence over all education at the college and university level, by rating them all:

From NYT:
Colleges Rattled as Obama Seeks Rating System

The college presidents were appalled. Not only had President Obama called for a government rating system for their schools, but now one of his top education officials was actually suggesting it would be as easy as evaluating a kitchen appliance.

“It’s like rating a blender,” Jamienne Studley, a deputy under secretary at the Education Department, said to the college presidents after a meeting in the department’s Washington headquarters in November, according to several who were present. “This is not so hard to get your mind around.”

The rating system is in fact a radical new effort by the federal government to hold America’s 7,000 colleges and universities accountable by injecting the executive branch into the business of helping prospective students weigh collegiate pros and cons. For years that task has been dominated by private companies like Barron’s and U.S. News & World Report.

Mr. Obama and his aides say colleges and universities that receive a total of $150 billion each year in federal loans and grants must prove they are worth it...

The idea that the government would try to rate the schools has rattled the entire higher education system, from elite private institutions to large state universities to community colleges.

11 comments:

  1. I don't worry too much about this as it seems clear that the university system will be facing an earthquake of unprecedented proportions in the coming years. Coursera.com has 700 top-quality college courses online, Edx.org has 200, other initiatives such as Udacity, Futurelearn, iTunesU, etc continue to innovate. Georgia Tech (a top 5 computer sci / engineering school) now offers an online Master's degree for under $7k. The traditional brick-and-mortal model is a dead man walking. As universities lose their relevance, so too will the left-liberal statist intelligentsia who currently control them. What student would choose the current system, rife with Marxist philosophy masquerading as English lit, anti-male rape paranoia, race-based admissions, income-based (and grossly inflated) pricing, over self-directed, affordable, online education?

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    1. I hate to burst your bubble, but those online solutions are also ridden with Marxist philosophy/leftist ideology. Changing the vehicle does not necessarily change the content.

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  2. I think this is awesome! I can't think of a more deserving group of people to have more government inserted into their industry than upper level education. And even better, its coming from a fellow left winger. Pass the popcorn please.

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  3. "Mr. Obama and his aides say colleges and universities that receive a total of $150 billion each year in federal loans and grants must prove they are worth it."

    Let the students decide. If the university offers a valuable education that employers finds prepares them for jobs in the real world, it will attract more students looking for a future this higher ed can provide. In kind, they can raise tuition because supply demand derp derp durrrrrrr.

    Freakin' government imbeciles. Let the market work for %$*#'s sake.

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  4. Isn't the Federal budget something like $3.5 trillion? Can we have a mechanism to see if that price tag is worth it? If we're evaluating these institutions, start with the biggest most notoriously wasteful and inefficient instead of the pot calling the kettle black.

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  5. I don't know, but I cant think of many organizations that have applauded the march of the state more than the universities. Perhaps, its just dessert that the state put its boot on the neck of the universities?

    Most of the intellectuals that cheered the Bolshevics to power were dragged away to their execution. Eventually the state eats its own it would appear.

    Big academia is a legacy institution with large overhead and dwindling growth prospects. Like utilities and other shrinking commercial industries, they will look to the state for protection and support. I say screw them and will enjoy seeing them chafe at their new overlords.

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  6. Ms. Muñoz countered that Mr. Obama had no patience for anyone who attempted to block the effort.

    “For those who are making the argument that we shouldn’t do this, I think those folks could fairly have the impression that we’re not listening,” Ms. Muñoz said. “There is an element to this conversation which is, ‘We hope to God you don’t do this.’ Our answer to that is: ‘This is happening.’ ”

    whoa...! better get in line and don't forget who the boss man is. love this kind of payback. ha.

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  7. Considering the level of intellectual timidity characteristic of modern-day academia, they will just spread their legs and enjoy the attentions of the State.

    Lenin was quite correct when he pronounced intelligentsia to be not the brains of the nation, but rather its excreta.

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  8. Its all about Ringo's Law.
    .
    And ObamaCare for all.
    .
    lol

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  9. Hey, President Obama, and those of your "ilk": Give us all a break from your incessant nonsense peddled about like care and concern for us nobodies. What makes you qualified to comment on the contents of bag of potato chips let alone rate colleges and universities when you guys can't even handle basic addition and subtraction (i.e. balance the nations checkbook)?

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  10. Great to see the government are extending their effort on how to improve our education. Thank you for sharing this wonderful post.

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