I get really uncomfortable when I hear people talk about universities being worthless.
At the same time, I’m also uncomfortable with the insane levels of student debt and the cost of tuition.
My view that possibly balances both sides:
Why we need Universities
(1) I think it’s essential for people to take entry college-level statistics, economics, philosophy (logic), physical science, and political science.
These courses establish knowledge and critical thinking that are important for civil society and an informed electorate.
(2) Primary research is critical for the US to lead the world in science and technology. Businesses do a fantastic job of productizing and commercializing existing technologies, but they are not great and green-field discoveries. For example, the iPhone (a fantastic innovation) productized existing technology that was developed by CERN, universities, and NASA (if you go further back).
Why We Should Rethink the Model
(1) It’s challenging for colleges to stay current on industry trends
(2) The traditional University classroom model is great at Socratic teaching, not so great at teaching vocational skills.
(3) The coupling of research and vocational teaching is a historical artifact that no longer makes sense and drives up costs.
A Possible Solution
One-year of college as a foundation for everyone, and then a bifurcation in tracks:
If you’re going to get a Ph.D. for research/advancing human knowledge, continue on the traditional academic path.
If you’re going to industry, move to a vocational track with mixed-experience learning: direct instruction, projects, apprenticeships, and internships.
This is just one of many possible solutions and slightly over-simplified. For example, very technical vocations (e.g., doctors, chemists, some types of computer scientists) will need more rigorous formal, educational training. This could be done at the Universities or at vocational schools, but the basic idea is to decouple vocational training from traditional University structures (e.g., research, teaching methods, etc.).
What do you think?