Comments on: Rethinking Accreditation

By: Morgan Price

Morgan Price — Thu, 15 May 2014 19:36:36 +0000

“If the student makes a ridiculous choice (like spending the money on drunken bacchanals and calling that “education”), then the student and the supplier of the improper service can both be prosecuted and fined.” — I doubt that the judicial system can do this effectively. And the students are already on the hook for the loans, so why creating additional them liability seems gratuitous.

By: Jonathan Bechtel

Jonathan Bechtel — Thu, 15 May 2014 19:01:33 +0000

Politically reforming the college credential is tantamount to the formal education industry voluntarily discrediting the bottom 80% of its participants. I don’t see it happening.

In the long run I’m optimistic about credential reform, but I think it’s going to happen as an evolutionary process from various decentralized private actors.

By: Sam Mikes

Sam Mikes — Thu, 15 May 2014 14:48:42 +0000

My undergrad bundled drunken bacchanals with a high-market-value credential: I went to Harvey Mudd. Unbundling would have been useful for the students who didn’t want to walk past courtyards smelling of cheap beer every Saturdya and Sunday morning.

By: Andrew'

Andrew' — Thu, 15 May 2014 14:45:09 +0000

Your first paragraph: they do this, at least informally, internally. To address liability and controversy, the first can be addressed by policy and for the second, they could provide evaluations that are anonymized to an evaluation specialist.

By: Handle

Handle — Thu, 15 May 2014 14:04:55 +0000

I’d be happier if employers themselves released their own evaluations of various credentialing programs, or reports about the average credentials of their new hires, but of course that would expose them to all kinds of liability and controversy.

The best thing employers could do is set up their own credentialing academies for which students can pay to demonstrate their ability to learn the skills that the employer deems most important. If you take an unpaid internship and lower the pay (that is, demand tuition) and also lower the productivity (learning instead of intern-work), then the net effect is very similar.

By: Andrew'

Andrew' — Thu, 15 May 2014 14:01:01 +0000

Conditional loan forgiveness! Boo-yahhhh!

Is that too much enthusiasm for this blog?

By: Andrew'

Andrew' — Thu, 15 May 2014 13:59:58 +0000

Now we’re talkin’! So, to get the financial aid, pass the 3rd party test.