The underlying cause of the high cost of college is an inability to objectively demonstrate quality or the value added by a college. Currently, college rankings are determined by the amount of money they have and spend. Those with more prestige are able to charge higher tuition. Higher education institutions need to be incentivized to adopt a system which measures the knowledge and abilities of students and make those results publicly available.
This would involve organizing colleges to prioritize student success. They can reduce spending on programs which do not advance their missions of instruction and research. This would include removing institutional support of intercollegiate athletics and frivolous research. It would also entail eliminating student services which do not substantially improve the acquisition of skills or learning outcomes. The federal government can fund the research necessary to determine what interventions will lead to the formation of a successful system and incentivize colleges to adopt them.
Theme music credit: Sunshind by lemonmusicstudio via Pixabay
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.