That is one of the biggest changes that I look forward to with higher education. The move from 'traditional' degrees where information is given to students toward institutions that VALIDATE the knowledge/proficiency of students.
There was a Ted talk that I saw a year or so ago with a rep from Stanford talking about how they plan to provide incremental certifications of specific skills (at a very low cost) related to the knowledge they expect students to gain from their free online offerings. (unfortunately I couldn't find it right now) There are so many people who do not have adequate access to quality higher education with the current model due to geographical, financial, or time constraints. Want to get a job as a DB administrator? Take MIT's 3-part course on database theory, SQL, and security and CMU's 2-part course on server administration. Then, go to your local CC and have them proctor Yale's DB admin certification test. It will be very interesting to see how these changes influence the demand for degrees in tech related industries. On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 4:45 PM, Richard K Miller <[email protected]>wrote: > P.S. Let me add, too, that things are changing! It's possible we're in an > education bubble[1] and it's possible that many schools will be gone in a > decade or two. This might be the most expensive time in history to get a > degree, depending on the school, your desired field, and your goals -- like > buying a house in 2007-2008. Not that the virtues of a university education > or home ownership aren't real, but it'd be a mistake to not consider the > costs. > > There's an interesting startup from a guy out of BYU called > http://degreed.com/. He suspects that just as music was first sold in > albums and later in singles, education will also be unbundled over time. > > [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education_bubble > [2] > http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/03/03/in-15-years-from-now-half-of-us-universities-may-be-in-bankruptcy-my-surprise-discussion-with-claychristensen/ > > > > Hey Grant, I can see your points. I'd probably chalk up > mission/marriage/family as (valid) reasons for reducing the *supply* of > people with degrees in Utah, but I'd attribute our being in the tech > industry to reducing the *demand* for degrees. E.g., you still need formal > schooling to practice law, be a doctor, or cut hair in Utah. Getting > married doesn't make it more acceptable in Utah to be a doctor without a > degree. :) But programmers, on the other hand, are fortunate to be in high > demand and to have no occupational licensing requirements. > > > > If you have some combination of time, flexibility, youth, money, etc. > then I'd suggest going to a university. > > > > If the choice is between learning on your own/on the job vs. an > expensive for-profit school, and you're planning to stay in technology > where there's no occupational licensing requirement, I'd take the former. > > > > I actually think not having a degree will hurt you in the *short-term*, > if at all, not the long-term. Long-term, each subsequent employer will care > less and less about your degree. > > > > (Regarding high-level executives -- possibly the direction of causation > is reversed? Perhaps the type of ambitious people that want to be > high-level executives make certain they get a university degree? Maybe it > wasn't the degree that created the executive? And of course you can search > https://www.google.com/search?q=people+without+a+college+degree and find > exceptions all day long.) > > > > Richard > > > > > > > > > >> Just throwing my hat in the ring and don't mean to offend anyone with my > >> comments here: > >> > >> I haven't lived in Utah for 10 years now. I do think there is sort of a > >> bubble and different mentality around getting a degree in Utah versus > other > >> parts of the country. From my experience, it is more accepted to not > have > >> a degree in Utah because other things in life get in the way -- Mission > / > >> Marriage / having to work a full time job to support your family all > before > >> graduating college. The average age of college graduates in Utah is > *MUCH* > >> higher than other parts of the country. > >> > >> It always felt like getting your degree was 2nd to other life priorities > >> there. > >> > >> I have interviewed hundreds of people for jobs for my current employer > and > >> I always give preference to someone with a formal degree from a > recognized > >> school. TBH, when someone listed an online school or some other school > on > >> their resume, it would actually do more harm in my mind versus not > having a > >> degree. > >> > >> While you can get a job making a decent wage without a degree, it will > hurt > >> you in the long run. How many high level executives do you see without > a > >> degree? Sure, name off the exceptions like Bill Gates etc but those are > >> exceptions, not the norm. > >> > >> -- > >> gs > > > > _______________________________________________ > > UPHPU mailing list > [email protected] > http://uphpu.org/mailman/listinfo/uphpu > IRC: #uphpu on irc.freenode.net > _______________________________________________ UPHPU mailing list [email protected] http://uphpu.org/mailman/listinfo/uphpu IRC: #uphpu on irc.freenode.net
