Universities are failing students. Let's talk about why.

Let's talk about some more problems with American universities and start to think about solutions.

The views expressed in this video are solely mine and not reflective of the views that UPDF has about universities.

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00:00 - Start
00:50 - It is structural, not personal
04:52 - On "wokeness"
07:17 - Students have become customers
11:25 - Universities have too many missions
15:59 - We spend money on things that don't matter
17:48 - We have to find a better way

[_jared]

And let me know what you think we can do to fix universities down below!

(And to be clear: The views expressed in this video are solely mine and not reflective of the views that UPDF has about universities.)

[LTRand]

If a 4 year degree only costs 10k, then any major is justified.

If a 4 year degree costs 400k, it better be economically relevant.

That is the major shift on the consumer side.

[malevolentsnow]

13:51 You are so right about general education requirements. I had to take a form of art, theatre, or history of art/theatre before going to the classes I wanted for my job. I didn’t want the extra course loaf of a history class, and had stage fright, so I was forced into drawing. I am not an artist and we had to put our drawings on the wall for everyone to see twice a week. So it was basically a humiliation fest twice a weeks for three months.

Great way to get someone interested in art.

[maxlemuz]

Adjunct here. I really appreciated your points and I'd just want to add that it's not just the universities that are failing students, but the surrounding system of student loans and high schools that are frankly bringing in far too many students into the university system that would be better off going to other school programs or straight into the workforce.

[mhdkhd]

Well, everything is a business in the US. I am a professor at a high ranked uni, and I am seen as a coffee shop owner who serves my "customers" rather than an actual teacher. I always get good course evals, but the reason is that I am not able to teach the correct way, and must teach the way my clients love. Teaching the correct way equals bad evals and getting fired tbh. In my hometown (in the middleeast), I believe the edu system is more effective since the students are not customers, and the financial aspect is not emphasized as much as what I see in the US.

[wiesejay]

@16:22 I got my BFA from a school that has been a front for an NCAA football franchise since 1906

[elainealibrandi]

I went to college at a time (late 1970s) when a college education was supposed to make students into well-read, well-rounded people. This meant that no matter what you studied for a major, the humanities classes were taught to ensure that you didn't graduate as an expert in your field but ignorant in everything else. This was also a time when, if you had a degree in fine arts and art history as I did, a lot of jobs were open to you outside of your field, simply because you had a degree.

Now graduates need a plethora of finely tuned qualifications and ultra-specific credentials and skills that used to be taught on the job, but which are now obsolete by the time they do graduate. College is ridiculously expensive as it focuses on water slides and luxury cafeterias. Future employers aren't going to care how cool your school was. It's time to get back to bare bones, intensive, quality education taught by well-paid professors, without all the unnecessary amenities and perks that end up costing more than the professors' salaries.

[gwenwest]

Spot on. Seriously, so many accurate points! Excellent video Jared.

[DJTSYes]

When I did my Masters a few years ago, my University professors did very little (if anything) to have relationships with their students.
They went in the opposite direction. They infantilised their students, treated them like children, and didn't recognise that some students were there to learn.
I was nearly expelled one day when I didn't show up for a university organised practicum because I had to attend a job interview... so I could afford to live.

[robertwallace]

I wish there were trade schools for most of the majors. Chemists, engineers, biologists, teachers, musicians, entrepreneurs and accountants etc. should all have trade schools. Right now they all need to go university and it doesnt make sense

[christopherl]

Wokeness perhaps is not as vital an issue as many would claim, but I think it is not completely irrelavant either. I'd say it falls somewhere between the two extremes.

In any case, you make some excellent points that I hadn't thought of before. Thanks

[davidcottrell]

you are right on. students a customers is completely corrosive.

[angelal]

I have so many friends who wanted to go into academia and couldn’t swing it financially but then work at these same jobs institutions as admin and it’s maddening that the system will not pay them to teach or research but will pay them to continue expanding the bureaucracy.

[sharondunn]

student as customer model is so true. The college I worked at tried to attract out of state students (for the higher tuition) by promoting the great outdoor activities that were available in the area. They have really expensive dorms with gyms, pools and coffee shops. The tuition would be less if they went back to the room with a bed and desk.

[fletchergull]

I recently transferred universities from Australia to the US. I am now one of those disgruntled students in the gen ed classes viewing it as an utter waste of my time (we don't do it in Australian universities). I am not at university to get a job, I am here for the love of learning (physics). But we learn pretty much nothing useful or interesting in these gen ed classes that I didn't already learn in the 8th grade. They cater to the lowest common denominator and the teachers set the classes up so that everyone gets an A more or less just for showing up, and they really do treat it as just a hurdle to jump over so that you can get on with your life. Instead of teaching, they often just fall back on making the classes about politics and "social justice" - I suppose to justify having the classes at all. For example I am taking English writing and Musical History this semester (both mandatory) and ALL of the reading and writing assignments have been centered around politics or social issues - have learned little to nothing about music or proper use of english.

The most annoying part about this is that they will not let me replace these required bullshit classes with additional maths and science classes which would actually be really valuable to me!
It's like, if they really want to squeeze an extra year's tuition out of me during my bachelor's, why not just let me take classes that I am actually interested in and that would actually help me??

[smc]

I agree with your view on wokeness. That’s all I’ll say.

[mendyviola]

I went to college in the late 80’s early 90’s. I never had an adjunct professor. Tuition was low enough that if you were determined, you could pay your own way through college. My professors were personally interested in my success.

[counterflow]

I agree with everything you say here. I would like to emphasize the need for a "Marshal Plan" to fix the K through 12 education in this country.

[soonhole]

I have a philosophy degree. I have found that the critical thinking skills learned through reading, grappling, and then writing about others works helps in the day to day at work. Comes about in argumentative writing, understanding complex issues, and throwing around Heraclitus quotes in meetings

[dan]

I would love to see you do an interview with a college administrator and/or practicing professor to get some additional perspectives on this.