Higher Education

13. Msivorytower--April 13, 1998--7:16 p.m. PST

I see this thread is a rousing success.

Pity, there are many interesting issues wrt higher education. For instance, should the state continue to fund it? How many HE's are feasible to maintain by a state at each level of quality (Research I, II, Comprehensive, Liberal Arts, etc).

Are community colleges becoming the dominant form of vocational training in this country? And if so, should we eliminate all voc ed from K-12 and move it completely to the post-secondary level (say yes, please)?

Then there is the great Bloom debate. Has HE in this country become a toilet, allowing students to bastardize their educations by taking a potpourri of classes and never really getting any depth of knowledge?

What about the need for a common core of knowledge that we expect all college students to have mastery over? And speaking of mastery, does that mean we should begin instituting exit exams in all fields? Require a comprehensive exam of all the core subjects we think basic to an educated person?