Are Liberal Arts Colleges Doomed?

I went to a liberal arts school for undergrad. The emphasis on writing has been very important to my career- I've found as I've advanced in my career as an engineer, being able to write well has helped in writing design documents, pitching ideas and in lots of other ways. It's funny, because at a time when the liberal arts skills are maybe more valuable than ever, liberal arts schools seem to be concerned less with what makes them valuable.

To me, part of the problem is the supply of colleges. There&#x27;s so many of them! Every state has their big state schools, and their smaller, private, low acceptance rate &quot;institutions&quot;. But then there&#x27;s a billion small schools that no one has every heard of, and I&#x27;m not sure who is even going there. But I may be biased and don&#x27;t understand having gone to a big state school.<p>Maybe they were created to fill demand that is now drying up. But if you search for any US state like: &quot;Ohio colleges&quot;, google will show you &quot;100+ more colleges&quot; for majority of states.

95% of my college education was listening to the professor lecture with chalk and a chalkboard, taking notes, doing the homework, going over the homework with fellow students and the TA. The dorms were pretty spartan. The fun was hanging out with one&#x27;s fellow students.<p>All the expensive facilities added little.

Me: Why does your [38 year old] sister hate your parents so much? She has a real chip on her shoulder, doesn&#x27;t she?<p>Friend: Well..long story short, they refused to continue to pay for her college, cutting her off at the end of her sophomore year. She couldn&#x27;t afford to continue on her own, and she feels betrayed, and that it set her back decades.<p>Me: That really sucks..now I get it. They&#x27;re bastards! So, where did she go?<p>Friend: Evergreen State.<p>Me: Oh.

Most liberal arts colleges are elaborate play centers for post adolescents that also offer classes. My own Alma mater, Washington &amp; Lee, esp. matches that. I am not sympathetic.<p>I had great classes but I could have gotten the same education without the fluff. I bet without the fluff the cost would have been half or even cheaper.

You can watch a lecture from anywhere with a cell phone. Those books could be easily distributed digitally. With enough effort, even copyleft.<p>College is in serious need of disruption. Most degrees add little value compared to their current cost. But the cost doesn&#x27;t have to be so high.

I am a big proponent of liberal education. I believe liberal education is the foundation of western democracy. However, I am also of the mind that one cannot pay $70,000 per year for a diploma in Ancient Greek (as much as I admire the pursuit). I think we are rapidly moving towards the past where liberal education will be reserved for the elite. The upper middle will go for more specialized Vocational education in CS, engineering, and the like. Given that I got my degree in physics as part of a college of arts and sciences I believe deeply that I received a better, more well rounded education than my peers in engineering and CS. This in turn has allowed me to make better decisions where I weigh the ethical nature of what I’m deciding.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.goodreads.com&#x2F;quotes&#x2F;445846-you-wasted-150-000-on-an-education-you-coulda-got-for" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.goodreads.com&#x2F;quotes&#x2F;445846-you-wasted-150-000-o...</a><p>That summarizes the issue. Why pay 200k or even 100k at the beginning of your adult life for something you can read and then talk to people?<p>If you think students or professors at these colleges will turn you away when you&#x27;ve studied the material, you&#x27;re sadly mistaken. Why do you need to get stuck with the bill when you&#x27;re not really getting anything out of it?

This is what I got out of the story:<p>One liberal arts college decided to admit more diverse, poor students and fewer white rich students. Then to make things worse, they decided to give the rich white students additional financial aid. Then, surprise! They ran out of money.<p>This article does not touch on the real problem. A new Massachusetts regulation says that colleges must have enough money to guarantee that they can operate for four years. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mass.edu&#x2F;bhe&#x2F;documents&#x2F;THESIS%20Working%20Group%20Final%20Report.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mass.edu&#x2F;bhe&#x2F;documents&#x2F;THESIS%20Working%20Group%...</a><p>&quot;The resulting Teachout Viability Metric (TVM), ... focuses on an NPIHE’s ability to meet its teaching obligations to currently enrolled undergraduate students through to their expected graduation dates.&quot;<p>An NPIHE is a college.<p>In other words, if a college doesn&#x27;t have the money to guarantee it can stay open for four year, it has to start taking drastic steps which will probably scare away next fall&#x27;s students.<p>Hampshire never had enough money to make a guaratee like that. Hampshire has always operated paycheck to paycheck, with almost no money in the bank. But it wasn&#x27;t a life or death problem. They managed to slide by decade after decade. But now, with this new regulation, Hampshire is required to take drastic actions including admitting a tiny freshman class. Hampshire finances were on the shaky side and heading down. But this new regulation turned a manageable problem into an existential crisis.

I want to believe.<p>But the article has problems.<p>First, it&#x27;s not about colleges, it&#x27;s about a case study on one specific cool hippy college that has no majors, no structure, a handful of semi-known graduates, and 13 students in the recent freshman class and (they think) probably 0 in the next.<p>Article has problems. Look at this:<p>&gt; Depending on the state, needier students will usually pay less at a liberal arts college than they would at a state flagship. It sounds counterintuitive, but choosing a public school to save money is actually a privilege for the affluent.<p>It then clarifies:<p>&gt; A survey of 405 private nonprofit four-year colleges by the National Association of College and University Business Officers found that though the average tuition rate was $38,301.<p>Average tuition at private colleges is $38,301, and it&#x27;s more expensive at a state college?<p>I think not. What state colleges charge more than $38,301 tuition? Rhode Island has the <i>highest</i> at $39,029 for <i>both</i> tuition <i>and</i> fees. The $38,301 private average is tuition only. Or you can pay $12,363 on average for tuition in North Dakota. According to <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.collegetuitioncompare.com&#x2F;state&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.collegetuitioncompare.com&#x2F;state&#x2F;</a>.<p>But if you go to <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.collegetuitioncompare.com&#x2F;state&#x2F;north-dakota&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.collegetuitioncompare.com&#x2F;state&#x2F;north-dakota&#x2F;</a> you find that in state tuition is $6,608 for North Dakota residents and $8,766 for out of state.<p>State colleges are dramatically less expensive in every single state than private colleges, especially for in-state students. The article&#x27;s claim is so absurd that it demolishes the credibility of the entire piece.

<i>Residential liberal arts colleges are rare in other parts of the world.</i><p>How do other parts of the world handle education in the liberal arts?

If I’m going to spend $200k on college for my kids, it had better be for a professional degree. They can learn to be well rounded human beings from primary, secondary school and MOOCs.

It’s pretty obvious that the answer is yes

No

If the president of the college can&#x27;t even remember what a Van De Graff generator is... you&#x27;re going to have a bad time

The AWS Associate and Professional Architect certifications together costs $450. 12 months of self-study from knowing nothing about computers, and many have done it in less. Compare them (although this is not the best metaphor) to an Associate’s and Bacehlor’s degree. You would certainly earn as much...probably quite a bit more.<p>The study materials for those exams, worst case, bring the total to $750.<p>So $750 vs $50,000 for a modestly priced 4 year university.<p>Can anyone in intellectual good faith argue that the latter system is going to survive outside of the very short term?