A few postsecondary education links to tide you over.

Man, I've been using up all my energy in the comments here and at Darwin's and Jennifer's.  No post yet.  So here are some links that are rolling around.

Here is a paper with an interesting premise:

Many students in four-year-degree institutions do not graduate within the stipulated time period. In this paper, we address a growing student explanation for this phenomenon: A “conspiracy” by university administrators to deliberately delay graduation by implementing poor academic advising in order to profiteer from student haplessness. It draws upon findings from a larger study exploring undergraduates’ usage and perceptions of as well as satisfaction with academic advising. The study was conducted in 2011 at a rapidly expanding mid-size public university in the Northeast. 

 

Here's a different educational system:

Who Needs College?  The Swiss Opt for Vocational School

As young Americans contemplate the immense cost (and considerable indebtedness) involved in a college education, it may be worthwhile to consider the options available to the Swiss—and whether they are worth importing into the U.S. In Switzerland, even though university education is free, the vast majority of students opt for a vocational training instead.

 

And here's an article about parents taking out student loans for their kids' education which they can't afford, encouraged by the colleges, bien sûr:

[Aurora] Almendral had been accepted to New York University in 1998, but even after adding up scholarships, grants, and the max she could take out in federal student loans, the private university—among nation’s costliest—still seemed out of reach.

One program filled the gap: Aurora’s mother, Gemma Nemenzo, was eligible for a different federal loan meant to help parents finance their children’s college costs. Despite her mother’s modest income at the time—about $25,000 a year as a freelance writer, she estimates—the government quickly approved her for the loan. There was a simple credit check, but no check of income or whether Ms. Nemenzo, a single mom, could afford to repay the loans.

Ms. Nemenzo took out $17,000 in federal parent loans for the first two years her daughter attended NYU. But the burden soon became too much....Today, a dozen years on, Ms. Nemenzo’s debt not only remains, it’s also nearly doubled, with fees and interest, to $33,000. Though Ms. Almendral is repaying the loans herself, her mother continues to pay the price for loans she couldn’t afford: Falling into delinquency on the loans had damaged her credit, making her ineligible to borrow more when it came time for Ms. Almendral’s sister to go to college.

 

Maybe I'll catch up this weekend...

 

Comments

[Jeanie]

A link I found interesting:

http://news.yahoo.com/bursting-the-higher-education-bubble--why-college-shouldn%E2%80%99t-matter.html

[Jenny]

Interesting theory about the faculty conspiracy to delay graduation. I don't think it's true, though. Professors are notorious for being poor advisers. That is why you get your own copy of the catalog and plan accordingly.

The major problem I see is the growth of 'required' classes. Everything required to meet core curriculum and a host of PC classes and appeasing a campus's particular special interests and then classes for the major. Never ending classes.

[Kate]

When I was in college, there was a neighboring university that had a reputation for making it difficult for students to graduate on time...and of my friend who attended there, *none* made it out in 4 years. I don't know that it was a conspiracy, but there was a combination of intricate prereqs, heavy core requirements, and a rapidly charging catalogue - which made it impossible to just get a copy of the catalogue and make effective plans.