The Majority Of Republicans Think Colleges Are Bad For The U.S., Poll Shows

[Unapologetic Chinaperson]

As for the original thread, it's disappointing but not surprising. I mean, lots of Republicans think colleges are these evil re-education camps (okay, they technically are education camps) that teach kids evil Communist ideologies such as global warming and sociology.

[Bismarck]

First off I believe that colleges are essential and voted good. I would guess that the majority of people who answered that colleges were bad for the United States were thinking about things like safe spaces, banning Halloween costumes, no whites allowed zones etc, the type of things that show up on Fox News. I highly doubt they are opposed to their kids and grandkids going to get a solid education. So they are voicing their opinions against colleges because of the mischaracterization of the state of higher education by the media rather than being opposed to STEM education or whatever. I disagree with that point of view but the democrats on here getting off to the idea that they are the "educated" party against the rubes is terrible. As a side note, churches, banks, and unions are all moderatly good and the media is terrible.

[Dr. Arch]

We would be better off if all but the top tier of private schools disappeared overnight, at least. Doing without the rest would pose more challenges.

Admittedly, it is difficult to have an overly positive opinion of an institution that has reduced over 40 million adults in this country to peonage.

Moreover, we have people with master's degrees who can barely write coherent paragraphs, let alone manage complex projects. We have people with bachelor's degrees who are functionally illiterate.

These are abysmal results for an education system in which most of us spend close to two decades, that spends one quarter of a million dollars on the typical student who makes it through college, and to which millions of teachers and students dedicate themselves every year. Human sacrifice, it seems, is far from a thing of the past.

I don't know what degree holders you're referring to exactly, but your poor argument is a classic case of picking from the bottom of the barrel to represent the whole--if such people even exist, that is, at least within the context of graduates from reputable American institutions.

[RFayette]

We would be better off if all but the top tier of private schools disappeared overnight, at least. Doing without the rest would pose more challenges.

Admittedly, it is difficult to have an overly positive opinion of an institution that has reduced over 40 million adults in this country to peonage.

Moreover, we have people with master's degrees who can barely write coherent paragraphs, let alone manage complex projects. We have people with bachelor's degrees who are functionally illiterate.

These are abysmal results for an education system in which most of us spend close to two decades, that spends one quarter of a million dollars on the typical student who makes it through college, and to which millions of teachers and students dedicate themselves every year. Human sacrifice, it seems, is far from a thing of the past.

I am just curious how bad this "functional illiteracy" is amongst those you mention at your workplace (not scare quotes, I have just heard multiple definitions ranging from inability to understand medicine instructions to difficulty reading pages of material).  Would it be to the point that those people would be unable to understand a simple paragraph in a newspaper article?  If so, I wouldn't doubt it, but yikes. 

I don't think I'd go quite this far, but this is largely accurate.

There are a few big structural problems within education:

1. High levels of student debt and non-dischargeability of student loans.  There's a lot of things to go around but a few big factors are:
-Room and board inflation - which is occurring just as rapidly as tuition inflation IIRC, largely due to expensive construction of new buildings and amenities to attract upper-class students to the college but also increases the cost of attendance for everyone.
-Tuition inflation:  again, numerous factors are at play, such as declining state aid (for public schools) and perverse incentives through the student loan program, which gives easy immediate access to funds for students to borrow but has very harsh strings attached.  A paper I stumbled across recently attributed nearly all of the 106% increase in tuition rates due to student loan program reforms.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w21967

2. Low levels of learning:  I am fortunate in that I feel I have developed intellectually a fair amount over my time at college thus far, but it's not a universal experience.  In fact, a large percentage of students don't have any demonstrable increase in critical thinking or analytical reasoning skills in college. 
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/01/19/experts_note_limits_of_report_that_says_college_students_aren_t_learning

3. Weak connection to labor market
For many majors, even if they are worthwhile, it is difficult to procure employment with them.  There is also a fair level of detachment of much of academia from the demands of current employers:  this is fine to an extent - after all, some of the goals of a university should be independent of immediate employment prospects - but especially for students in non-technical majors (engineering, accounting, nursing, etc.), it's incumbent for colleges both to ensure students have demonstrable skills in writing, analytical thinking, etc. and are guided in extracurricular activities to pursue to increase employment prospects, such as learning a programming language. 

[Santander]

33% of Republicans support labor unions? That's incredibly surprising, I thought that number would be somewhere around 5%.

White working class.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Beep F**king Boop.

Looks like you cant refute what I said so your resorting to personal attacks

[Sir Mohamed]

Welcome to the world of Trump. No wonder since their president loves the poorly educacted. Sad!

[Person Man]

33% of Republicans support labor unions? That's incredibly surprising, I thought that number would be somewhere around 5%.

White working class.

Do you?

[Santander]

33% of Republicans support labor unions? That's incredibly surprising, I thought that number would be somewhere around 5%.

White working class.

Do you?

Of course. I'm not a monster.

[OSR stands with Israel]

33% of Republicans support labor unions? That's incredibly surprising, I thought that number would be somewhere around 5%.

White working class.

Do you?

Of course. I'm not a monster.

So you think thatcher and Walker are monsters

[Santander]

33% of Republicans support labor unions? That's incredibly surprising, I thought that number would be somewhere around 5%.

White working class.

Do you?

Of course. I'm not a monster.

So you think thatcher and Walker are monsters

Duh...

[Person Man]

33% of Republicans support labor unions? That's incredibly surprising, I thought that number would be somewhere around 5%.

White working class.

Do you?

Of course. I'm not a monster.

So you think thatcher and Walker are monsters

Duh...

What do you consider "supporting unions"?

[Badger]

I can't wait to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars so that my kid can go to a diploma mill and learn to hate me for being part of the white-male power structure.

So you'd prefer people to be stupid. Got it.

Based on his post, it's apparently a family tradition

[Badger]

     One could write a book to fully address this question. There are many ways in which they contribute positively and many ways in which they contribute negatively. I am not comfortable approaching it as a simple yes or no.

You're joking? You seriously think that the existence of American universities has an ambiguous effect on the US as a country?

That anyone would even consider that is one of the most moronic things I've heard. Jesus Christ.

No, saying college education is a bad thing as the most moronic thing. The saying it's ambiguous is only second place.

[Badger]

     One could write a book to fully address this question. There are many ways in which they contribute positively and many ways in which they contribute negatively. I am not comfortable approaching it as a simple yes or no.

You're joking? You seriously think that the existence of American universities has an ambiguous effect on the US as a country?

That anyone would even consider that is one of the most moronic things I've heard. Jesus Christ.

     They have done a lot of good historically. They still do a lot of good today, but L.D. Smith is right; the system is deeply flawed. We shouldn't look at only the good and ignore the role they have played in the proliferation of debt among naive young adults or trends in admissions that have promoted social stratification, just to name a couple of problems associated with higher education today.

Don't you have like a master's or Ph.D?

[Badger]

It totally depends on the program and degree  in my opinion

Many of the liberal arts degree for example I believe are bad for the country (gender,racial , religious studies for example).

What matters is that someone 22 years old comes out of college better than he was at age 18 -- with a broader view of reality, more intellectual openness, better at communications, being able to address ethical issues, and having better ways to find happiness. Truth be told, brilliant 18-22-year-olds are bulls in the china shop in business and industry; 18-22-year-old dullards are useful even if not very productive. The University has been the playground for bright young men so that they don't shake up the wrong things when they are most tempted to do so since the Middle Ages. Getting a little older and more intellectually-refined, no matter what the field, they are less likely to shake things up, whether in theology or in politics.

Republicans are now heavily the party of the white dullard, someone with a cr@ppy job and whose behavior off the job doesn't matter so long as he doesn't shake things up  (as with crime or drugs). So what if he vegetates on  an easy chair in front the Idiot Screen watching vapid sitcoms, reality programming, witless movies, or televised sports while getting fat on snacks and either sugary or alcoholic drinks? Maybe he will die of a fatal heart attack at age 46 -- after his children are in the workforce -- so that his Social Security contributions are forfeit. Such implies more funds for the educated elite, even if being elite means that one is 'merely' a schoolteacher or clergy.   

Sure, educated people would consider such a way of life little more attractive than a prison term -- but educated people are the ones making the good money. They will retire with a pension, some savings, and Social Security payments... and go traveling to Berlin, Bora-Bora, Buenos Aires, and Beijing as they always dreamed of doing because they are healthy in their seventies instead of having dropped dead while bigger than the average bear.       

Ask republicans about different programs and see their response

If you asked what's your opinion of computer science,engineering,medical ,Accounting/Finance , management programs I bet the answer is overwhelmingly positive.


But if you asked about liberal arts , activist , law  programs the answer will be overwhelmingly negative.

In the point is, that is an amazingly ignorant response. I mean short-sighted to the point of of blindness. It's based on this misconceived notion that anyone coming out of college nowadays with a liberal arts degree he said they're going to become a lawyer, Community activists, or a barista.

Hey, here's a hot take, something like 95% of individuals are employed in a field unrelated to their undergraduate degree. Republicans trying to look at a liberal arts education as some sort of job training school are misled, not to mention missing the point that you still need a damn degree to succeed in today's Marketplace.

The point is to teach critical thinking and Analysis. This is why Republicans like you are frightened to s*** about higher education, because the more that spreads the weaker your electoral prospects are. And if that means f****** over our National Economic viability in the process, so be it.

No nothing is at its finest