Dear Fellow Friends, I Invite You To Rant About Higher Education!

I think the Australian way is a little different to college in the US.
To complete a bachelors degree at university, generally you need to pass 24 subjects (which in the Faculty of Business will cost around $1000 per subject)

At 4 subjects per semester, you can also expect to pay $500 for textbooks every 6 months as well.

Although I see it as useful, and enjoyable learning - times have changed.

5 years ago, a university degree was seen as something 'extra' which you could offer a potential employer, over the next man - but now, its almost a prerequisite to white collar life.
These days, if you don't have that degree, you won't even get into an interview room - which is tough, yet you spend tens of thousands of dollars which ultimately needs to be paid back (Government assisted university loans).

The way that society is geared, means that students will merely so 'a degree' because they think they have to - irrespective of which field. SO you end up with thousands of people conforming to social norms, completing degrees in fields which aren't even of interest, never using the qualifications (because even if they went into that industry, they end up changing anyway), and ultimately wasting valuable resources of the country.

Then you have the issue of people who are academically amazing, but socially retarded. There are many students who go through university, obtaining amazing marks - but aren't given the skills to be able to apply it in a business setting. As a result, these people can't apply the knowledge they have gained at university - in the real world..which harms both students, and industry. I think there should be more of a focus on this point, otherwise we end up with a serious amount of potential lecturers, instead of executives.

It also seems that the standard of university level subjects is lessening. The university I attend, has one of the most highly accredited business schools in the southern hemisphere, yet the students walking out with degrees should definitely not be given responsibility of dealing with the future of a company. The difficulty of subjects seems as if it is declining, and people are just cruising through 3 years of study, walking into jobs paying great money, yet in many cases, upper level management must look at them and think: "why did we employ this person?, they can't add value to our business.."

Overall, a "university degree" and what it means, has taken a large shift in society over the last 10 years. Once, it was a qualification which could show that you had dedication to something, whilst obtaining invaluable skills which could be applied in practical business settings in order to add value to businesses. Not it is commonplace, and merely a requirement to get into an interview. Gone are the days of people having 5 years experience in a particular field; university degrees are substituting for experience, and have the potential to impact on many businesses and what they can expect to achieve from a new graduate.

There are many more issues to consider, but i'm hungry.

Simon Hailes
Sydney, Australia

OVERALL -

The Universities don't care, they still get their money. And they get a ton of it.

In College you learn information about the profession you want to chose, and that little piece of paper tells employers of yours that youve spent years learning it.

I'd say college is overpriced, 8k a year for just attending plus another 8k a year on top of that to live on campus, but these Universitys can afford to rape you price-wise because College is almost necassary now to have a good paying career.

Perfectly exemplified by the uni I'm applying to next year offering more places to international students (who have to pay upwards of $30k Aussie a year) than they do to Australians.

I think its something like out of the 120 places, 80 go to internationals, 10 to Torres Straight/Aboriginal, then the other 30 go to Aussies.

This being said, the Gov has Commonwealth Supported Places here- what was mentioned before about racking up massive loans that have to be paid back eventually.
If an Aussie student is on one of those placements, they pay just over $5k a year.
If they don't get a high enough score to get one of those places, they can go for the full fee paying option, and pay upwards of $25k per year.

Bit of a joke when I can go to NZ to study, not be classed as an international, and pay less overall (accomodation, tuition, etc...) per year than I would if i stayed here in Melbourne.

perfect answer. you will be in my paper. do you mind telling me your name/location/school?
Thanks a ton and any more answers will be appreciated!

I could spend hours and hours explaining my views on education and how fucked up the entire system is from preschool on up through grad schools.  I'll keep it short.

School puts you in a box.  It provides you with the status-quo of information that someone, somewhere, for who knows what reason, decided was something you had to know.  Until college, this is pretty much all you do, take classes to learn what you're told you have to learn.  Do you realize that the education system we're presently in was designed to get people ready to work in factories all day, doing what they're told?  Anyone wonder why so many people are over doing anything school related so early on in their life?  it's because we don't have the independence to study what we want and to think for ourselves.  We're put in a box and taught only what exists within that box.  I have been lucky enough to have been motivated to teach myself a lot outside of school and have gotten FAR more out of that education then i have in my 16+ years of schooling, and lord knows I'm far more willing to put in effort into what I do outside of school than in.  I think everyone would be better off if they were encouraged to question everything and investigate anything that intrests them, not just what is in a textbook.

sure man,

Simon Hailes
Sydney, Australia
University of Technology, Sydney

Best of luck with it!