[skidooer]

Colleges transitioned from being a place of higher learning to a place "where dreams come true" several years ago. Preparing your students to build the next Angry Birds or Facebook instead of reimplementing a search algorithm that has been implemented a million times before is much more in line with the goals of both parties. A strong foundation in CS is not necessary, or even important, when your goal is financial success.

I do agree that the fundamentals are very important for those who are interested in pure academic pursuits. It is very unfortunate that college has become the goto place to get a job, not a place to learn. But the truth of the matter is that the vast majority are only in class because they are looking for future wealth. Colleges, being businesses, will naturally tend towards catering to their customers.

The good news is that with the proliferation of the internet, academics can now learn about CS fundamentals even if the formal CS programs go into decline. Of course it is not too late to fix the education system, we just have to get past the idea that college equals job and return school back to its roots of a place to research and study.

[nlawalker]

No one is going to get past the idea that "college equals job" until it's not true anymore.

The conundrum we're in now didn't start with higher education catering to customers who wanted future wealth. It started with employers offering high-paying jobs realizing that higher education was a sign of all the qualities they wanted, so they started mandating it. Universities adjusted accordingly.

I'm pointing out the obvious, of course, but it's because I've seen a lot of people say things like "we need to get over this idea." That's not going to happen until there is a ready supply of high-paying jobs that don't require college degrees, or until someone finds a method for achieving a high-paying job that doesn't require college but is just as straightforward and successful.

[skidooer]

I'm not sure that it is true. There is no data I have been able to find that supports the claim and there has been several articles on HN lately that strongly support the opposite view.

The best I have been able to find on the matter is one study that shows a loose correlation between those who have a formal education tend to have a higher income. Which, of course, says nothing about the effect of the education on the resulting job.

[joebadmo]

The effects of this vocationalization of the university extend beyond school, too. It used to be that just having a college degree meant a good chance of getting a job in a wide range of fields. Now, though, if you don't specialize or target your degree at a specific field, you're out-competed by people who did.

(Yes, I'm whining about my Comparative Literature degree again, but I pursued that field seriously and rigorously, unlike many of my colleagues, and I feel like I'm being judged unfairly because of it.)

[coliveira]

> Colleges, being businesses, will naturally tend towards catering to their customers.

There was a time when people thought about universities as not being a business. Of course, in the present age everything is a business so I shouldn't be surprised at all.