[Fargren]

No, it mustn't be transmitted for pay. In Argentina, for example, public college is good and free.

More importantly to your question, teaching a hard curriculum to a lot of students at the same time is a hard problem, and exercises with deadlines and relatively tight syllabus are a method that has been shown, for many years, to work for a large number of people. It certainly doesn't work for everyone, it certainly isn't the best way to learn, but it's an effective tool for the problem at hand.

[rumblestrut]

In America, most people get a degree and leave school with unbelievable debt that can't be bankrupted, should hardship ever occur.

I would have taken apprenticeship over college any day.

[Fargren]

I wont argue that private college in the US isn't brokenly expensive for most mayors. I'm not even saying that college is a good idea for most of the population anywhere. What I am saying is that for some important fields of knowledge that it would be good to teach to some not small fraction of the population, college is a good solution; maybe the best that has been actually tested. Of course not going to college would be a great choice for a lot of people who are going there. But it is also the right choice for a large number of people.

[icelancer]

>I wont argue that private college in the US isn't brokenly expensive for most mayors.

The University of Washington is $13,000 per year for residents, who are preferentially screened and rejected because tuition for in-state residents is too cheap.

UW costs $30,000/year for out-of-state residents who are more likely to be admitted since it's more than twice the cost.

By the way, the University of Washington is a public school. Private schools in the area start at $45,000/year.

There is literally nothing you can study in undergraduate school that would be worth that price. Not even close.

[kyllo]

UW is overwhelmed with demand. They've set up satellite campuses in Tacoma and Bothell to handle the overflow, especially for business courses.

When I went there in 2003-2007 it was still a deal for the quality of education, and my degree was definitely worth what I paid for it (about $5,000-6,000/year) but the price has more than doubled since then.

If I had to choose a university at current prices I'd probably go to Western or WSU instead.

[icelancer]

I think $13,000/year is absolutely reasonable at UW. However, you have to be exceedingly intelligent to get in there - which most are obviously not. They screen in-state residents because they don't get enough tuition from them, so the standards are very high if you live in WA state.

So I question whether or not the University of Washington is really a public institute in that regard.

Let's not even talk about what it costs to go to Seattle University or Gonzaga.

[invalidOrTaken]

I'd argue that it has not been shown to be effective. We're reaping the fruits of that today: grade inflation, disinterested professors, and new graduates without the jobs that served as the carrots to get them into school in the first place.