One Catholic School's View of UConn

[RS9999X]

Lots of private schools are going to have a difficult time making a go of it n the near future. Increasingly they are catering to a certain type of affluent student. .

They are changing slowly. Computer Science classes are afforable technology initiatives for many. Finance, Environmental Sciences, etc.

Online courses are going to become a problem and apply price pressure. The first two years of college can be delivered on line dirt cheap. In theory the best professors in the country could create a national 2-year core curriculum that is available for low cost and replaces the Advanced Placement and Community College paths for many. Individually paced lectures. If you really think how far home schooling could go with some campus interaction for labs or projects or presentations and testing the US could revolutionize education.

If the US doesn't, the Asian countries will. China will produce more engineers than the world economy can absorb in 10 years and use technology to reach remote areas. The $49 microwave and Laser Printer are the beginning. Human resoruce prices will start tumbling. The only thing that will prop up American education among the flood of Asian (China, India) $40,000 a year engineers and doctors to the market will be government regulation. The little cracks like Chinese 'surgery ships' off shore are just the beginning.

>> 8/14/2011 - The city of Hartford this summer began offering employees medical holidays in Puerto Rico. It's entered into an agreement with Satori World Medical to provide travel and medical benefits to city employees for a host of medical procedures at two hospitals on the Caribbean island.

Welcome to the expanding world of medical tourism, a euphemism that must have taken an army of communications professionals to insert into our vernacular. Hartford, according to a Satori World Medical press release, is "the first major city in the United States to offer this innovative medical travel benefit to their employees and dependents. Medical care in Puerto Rico is a lot less expensive than in Connecticut. Satori claims the program "may save the city of Hartford approximately 6 percent off their total annual medical spending."

 

[upstater]

They are changing slowly. Computer Science classes are afforable technology initiatives for many. Finance, Environmental Sciences, etc.

Online courses are going to become a problem and apply price pressure. The first two years of college can be delivered on line dirt cheap. In theory the best professors in the country could create a national 2-year core curriculum that is available for low cost and replaces the Advanced Placement and Community College paths for many. Individually paced lectures. If you really think how far home schooling could go with some campus interaction for labs or projects or presentations and testing the US could revolutionize education.

If the US doesn't, the Asian countries will. China will produce more engineers than the world economy can absorb in 10 years and use technology to reach remote areas. The $49 microwave and Laser Printer are the beginning. Human resoruce prices will start tumbling. The only thing that will prop up American education among the flood of Asian (China, India) $40,000 a year engineers and doctors to the market will be government regulation. The little cracks like Chinese 'surgery ships' off shore are just the beginning.

>> 8/14/2011 - The city of Hartford this summer began offering employees medical holidays in Puerto Rico. It's entered into an agreement with Satori World Medical to provide travel and medical benefits to city employees for a host of medical procedures at two hospitals on the Caribbean island.

Welcome to the expanding world of medical tourism, a euphemism that must have taken an army of communications professionals to insert into our vernacular. Hartford, according to a Satori World Medical press release, is "the first major city in the United States to offer this innovative medical travel benefit to their employees and dependents. Medical care in Puerto Rico is a lot less expensive than in Connecticut. Satori claims the program "may save the city of Hartford approximately 6 percent off their total annual medical spending."

As a parent, I wouldn't want my kid in such online classes. As a teacher, you miss out on one of the best parts of teaching. As a student, you might not even realize what you're missing, but without a doubt the classroom dynamic is central to the college experience.

Online = Lower Standards.

As soon as a school announces it is lowering standards, it's reputation takes a hit, and thereby cheapens the value of the degree.

 

[RS9999X]

As a parent, I wouldn't want my kid in such online classes. As a teacher, you miss out on one of the best parts of teaching. As a student, you might not even realize what you're missing, but without a doubt the classroom dynamic is central to the college experience.

Online = Lower Standards.

As soon as a school announces it is lowering standards, it's reputation takes a hit, and thereby cheapens the value of the degree.

I disagree entirely. It can mean lower standards. It doesn't have to. The large seminar classes at many public Universities with Grad Assistants for 100 and 200 level classes? No one will miss that except foreign grad students.

 

[upstater]

I disagree entirely. It can mean lower standards. It doesn't have to. The large seminar classes at many public Universities with Grad Assistants for 100 and 200 level classes? No one will miss that except foreign grad students.

Those grad assistants meet in discussion sessions. But that's not the typical class for a student. It's lower standards by definition, since the classroom dynamic is missing. That automatically means lower standards because a key component is missing.

 

[uc1974]

I wouldn't be caught dead getting medical care in Puerto Rico. However, I would gladly be treated in Thailand and/or Malaysia (and have been) for far far less than the USA equivalent. Not only that, you get treated like a king (not the king) and fed really well. Even small towns have a decent hospital. I was in one in Soppong (Thailand), located in the middle of nowhere not far from Burma. It was small but well equipped and communication was in English. Good since my Thai is OK but not great.