Slashdot Mirror
Higher Tuition For an Engineering Degree
i_like_spam writes "The NYTimes is running a story about a new trend in tuition charges at public universities throughout the country. Differential pricing schemes are being implemented, whereby majors in engineering and business pay higher tuition rates than majors in arts and humanities. Last year, for instance, engineering majors at the University of Nebraska starting paying an extra $40 per credit hour. One argument in support of differential pricing is that professors in engineering and business are more expensive than in other fields. Officials at schools that are implementing differential pricing are aware of some of the downsides. A dean at Iowa State said he 'thought society was no longer looking at higher education as a common good but rather as a way for individuals to increase their earning power.' And a University of Kansas provost said, 'Where we have gone astray culturally is that we have focused almost exclusively on starting salary as an indicator of... the value of the particular major.'"
Well, like it or not, a humanities degree is cheap compared to engineering or science. All that lab equipment (and space) costs money, not to mention the people who set it up and keep it running. I'm not saying I agree with differential pricing, I'm just pointing out the costs.
Some of the differentials are enormous at the university I attend (pdf link):
Thankfully, I have no aspirations to become management, and I just take classes in the CS department (I'm a doctoral student in music)...
The youngest generation is fucked, that's why.
Seriously, there's a major entitlement problem with younger Americans these days. They seem to think they're entitled to being multimillionaires, but they're not willing to do the work necessary to achieve that.
However, I do wonder how representative your sample set is. I'm a little older (graduated college in '97), but I was at a state university (Virginia Tech) and I don't remember meeting anyone with that kind of attitude. It might be something limited to the overpriced private schools.
... graduated from Yale in 1968 with a B.A. in HistoryReagan earned a BA degree in 1932 from Eureka (Ill.) College, where a photographic memory aided in his studies and in debating and college theatricals.
OTH, the last president to keep us out of war was Jimmy Carter:
received a B.S. degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946...graduate work at Union College in reactor technology and nuclear physics, In fact, you will find that most presidents that kept us out of war had really served in the military (not fake like W), and typically had a science/engineering degree.
As to lack of books, well, a simple Google once in a while would work just as well for you. You may find out more than you think.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
It should be painfully obvious the author is Indian discussing Indian upper education. As such, it should be expected he'd use Indian Numbering rather than what you're used to.
t em
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_numbering_sys
Please take a bit to educate yourself with regards to lakh and crore so you won't mistake his approach as mistaken.
Oh... And someone please mod grandparent Informative now that I cannot.