How Much Do Colleges Really Teach Students?

Sure, you could learn more than a college grad right on the net. But then you'll end up like me, finally earning her undergrad in middle age to try to avoid 25 year old "formally educated" bosses. Get your degree !

back2school of MI 4:07PM November 07, 2009

I very much so agree with the above statement that colleges need competition in the form of self-study courses.

I find this quote I heard in "Good Will Hunting" amusing but relatively true. Matt Damon who plays Will Hunting tells the "College Boy" he has the dispute with that he spends all this money on this overpriced education that one could find in a public library. I found this funny yet eerily true. Why are people in today's world forced to spend thousands of dollars and subject themselves to a lifetime of debt for a piece of paper, where if one simply used his library card and had the patience and a willing teacher could learn everything they needed to know through the books contained within the library.

If low cost self study courses were created all students could be given the opportunity to not only learn but also earn that oh so coveted degree, so that they may be able to use that learning for monetary gain. There are plenty of "morons" with pieces of paper that have better jobs than men and women who are mentally superior but monetarily (forgive me if that's not a word I'm seventeen) inferior. The education system needs changing in America as many college graduates seemingly spend half their lifetime earnings post-college paying off their college debts.

Germayne of MO 12:02AM August 07, 2009

I think one of the best things that happened to the Philippines toward the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century was America's coming to our shores, literally and figuratively. In the Manila Bay area, the boulevard beside it which has the view of the best sunset in the world, that is, the boulevard that is has been renamed as Roxas Boulevard, was in fact called Dewey Boulevard in honor of that beloved American who was the forerunner of other American noteworthies (a word I just coined)who came to the Philippines during the American regime (a part of our history which is not generally know by Americans; in fact, I daresay that only 3 out of 30 Americans know that the Philippines in fact exists). I love America because Uncle Sam brought English to our country, making Filipinos know the King James version of the Holy Bible.

Filipinos love to say that the Philippines had 300 years of being in the convent because of the Spanish regime, and had fifty years of Hollywood because of the American regime. I beg to disagree with the statement just made. We may have had Hollywood introduced to us because of the American regime, but we also got the idea of a public school system where English was the medium of instruction. In fact, the University of the Philippines or UP (my alma mater) was established during the American regime. UP is a state university. In contrast, during the Spanish regime, two schools were established, one of which is the University of Santo Tomas (UST) which is older than your Harvard University, the other school being the Ateneo de Manila University or simply Ateneo (actually, this Jesuit-run school--also my alma mater--was initially established under a different name, but it evolved into the Ateneo de Manila University. Both UST and Ateneo are private schools. Ateneo caters to the elite (which is not to say that I belong to the elite; it is just that I believe in studying in good schools and when I took up my master's degree in Psychology, I went to Ateneo). I love the English language. In fact I am an English major (from UP).

My Daddy who graduated from UP with a BSBA (Bachelor of Science in Business Administration) in 1930 spoke impeccable English. My Mammy (spelled with an "a" and not Mommy) was also good in English. In fact she taught in several public schools all over the Philippines, from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, bringing with her the brand of education that characterised the public school system which early on was patterned after that of good US of A.

All I am trying to say is that I am glad I know and understand English even as I know two of the eight major languages in the Philippines, these two being Tagalog and Cebuano. Tagalog is our national language and is now officially called Pilipino or Filipino. We have 300 languages in the Philippines. I am glad I know at least two of them.

I can go on and on about how blessed our country was because America came here.

(Miss) MIGEN L. OSORIO 2:56PM August 05, 2009