Obviously, this guy Murray has thought about the situation.
An educational world based on certification tests would be a better place in many ways, but the overarching benefit is that the line between college and noncollege competencies would be blurred. Hardly any jobs would still have the BA as a requirement for a shot at being hired. Opportunities would be wider and fairer, and the stigma of not having a BA would diminish.
Most important in an increasingly class-riven America: The demonstration of competency in business administration or European history would, appropriately, take on similarities to the demonstration of competency in cooking or welding. Our obsession with the BA has created a two-tiered entry to adulthood, anointing some for admission to the club and labeling the rest as second-best.
Best point:
Here's the reality: Everyone in every occupation starts as an apprentice. Those who are good enough become journeymen. The best become master craftsmen. This is as true of business executives and history professors as of chefs and welders. Getting rid of the BA and replacing it with evidence of competence -- treating post-secondary education as apprenticeships for everyone -- is one way to help us to recognize that common bond.
Re-thinking the college frenzy would have another advantage in Wisconsin: a significant reduction in the $1.++ BILLION dollar annual tax burden to support the barnacle-laden ship of the UW System, headed until recently by an un-hinged LeftyWacko named Riley.
Bravo.
ReplyDeleteProving that one can memorize curriculum short term and spit it back out it in test form doesn't prove that one will be competent in the workplace.
As far as I'm concerned, unless you are a doctor, lawyer or engineer, you take take your degree and shove it.