In Massachusetts, the latest user-generated crisis has centered around the evaporation of low-cost student loans due to the credit crunch. Families are scrambling to find ways to pay for their children’s university and college education, surprised by this sudden disappearance of what had been seen as a very deep well.

I am not here to comment on the causes of the credit crunch. My thoughts turn, instead, to the revenue foundations that the US higher education system built on. The primary question is: Have institutions priced themselves out of relevance?

Other thoughts also come to mind. Is it time to move away from teaching certain skills/fields in universities and colleges, and consider moving to specialized apprenticeships. This idea is one that conjures up images of the guild system, and it is not a dissimilar idea. Certain areas would benefit from a system led by leaders and experts in the field, teaching real-world practices and implementations, rather than theoretical concepts.

In today’s society, the cost of higher education makes people indentured serfs, chained to a bank loan that they thought would afford them the opportunity to get ahead, to make a difference. If we are going to make people indentured serfs (harsh imagery, but how long have you been paying off your student loans?), then why not put them through an apprenticeship, where they can work their way through their education while learning the skill they have entered into.

Work-study and co-op programs have made a stab at that. But I am thinking of learning and working simultaneously. Developing skills, and paying your way in the same place.

Before you classify me as some Luddite or elitist, you have to understand my perspective. I have a liberal Arts degree (History) and found my place in the business world by learning my primary skills on the job. I have played both sides of the fence, and I would say that many others have as well.

And where a theoretical foundation is good in some fields, it needs to be heavily supplemented by real-world practice.

To circle back to the idea of cost, how much of what we require of people in a higher education is directed at the skills that they are most interested in learning? Does a university or college provide the skills needed to support our economy? How do we most effectively and economically ensure that we have an educated and knowledgeable workforce?

These are not for reasons of nationalism or core political beliefs. Every reader here should know I am a Canadian by now. The idea of rationalizing higher education to deliver what people want/need in a way that is effective, efficient, and economic without compromising the fundamental need for a free and open society to have centers of higher learning that foster debate and new idea is one that should be part of the debate in the current election cycle.

How do you deliver an education system that is open to all, and serves the needs of all, without bankrupting the people in the process is one that needs to be addressed.

Tags: bank loan, college, education, Massachusetts, reform, student loans, United States, universities

In his usual eloquent way, Mini-Microsoft sums up the hiring of new dev folks at Microsoft:

# High quality people don’t want to work for Microsoft.

# Low quality people are swelling our interview loops to the degree I’m really worried some of them are slopping up on deck and joining the crew.

# The good quality people we do give offers to get hired elsewhere for much better pay (just pay, not benefits - I don’t think anyone on this green earth can do much better than Microsoft’s benefits).

# Some colleges produce graduates who don’t know what a pointer is let alone how to use one.

# H1B visas aren’t going to be unfettered anytime soon.

Why does this give me concern for the state of Longhorn and Office 12?

Tags: blog, college, cro, H1, HTML, HTTP, IE, IM, IP, it, Microsoft, Om, One, pr

Ok, maybe I am only partial digerati. I cannot understand the love and passion generated by podcasts.

And after flaming him, I have to come down hard on the side of Charles Cooper. I can’t see how podcasts will change the world.

I did amateur radio in the 80s at CFUV at UVic. Many weird “aaahhhhh…uhhhhh….ummmm…” moments, followed by obtuse humour and loud music.

I have also been recorded and have heard my own voice. Wouldn’t want to share that with anyone….[shudder!]

Maybe I am just having a post-customer presentation stupid moment…maybe I will get flamed as well…but if I want amateur radio, I’ll hit up a college station.

Tags: college, HTML, HTTP, IM, it, Om, One, pr

Business 2.0 pulls this nugget out of the SJ Mercury News:

Bill Coleman, CEO of Cassatt and SVLG board chairman, said he’s seen the cost of housing have a growing impact on businesses in his three decades in Silicon Valley. When he first arrived, the company he was building could afford to have all its employees locally. But over the years, Coleman said, it became increasingly difficult to pay mid-level employees the salaries they needed to afford the high cost of living in Silicon Valley. With his latest company, Coleman hired groups of engineers in Colorado Springs and Minneapolis, where housing costs are more reasonable. “You can hire really senior people that you can afford to pay big salaries,” Coleman said. “Or you can do the Google model and hire lots of people right out of college. But you can’t build a company long-term on either of those. You’ve got to be able to retain folks. And right now, housing costs are forcing those mid-tier employees out of Silicon Valley.”

REALLY?

Duh! This news is so 2001….

Tags: blog, business, college, Google, HTML, HTTP, IE, IM, it, Om, pr

Dave Winer notes that Silicon Valley isn’t what it used to be. [here]

Now, with Yahoo getting its mojo back [here and here], and a few other happenings in the Valley, there are some signs of life.

But there is still a lot of vacant real-estate. The office buildings that housed Webvan are still vacant after 3 years, and they have a great view of the Bay and the San Mateo bridge. There is still a vacuum there.

I can’t speak of the lap dogs, as I am a mere prole.

However, I do disagree with the comment Dave W. makes about schools. If he is referring to Colleges and Universities, ok, I agree. But the public school system in the Bay area, and in California in general, is one of the reasons why I was not too upset to move to Massachusetts.

My kids were going into the highly underfunded, if not malnourished and dying, system of non-education in California that resulted from one of the greatest breeders of inequity in the modern world — Proposition 13.

I love this statement from Warren Buffett:

Buffett cited the inequity of property taxes he pays on his homes in Omaha, Neb., and Laguna Beach, Calif., and said the California cap on property taxes imposed by Prop. 13 “makes no sense.”

His $500,000 house in Omaha has a tax bill of $14,401. His $4 million house in Laguna Beach has a tax bill of $2,264. The taxes on his Omaha home increased $1,920 this year, compared with $23 on the Laguna Beach home, he said.

Complain about the other taxes; then remember that your kids are going to schools that are 40^th in the US by funding.

I miss the great garden we had. But my kids are learning more by not being in California Public Schools.

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Heard this on NPR on the way home tonight. very relevant to this discussion.

Tags: blog, California, college, Dave Winer, education, Laguna Beach, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Omaha, pr, San Mateo bridge, United States, universities, USD, Warren Buffett, web, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Inc.