Undergrads seem to have much higher cheating rates (into the 80%s!) But the survey is limited by self-reporting, and the data range is fairly narrow (56-45% over most majors). Though those principled humanities and social sciences students were the most ethical, down at a 39% cheating rate (because they know that even a 4.0 GPA won't stop them from being poor for life LOL). Interestingly law students had low cheating rates too, or maybe they just lied on the survey!
Some possible reasons for this:
- With so much competition for top education and jobs (and those factors greatly influence lifetime earning and even quality of life), grades and scores are more critical than ever.
- Education is more and more seen as a means to an end, with grades as the goal instead of mastery of a subject (in that case, cheating would be counter-productive).
- Students are exposed to way more examples in the popular culture and mainstream media of cheaters prospering (or at least getting away with it), rather than cheaters getting punished and honest people prospering.
- Anti-cheating tech lags far behind cheating-enabling tech
- Parents and society are emphasizing individual accomplishment, status, and material wealth more than selflessness and personal character (maybe humanity has always been like this to a certain extent, but as an example of how character used to trump even survival under different social expectations: http://www.
More on the "cheating culture" in the US: http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/
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Yes good point. Students and their families feel like they are forking over so much $ that they are "entitled" to get good grades and good jobs. And they know they will be under financial pressure right when they graduate, which is a potent motivator. Apparently student loan interest rates may double this summer, unless Washington gets its act together and extends the deadline.
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Definitely growing up college degree was never a
question in my household, it was a "must" requirement before my sister
and I moved into adulthood. So we took out student loans and followed
down the yellow brick road.
But we weren't talking $100k like some of these recent grads interviewed by NPR and Yahoo in recent months.
I wonder at what price point does college
degree becomes "not worth it"? When I was in college, $100k debt was
something that was only associated with JD or MD, whole another 3-4 yrs of
education. However, apparently college tuition has soared since those
days that college grads are leaving with 6 figure debts (either I'm
really old or tuition has gone up at alarming rate)
I understand that the job market is getting tougher and college degree has become somewhat of a norm, but may be then it's time to change that social perception? May be we as regular persons and employers should be open to seeing more people not going to 4 yr college? I wonder if that is possible.
I understand that the job market is getting tougher and college degree has become somewhat of a norm, but may be then it's time to change that social perception? May be we as regular persons and employers should be open to seeing more people not going to 4 yr college? I wonder if that is possible.
Also, what is the driver behind the rising cost
of higher education, higher than that of rise of standard of living,
inflation etc? most schools are classified as "non- prof" orgs so I
assume it isn't for profit.I'm sure the schools have their "reasons" but
where is it (money) going? who actually ends up with them?
First off, tuition since my son started college
3 years ago has gone up 80% in that time. Professors haven't had
raises(unless they were promoted) in the last 10 years. Meanwhile, the
administrators enjoy an average 10% increase annually in that same
timeframe.
Secondly, the reason tuition is going up is
because the regents of these not for profit schools who, at one time,
were committed to the education of Californians, have been taken over by
privatization hounds.
http://ucsdfa.org/ucsf--------
And funding from tax dollars has become so precarious for some public schools that they are shifting the costs to students or semi-privatizing (professional schools can do this easier). And with the surge of cheap credit in the '90s and promise of lucrative jobs in the bull market, I guess the regents felt they could keep raising fees above inflation as students and their families became less price sensitive. Now that the recession has hit (it hit school endowments and donations too) and some families are over-leveraged, school really looks unaffordable, yet demand is inelastic because a bachelor's or above is so critical for better pay and more stable employment.
Since elite colleges are so pricey and hard to get into, some org's are looking into giving "substitute degrees" or "open universities" to students who learn over the web. Our economy is in such need for skilled tech labor, and there is an untapped talent pool in Asia (and at home) that can't access or afford top Western tech schools. So by getting similarly rigorous online classes and some sort of certificate, hopefully they can be eligible for jobs in the West too. I am sure it won't be a fix-all, but we need to rethink alternatives to the expensive and arguably obsolete 4-year university system - and no I don't mean Univ. of Phoenix. Maybe there can be more tiers of degree types beyond just associate and bachelor's.
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/
Regarding the UCSF situation, I think that is sick also. Since UCSF is a grad school, its cost structure is a lot different, and because it is an elite health science hub, of course it is more profitable than UC Riverside. But the UC charter is to serve the interests of the PEOPLE OF CA. And within the UC System, the strong should support the weak, meaning UCSF is supposed to subsidize UC Riverside. Just like there is a net outflow of federal taxes from places like NY and CA to places like AL and SC. That is part of being in a community, unless we want to espouse social Darwinism like the Romney types promote.
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