Free Tuition

anyone want to roll the dice on this new unaccredited school?

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/10/10/new-2-year-online-college-promises-future-proofed-job-skills-offers-free-tuition-for-first-cohort.aspx

 

It's a junior college.
No transfer credits.
Curriculum: https://foundrycollege.org/degree-programs/courses/

 

that's cool. Maybe I will sign up, though I am pretty busy taking care of Kim (cancer). It might be nice to have some courses to take. But then. I am kind lazy these days (exhausted), so maybe not.

 

Sorry Maniac - I can't find anything on the school you were looking for. Hopefully, another member will recall it.

Okay, I get that we need to move on from the 1950s model, but Foundry College could pose some challenges for the current accreditation system. It's a 2-year, 12-course model. I'm guessing the courses are deemed equivalent to 5 credits each, to make a 60-credit degree. I can't quite figure how they sandwich in all the gen. ed. requirements of accreditors into this framework. The site is a little vague - they don't even specify any course titles, just say that a basic group develops certain skills, e.g. critical thinking. An advanced group develops more skills. Again, the skills are named, but no course titles or specific content.

And they'll take people without high-school diplomas, if they (Foundry College officials) feel the applicants have what it takes. Isn't that a bit beyond what current accreditation rules allow? As I see it, the whole commentary has considerable vagueness to it, yet they talk confidently about WHEN Foundry College is accredited -- no if ands or buts. If you get in free, you have nothing to lose but two years of your time. But that's worth something...

 

Not cheap
$1,000 per course
x 12 courses
= $12,000Associate’s Degree in Business Management

 

Never mind! That is steep for a UA!

 

I rolled them - they came up craps.

Lots of philosophical platitudes and language you would expect to hear from an entrepreneur who wants to start his own college. But no details, and no substance.

The only positive I can say about this joker is that he didn't get into the Foerester Fallacy by naming his school Foundry University.

 

These aren't future-proof job skills. This is a business management degree, which is one of the worst when it comes to underemployment. The U.S. already pumps out over 300k business bachelor's every year, and most of them are in something generic such as business administration, business management, and general business.

 

If you like the idea of free tuition then you might like this story about Berea College

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/the-college-where-no-student-has-paid-tuition-in-126-years/ar-BBOeYyQ?ocid=spartandhp

 

All these efforts at free education are honorable, but unless the States get involve these efforts won’t amount to much. There is just too much fragmentation.

 

In Berea College's case, I'd say 126 years of no tuition really amounts to something. I'd really fear any additional state involvement modeled on past or present practices. As all the right-wingers here would agree (and maybe many others as well) - you don't get anything free from the State. Even this Canadian agrees - e.g. our health care is not free - we as individuals don't pay directly, but our taxes go to support it. (And that's OK by me.) Now, if Berea College gives you free tuition - it IS free. Now, if you got free tuition funded from State or Federal taxes - it probably cost others more than it was worth, due to government bloat and inefficiency...

Good article on US tuition-free schools here: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/slideshows/12-tuition-free-colleges

 

That's not to say that we (Canada) - or any other country - shouldn't do it. We do quite a lot of that (Government-paid tuition) here in Ontario. Just that it can probably be done better.

 

It is not free. They received their $1 billion endowment from somewhere. Their students also receive the Pell Grant, so taxpayers are subsidizing this "free" education.

 

Duplicate

 

(1) Yes it is free. Berea College's endowment doesn't come from taxes. Alumni and donors who give them money do so voluntarily. If Berea, in turn, doesn't charge a student tuition, then his/her tuition IS free.

(2) And the Pell Grant has nothing to do with Berea's providing FREE tuition. I never suggested Pell Grant money was "free." Yes - it is subsidized by taxpayers - but it's not paid to Berea for tuition. The college's contribution is FREE tuition. The Pell Grant is another issue altogether; in this case (Berea College) the taxpayers' money (Pell Grant) does not go directly to his/her tuition account .The recipient student does not pay it to Berea for tuition - so tuition is still FREE.

 

I said free tuition. YOU (Sanantone) said free education. As I'm sure you know, there's a big difference, money-wise - especially if you're not living at home while in school.

 

High tuition may be the biggest obstacle to poor people getting an education. It is so easily solved.

 

This is semantics. The fact is that Berea students receive taxpayer money, which helps them attend Berea for free. 99% of Berea's first year students are eligible for the Pell Grant. Overall, 90% of their students receive the Pell Grant. The federal government pays grant money to the school, not the student. The student only receives money if there is leftover aid. Berea is not free; nothing is free. Someone always has to pay whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Voluntarily paying for something does not make it free.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-kentuckys-berea-college-got-such-a-big-endowment-2015-3