Unimpressed by Online Classes, College Students Demand Refunds (apnews.com) 238
An anonymous reader quotes the Associated Press:
They wanted the campus experience, but their colleges sent them home to learn online during the coronavirus pandemic. Now, students at more than 25 U.S. universities are filing lawsuits against their schools demanding partial refunds on tuition and campus fees, saying they're not getting the caliber of education they were promised.
The suits reflect students' growing frustration with online classes that schools scrambled to create as the coronavirus forced campuses across the nation to close last month. The suits say students should pay lower rates for the portion of the term that was offered online, arguing that the quality of instruction is far below the classroom experience. Colleges, though, reject the idea that refunds are in order. Students are learning from the same professors who teach on campus, officials have said, and they're still earning credits toward their degrees. Schools insist that, after being forced to close by their states, they're still offering students a quality education...
Some of the suits draw attention to schools' large financial reserves, saying colleges are unfairly withholding refunds even while they rest on endowments that often surpass $1 billion.
"You cannot keep money for services and access if you aren't actually providing it," argues a lawyer for several students in South Carolina.
One student there complains that some classes are now taught almost entirely with recorded videos, while a legal action filed against the University of California at Berkeley "says some professors are simply uploading assignments, with no video instruction at all."
The suits reflect students' growing frustration with online classes that schools scrambled to create as the coronavirus forced campuses across the nation to close last month. The suits say students should pay lower rates for the portion of the term that was offered online, arguing that the quality of instruction is far below the classroom experience. Colleges, though, reject the idea that refunds are in order. Students are learning from the same professors who teach on campus, officials have said, and they're still earning credits toward their degrees. Schools insist that, after being forced to close by their states, they're still offering students a quality education...
Some of the suits draw attention to schools' large financial reserves, saying colleges are unfairly withholding refunds even while they rest on endowments that often surpass $1 billion.
"You cannot keep money for services and access if you aren't actually providing it," argues a lawyer for several students in South Carolina.
One student there complains that some classes are now taught almost entirely with recorded videos, while a legal action filed against the University of California at Berkeley "says some professors are simply uploading assignments, with no video instruction at all."
The real problem is the fall (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The real problem is the fall (Score:5, Informative)
In the fall it will be better. Because they are already prepping now. The problem with the Winter/Spring semesters were the fact that faculty had to do it on very short notice.
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Re: The real problem is the fall (Score:3, Insightful)
Yep. I see both sides, where the university is actually trying to do something. Not just sitting on their collective asses and say 0h well. At the same time, why should you pay that kind of money for room, board, etc, and you have to do all the heavy lifting. Send them a bill for the off campus housing. If there is talks of bailouts for airline employees and casino workers how are they more or less special than university staff?
I dont think this is going to last till fall. Every time i turn around there is
Re: The real problem is the fall (Score:4, Interesting)
These lawsuits should be thrown out because the institutions, as far as I know, have no written contract that states the institutions must offer courses in a certain format. In addition, the state and federal emergency declarations probably offer some protection for institutions who can point to those declarations and say that they had no choice.
Re: The real problem is the fall (Score:2, Insightful)
Thats not grounds of dismissal. You do know the rules of civil procedure right? They have standing and venue. It most likely will go to jury. This is where things get interesting. Even a ruling for the defense can define things for later cases. Such as the definition of what your tuition provides. If its merely a transcript, then the universities could find themselves no longer being able to collect on unpaid tuition. Lets say you drop a class after the deadline and refuse to pay the course. Without a trans
Re: The real problem is the fall (Score:4, Informative)
This is correct. I've been tracking the COVID-19 response for my whole multi-campus public university system. Everyone (within a couple weeks) sorted out housing, dining, and even parking permit refunds. Those are pay-for-use systems and it makes sense to reimburse them even if it means that those divisions see heavy losses/deficits. It's the right thing to do and here was zero hesitation on the matter.
Tuition and fees are different.
Tuition allows you to register for classes, attend classes, receive the instructor's services, receive grades for classes, and gives you access to a number of services which you may or may not use. The money pays for instructors, admin support, campus facilities, etc. There is NEVER a guarantee on the quality of education. There's an advertised quality and a faculty-enforced standard, but there has never been a refund for quality not meeting expectations for my campuses. The case will fail here.
Student fees (separate from tuition) are almost always imposed by the students themselves to support things they want. Want to run your own transit system? That'll cost "this" much per academic term for the life of the transit system. Want to create your own food bank on campus? Same. There are capital expenses (always debt financed) and ongoing expenses (payroll, perishables, etc.). Given that none of these are "pay-for-use" commitments, the case will fail here as well.
Unfortunately, the cases are bring supported by the students because the students don't understand just how much it costs to run the University they want. Fair wages, good retirement, good benefits, great facilities, bleeding edge tech, world renown, student support-- it all costs money. Lots and lots of money. And now that the world is in turmoil and nearing financial ruin, the newest crop of students asks, "Wait, I haven't had access to this for over a month... shouldn't I get a refund?" with some lawyers saying, "Yes!! You should! We'll split that refund 70:30 and stick it to the man!"
The students not knowing that they'll be sticking it to themselves because any refund just results in increased fees or reduced services.
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My daughter's school didn't bill for 3rd quarter dorm fees (which is good because she is at home now), but all other fees (rec center etc.) were billed as normal even though she can't make use of them. I think it's difficult to say "most institutions" did any one particular thing or set of things unless you have surveyed all of them. I think there hasn't been any one standard response.
Some of my daughter's professors are working with the new "pseudo on-line "system; others are phoning it in. If she were
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THANK YOU for your service.
Postpone or Graduate (Score:3)
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We're actually finding that a lot of professors who had to move online are discovering what the online course tools can do and are pretty enthusiatic about using them in their on-campus courses once those resume. Not all online tools are actually effective, but the good ones often are neglected by professors who don't have time to wade through the cruft. This forced them to do that. So there may be a silver lining in that on-campus courses will be enhanced in the future.
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How much of your degree knowledge do you really use day in and day out at your job? All that matters is that piece of paper. The rest you pick up along the way. Fake it until you make it.
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None of the degree matters. You go to college for networking. The friends you make at college help determine your career later in life (ask Zuckerberg).
If you are doing remote learning you are not really getting what you are paying the big bucks for - the networking.
The knowledge you can pick up off Wikipedia, youtube and journals.
Re:The real problem is the fall (Score:4, Interesting)
This is a big question indeed. I teach at a state university, so this topic is highly relevant to me.
Some courses work well in an online setting, some work horribly.
Enrollment in the fall is likely to be significantly down which will have impact on resources that can be deployed to teach online appropriately. My university is also attempting to kick start the training of faculty to teach online in the fall in case it is necessary.
The transition in the spring has been very uneven because no one was ready for it. I think students were understanding of that. The question will be whether we are ready in the fall because by then, they won't be understanding.
Inevitable this would occur (Score:2)
Re:Inevitable this would occur (Score:5, Funny)
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Oddly enough this is part of the college experience and is part of the college experience that we actually pay for.
No we don't want to see our kids get drunk and party themselves into failing out of college. However, the experience of being in parties with a wide range of people and personalities, many doing things that you previously weren't able to get away with at home in far more safer environment than on the streets.
You get drunk on a college campus. You are often a walking distance from your dorms.
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Unless you have to pay your own way. Then all that fun stuff gets replaced with a job.
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Sounds like what you're looking for is a properly functional family, or barring that, some time in military. A place where they teach you your limits, and help you become a fully functioning adult.
College is not and should not be that. College is where you learn skills needed to get a job in field of your interest. It shouldn't be a place where they raise young adults because parents couldn't be arsed to do it when they were children. If for no other reason, because they get access to those young adults far
Re: Inevitable this would occur (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: Inevitable this would occur (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's not fool ourselves. Folks that spring for an Ivy League education aren't paying for the education, though that's a side benefit. They're paying for access to the future business and political elite.
Re: Inevitable this would occur (Score:5, Informative)
Most nerds don't seem to understand this concept. "Ivy League" gives you two things, the secondary being your diploma. The most important things you get at a Big Name College is "networking". Knowing people, that will in the future be "in the right places", or who is sons or daughters of people "in the right places".
Same with conferences and trade shows. What happens at the stage is the least important. It's all about what happens in the hallways.
So yeah if you're only aiming to be a plumber, a carpenter, a programmer, or other blue collar jobs (because, yes, programming is "blue collar"), then by all means, go to a trade school or community college. If you're aspiring for a carrer in the top floor of a high rise, a community college won't take you there.
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Especially for Undergrad work. You will probably get a better education at your local community college and cheap state universities. That focuses on teaching the classes. The professors at these schools who target undergrads really want to teach the material. Ivy League in terms of education is better for the Grad and PHD work. Because of the ability to get Grants to fund your research, via its connections with big names. And the professors you are working with, are often really interested in the topic
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Re:Inevitable this would occur (Score:4)
The biggest detriment is probably the fact that administrators belong to a separate union from educators. Many of them are paid enough to hire several full time educators. The schools need more instructors, not more middle managers.
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A lot of colleges will fail. Many colleges have had to refund room and board for the last 2-3 months, that's the only income for most education systems as tuition assistance keeps expanding, which means the colleges have to pay for those students to get an education. If they continue being empty in the fall, even if they can do remote learning, the buildings and their upkeep will simply bankrupt most schools.
Those with associated medical centers, especially in NY, MI and CA are already deep in the shitter r
Give refund, without class credit (Score:2)
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It probably varies by school, but when I was chasing my degree you had to drop a course within a few weeks for a full refund, and I think by midterms for a partial refund. Kinda late for either at this point.
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If the online experience wasn't good enough, refund the money, drop the course, and retake the class later.
Which is exactly what they are asking for.
But also, for almost all universities, there is a registration fee , not just a per-class fee. Since they're not getting what they paid for, they want this back, too.
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I'm cool with Universities offering students the ability to refund the cost of the course -- BUT in that case, students won't get credit for taking it either. Meaning, in most cases, they will have to take it again. In some cases, there were real barriers for students consuming the material. And there were courses where instructors "called it in" and posted a few videos and left it at that. And in those cases, I understand the frustration -- I would want my money back too.
The argument I've heard from most
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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All education costs should be coming down. Curriculum, textbooks, teaching methods, etc. should be refined year after year. We've been working at this for basically 100 years, so we should be getting really good at it. Except every generation or so, we get a brand new education fad that requires buying all new textbooks, more training, more teachers, more administration, etc. So the prices keep going up.
It's almost as if "education" is a grifter racket, much like the defense industry.
Re:Ragnarok for colleges (Score:5, Funny)
I have a really hard time teaching cloud computing and AI from 100 year old books, chalk boards, and good olde' slide rules. But you know, I'm probably the problem with that method.
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An ultimately useless snarky comment. Obviously the content can change, and does often in STEM courses where the state of the art is constantly evolving. But the methods shouldn't. Formalized education has existed for hundreds of years and computer science has been a subject for at least 60. We should know how to to teach CS now efficiently. In general we should know how to teach efficiently regardless of the subject.
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We do know how to teach CS... But CS has also changed in the last 60 years too. The theory of programming has evolved too -- we are no longer moving data from one register to another -- we are now explaining object-oriented programming, UI/UX, HCI and all the other things that require new machines, new servers, new networks, etc. Again, things like AI, machine learning, etc. are all topics in current course loads -- and they require a LOT of computing power, either rented or owned. Machine Learning wasn
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The other unspoken assumption I made is that history books should stop right after the Treaty of Versailles.
But I think most people--not you, obviously--got the point.
Re: Ragnarok for colleges (Score:3)
When I was in college, the school was doing new editions of textbooks every semester so you couldnâ(TM)t buy used copies.
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Except with an all online environment MOST of the time you dont' teach a class of N students, you end up tutoring N students, which is exponentially harder and more time consuming.
Yes, there are things that can be done (ie, all questions not related to your specific grade need to be on a course-wide discussion so the teacher only has to answer it once) but getting students to do their part of those things is like herding cats.
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Any class that can be taught this way shouldn't be priced more than a typical Udemy video, or maybe up to $150.
Which is exactly why these students are asking for a refund. They are paying five-figure tuition for a three-figure video.
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The end of colleges has been constantly predicted since the time of the printing press, correspondence courses, television, PLATO network, multimedia CDs, MOOCs, etc., etc. Hasn't happened yet and it would be a poor bet to start now. In this case, no, a course generally can't be taught by canned videos alone. Human interaction and answering questions live is key.
From a trial of online developmental math courses in the Philadelphia area, 2011: "... the college has ended online remedial education. 'The failur
online learning (Score:5, Interesting)
Online learning is hard, teaching online is hard, and doing a good job o fit is even harder. Even prior to this year, colleges with "only" a 15% drop/fail attrition rate could brag about the success of their online program.
The students that succeed in online classes are typically "non-traditional" students - ie, older when they start classes 'cause they spent a few years in the military, or perhaps they are actually still in the military, or they are going back to get a degree bump (BS/BA -> Masters, etc), or they are going back to get a tech degree of some sort (quite a few of my networking and programming students in AS degree tracks have masters or terminal degrees like a JD).
The college I work for "dealt with it" by offering late drops with refunds for anyone who was moved from a face to face class to an online class (about 1/8 of our "seats filled" were online anyway) so they could drop with no record and get money for tuition back. They also implemented a S/U grade option, which would allow you to get credit on a pass/fail basis for not-core-degree classes (ie, your Gen Ed stuff)
What is going to suck (and is sucking, and will continue to suck) for a lot of students is they are going to school away from home, and so have had to perhaps pay for dorm fees, meal plans, etc. that the schools haven't been providing... and getting those funds back IF the service hasn't been provided is almost a slam dunk BUT will take time to happen.
Re:online learning (Score:4, Insightful)
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The students must win these lawsuits (Score:3, Interesting)
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Yea, I got a "free" education in Germany, too. On a completely unrelated note we have the world-wide highest tax burden according to a recent OECD report.
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That's the dark secret behind "free college" - everyone doesn't get to go.
In America, a weak student can find a college that will take their money and offer enough remedial classes to help them earn a degree from a college no one 100 miles from campus ever heard of. If we get to "free college" nirvana, it will turn most college experiences into public school grades 13-16, in fact, Of course, students will be able to earn the ability to attend private institutions, but without student loans (who needs loans
Americans don't pay for education (Score:3)
They pay for a piece of paper saying they went to a certain institution and that is what ultimately makes them employable in a job market.
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No, they pay for the experience of meeting people "in the right places". The degree makes you employable, but being able to call an acquaintance from college makes it all easier to get a job.
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Absolutely. No matter what, these students should be entitled at least to a fifty percent refund because they're being deprived of the networking that is a critical part of the process. And this is probably most true of the most expensive schools, as well.
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Social skills as well as networking (Score:2)
They pay for a piece of paper saying they went to a certain institution and that is what ultimately makes them employable in a job market.
That is one of many factors. However, if you're going to a top school, you're going to actually meet future investors and contacts who can get your foot in the door for all those jobs that people don't post ads for. For me, I am mildly autistic and came from a poor family , so I was both unaware of this and missed out on it, but I don't think the classes and paper are enough. Yeah...this is where economic privilege comes into play. My parents pushed me into our best state school. The rich parents pushe
Sue them senseless (Score:3, Interesting)
Until they have to sell the ivy.
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I've taken university level courses online, and got great benefit from them. But you have to be a self-starter, and have some discipline. As well, these courses didn't pretend to be in person courses. Any lectures were just pre recorded video. Midterms and the like are basically honor system, and it's only the final that is invigilated.
Re:Doesn't bode well for online learning (Score:5, Interesting)
Online can work for many students, given the course is done correctly. Simply converting an in-person class to be online in hours or days is not the same experience. Students themselves were also unprepared for online learning (at least 30% of the class I teach were in places with inadequate internet access, if they had it at all). I've taught my classes either completely online or in mixed environments, so I was well ahead of the game compared to others who have never done their class online before. If they were told that their fall class load would be online only, I'm sure they would do everything completely different.
Simple things like scaling up the number of folks who can help with technical issues involved with online classes and doing important things like captioning takes time and planning -- things that weren't afforded to the community this semester.
Re:Doesn't bode well for online learning (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, believe me, anyone who has taken (and most who have taught) an online course has been seeing the inadequacies all along. There is a certain rapport that a good teacher cultivates with their classroom - I've never seen anyone establish that in an online course.
To say nothing of access to grad students and study groups - which is where a great deal of the actual learning seems to happen. Listening to a lecture is well and good for laying the groundwork, but it's when you're actually trying to apply that knowledge that the pieces really come together. Immediate access to people who understand the material you're having trouble with is invaluable for accelerating that, and being that person for someone else can really help take your understanding to the next level.
I have some hope that full VR telepresence may eventually enable effective online classes, but even with that I suspect we're a long way from being able to translate all the subtle cues that help really bring things together.
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Re:Doesn't bode well for online learning (Score:4, Informative)
Spent 98 thru 2018 helping to start an online program at a college and supporting it, going from 12 classes/sections to over 450 per term.
How to teach online is well known. There aren't any bugs per se. The issue is the teachers and the students.
Teachers get stuck in a mindset of "sage on the stage", etc. and so want to just do online what they've done in the classroom for 20 years. May work well in the classroom, but no one wants to watch a 2 hour talking head video every week for the course. It takes effort to build a course properly, design assignments, exams, projects, etc.
Students are too used to being spoon fed things and coddled.. Even in a face to face class I can't get half the students to either do their reading, etc. out of class time so that the 3 hours I have with them can be 10 minutes of review and overview lecture and then the rest lab/project time (i teach a couple of linux admin courses, and occasionally programming in java, and intro to mysql). So I end up spending an hour covering the stuff they should've read out of class. But then they don't fire up virtualbox at home and get their lab work and projects done.
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My gf is currently in the Penn State online program for Computer Engineering. This program was already 100% online before Covid19.
One of her classes this semester is Intro to programming which is in C++.
First of all. The book is crap and I've seen better written online tutorials. She'll be assigned a chapter to read for the week but will end up having a hard time reading it because it's like reading a dry manual with no context. The lack of lectures which she actually enjoys in other classes or ability to a
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In terms of limitations, humans are social creatures and none of our technology sufficiently fools us.
With a lecture in front of you and your distractions an alt-tab away, it's going to be easier to tune out.
However, the problem is predominantly perceived value for your dollar. You are paying a premium price to have an actual bunch of humans bother to be around to support you personally (and/or network with). Otherwise there are a whole lot of either prerecorded lecture series or even live, but teleconfere
Anybody have good online experience? (Score:4, Interesting)
I’d like to hear if anyone has had good online education experiences and how it was run. I’m guessing that small live zoom groups with teachers focusing on interaction and shorter segments not just dialing in recorded videos must be better than what is being used now. We need experts in teaching to work with actual professors, students and software developers to create a new teaching and learning experience, from scratch if necessary.
Recorded videos and live chats might be part of it, or there could be a lot more. There might be a more granular, agile approach. Or different emphasis than currently employed regarding rote memorization, reasoning, value judgements, and so on.
A Star Trek movie segment has often come to mind, sparking academic jealousy of the amazing school young Spock must have attended to be able to nail that final exam scene where he is in a pit responding to rapid fire verbal exam questions from a computer. It was an interesting swing at education in a scientifically advanced future. We just need to figure out how the curriculum was delivered.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Thank you very much for this excellent information. I really think this kind of example and comparison between different approaches is really useful. One thing I have I think hasn’t been mentioned much in this thread with you alluded to as the chats. I think the police actually talk to the professor is really important. I went to Cornell a long time ago and although perhaps I didn’t take advantage of it as much as I would if I had been smarter of the time, I was able to attend talks or have acce
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I think it's not so much that the experiences aren't viable, but that the experiences aren't worth the exorbitant amount that is being charged for them.
This permits more comparison to online learning that has historically been very cheap, and it's hard to discern a difference.
Anybody have good work-at-home experience? (Score:3)
Sounds like the requirement for a good distance learning student is close to what's required for a good work-at-home employee. Maybe things will work out in the end?
Endowments (Score:2)
Yes, this all sucks for students, and colleges are overpriced, but endowments are not "cash reserves" available to use for anything the university wants. They must be used for the reasons they were given/willed/donated for.
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Airlines (Score:2)
"You cannot keep money for services and access if you aren't actually providing it," argues a lawyer for several students in South Carolina.
Somebody have that guy call Luftansa.
This would seem a tacit admission ... (Score:2)
college all star team (Score:3)
Maybe it's time to stop attending one college and get your degree from a half dozen of them combined. Get your physics lectures from Feynman, your math from Sparks, your history from Kagan etc.
It's a shame no-one got Euler on video
Can't speak to college, but in K-12... (Score:3)
The problem is you have to have kids who want to learn something/want to be there. This is even more of a problem at home. I'm thinking of classes which were in school buildings but taught remotely, and alt-ed classes primarily.
It's always been easy for them to cheat up until a real teacher gives them a real test and they get fucked; often after they're out of the class.
Many can literally Google the questions and someone else has the exact text with the answer posted somewhere. I know in some countries (not the US) this thinking is culturally acceptable, expected, and cheating is part of the 'game'.
I remember like 5-6+ years ago there was a cell phone application that would let them take a picture of math problems and it would solve them and give them the answer.
COVID19 is accelerating what was already coming (Score:2)
Re:this means that... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:this means that... (Score:5, Informative)
From a Quick Google Search.
"Thirty-four percent of millennials, who are between the ages of 25 and 32, have earned at least a bachelor's degree. Only 24% of Baby Boomers had earned bachelor's degrees at that age."
To make the boomers number even worse a lot of them Went to college just to avoid the Draft.
Re:this means that... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:this means that... (Score:5, Interesting)
My point is that with each generation, the education bar is raised. Now I'm not saying that results in "smarter" individuals but I do think they get exposed to much more. I'm already working on multiplication tables with my son, in 1st grade. For me, it was 3rd and 4th grade. He's doing logic/programming exercises. That didn't exist for me.
So yeah, there are many "fluff" degrees now. But the societal expectation is that a HS diploma isn't enough anymore.
Re:this means that... (Score:4, Informative)
No not really.
A lot of college degrees from boomers went towards low end white collar jobs, some that don't exists so much any more.
Data Entry taking the data and typing it into the computer, Typing transcribing handwritten documents on a typewriter so it can be read easier, Mail Room taking all the interoffice messages and sending them to others, Computing (just adding up numbers because the office didn't have a computer).
Having a College Degree for a Boomer was a golden ticket to getting a job. Today the problem is lack of entry level careers that one can grow further into.
Where Data Entry often went to Computer Operator to Computer Programmer/System Administrator. There isn't need for the first two so Companies want Experienced Programmers and Administrators, with a little migration from Barista to Programmer.
Re:this means that... (Score:5, Insightful)
Data Entry taking the data and typing it into the computer
Judging from the utter crap we have to clean out of our databases, we should bring these courses back.
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Back then you didn't need a degree to make a living. Now your BS degree gets you a $10/hr job doing help desk support. I'm lucky enough be in the tech industry without a degree.
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That doesn't say anything for the ignorance of a population group, it just speaks towards their education. Yes, those are two separate things.
I'd argue everyone is ignorant up and to around 30. The actual DMARC is the realization of just how much you don't know, not the age. You can only really get there when you struggle against adversity.
Which generation, would you say, has had to face more adversity? The Vietnam or White Claw generation?
Re:this means that... (Score:5, Insightful)
Vietnam killed less Americans than COVID-19 already has. Boomers with no college education could support a family on an average wage. Millennials have faced two deep recessions already.
Fuck your biased comparisons.
Re:this means that... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Self taught [Re:The Wikipedia Generation] (Score:5, Insightful)
95% of non stem (outside of labs) and non medical learning can be done by just reading Wikipedia.
You would think. But what I've noticed is that far too many self-taught people are poorly educated, don't really understand the subject that they think they're expert on, and have bizarre interpretations based on misreading some text that no one actually explained to them.
"Self-taught," means that you were taught by a teacher who didn't know the subject.
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Where I agree, "self taught" usually means a substandard educational experience, it is not 100% true.
IF you can read, you *can* teach yourself all sorts of knowledge on your own. The trick is to read the *right* materials on the subject and not just one biased web page that purports to be authoritative (here's looking at you Wikipedia). Most folks are not self taught, they are self deceived, but SOME are well educated because they've made the necessary effort.
I hate to say it, but it's *not* easy to teach
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Wikipedia is good on giving facts, but education is more than just facts. Colleges is teaching student how to learn. I can Wikipedia a topic, but I may not know how to use it, or spur additional information on it.
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Wikipedia is good on giving facts, but education is more than just facts. Colleges is teaching student how to learn. I can Wikipedia a topic, but I may not know how to use it, or spur additional information on it.
I believe that undergraduate education is about teaching students how to learn and "look it up" when you don't know something. Graduate studies is about teaching you how to think, investigate and generate new knowledge by applying what you know and can look up. PHD's are about producing some new area of knowledge, extending what we know and understand.
The sad thing though, is that undergraduate college degree holders of today, wouldn't have passed out of "high school" only 100 years ago. Those one room
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In the US you still have a lot of basic research educations. In Belgium and other EU countries the primary problem is that colleges can't get by with just the basic research anymore.
There is no NIH or NSF over there that funds to the levels the US funds research (which includes complete student employment packages) so you're relegated to sponsored partnerships where students benefit employers (basically work at low or effectively negative pay rates).
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Re:Why is anyone surprised? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't see the problem with education is corruption, but academic inbreeding.
You grow up, get educated, get a job in education, educating students on how to educate. We can see this with the graduation ceremony, where everyone dresses up in medieval robes, where they are granted titles for their place in life.
We all know the random "cool" teacher/professor, they are that one random person, who before becoming a teacher had careers outside education for a while. Military Service, worked as a business person... In general they have life experience outside the education system, where they feel the year changes in January, not in September. Experience using the skills taught in school in from practical life, creates a new dynamic. Also treats students a bit differently too.
But for most academics they live their lives withing the academic walls, and teach the values of these walls to the next generation.
This creates some problems that seems like corruption, as they will often do stupid things and no one will raise an eyebrow on, because no one really thinks it is wrong.