Alexander Karn
It’s embarrassing and probably harmful to our #democracy that leaders in #highered feel the need to frame “return on investment” in purely monetary terms. Du Bois knew: “The true college will ever have but one goal - not to earn meat, but to know the end and aim of that life which meat nourishes.” #education https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/26/college-degree-value-investment-return/
A college degree is worth the cost — and then some

Studies show a bachelor's degree generates a 14 percent annual return.

The Washington Post
Apr 26, 2023 at 12:31pmWeb
Show threadAlexander KarnApr 26, 2023

I had an opportunity to speak a little bit about balancing pragmatism and idealism at my university's convocation event last fall.

In case you're interested, here's the text:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dfDzDb2Lf_CVf4O_0Rvszfad6HtPKe_J/view?usp=sharing

Convocation Address 2022.pdf

Google Docs
Show threadZuzana ChovanecAug 8, 2023
@xankarn #education and #training are not the same thing and shouldn’t be modeled as such. The difference being training teaches specific and limited tasks whereas education provides a framework for #learning that is #adaptable to numerous potential opportunities.
Show threadAlexander KarnAug 8, 2023

@zuzu_chov

Hear, hear. Well put.

It’s dismaying that relatively few #highered think/operate on these terms, even in the small “liberal arts” setting. The economics have mushed those two concepts together, or led people to seek the latter (training) at the expense of the former (education)