An Attempt at Fixing College Education
Oft-cited problems with college education include the irrelevance (obsolete nature) of what is taught, the college not working hard to get all students a job at the end, and high tuition fees. Tyler Cowen writes of Lambda School in California as one private sector attempt to solve these problems. Here’s how it works. They give the student the option to pay zero tuition fees. Huh? What’s the catch, you ask: “The deal is that students pay back 17 percent of their income from the first two years of work, if earnings exceed $50,000 a year, with a maximum payment of $30,000. Students who don’t find jobs at that income level don’t pay anything.” It’s obvious how the idea hopes to solve the criticisms mentioned at the top of the blog: It is now in the college’s interest to get you a high paying job. That translates into better (relevant) teaching + having connections with companies that would hire you eventually. Time will tell how this model will fare, but Cowen analyzes ...