Selective subsidizing of higher education - good or bad idea?

[crazy canuck]

People who do not come from privileged backgrounds usually go into education that can pay the bills/gives a profession, not something to "hone their general skills and intellect", or get "rigorous logic or linguistic precision" because without connections/"cultural capital" they know this will not be enough to land them a decent job.

This may be a cultural difference but that's not my experience in the UK.  It does land you a decent job (or it can, times are pretty tough now) and there's not much of a social tilt to the different degrees, with a few notable exceptions.

Agreed, I certainly didnt come from a privileged background.  My first degree (BA) didnt lead to any particular job or profession but it certainly did give me the skills to succeed in my second degree and career.

[dps]

People who do not come from privileged backgrounds usually go into education that can pay the bills/gives a profession, not something to "hone their general skills and intellect", or get "rigorous logic or linguistic precision" because without connections/"cultural capital" they know this will not be enough to land them a decent job.

This may be a cultural difference but that's not my experience in the UK.  It does land you a decent job (or it can, times are pretty tough now) and there's not much of a social tilt to the different degrees, with a few notable exceptions.

I don't know what the percentage of university graduates in Poland is compared to the UK or the US, but just in raw numbers, the number of people in America with degrees may be more than the entire population of Poland.  There are just so many people with degrees that having one just isn't anything special--at least as far as 4-year degrees are concerned.  Post-graduate degrees are a different story, but even there, nobody is really impressed by someone with, say, a Master's in education.

[crazy canuck]

nobody is really impressed by someone with, say, a Master's in education.

[The Brain]

nobody is really impressed by someone with, say, a Master's in education.

Name one.

[dps]

nobody is really impressed by someone with, say, a Master's in education.

In the U.S, most teachers, even in primary schools, either have a Master's or are working on it.  When something is that common, it no longer impresses anyone very much.

[Martinus]

People who do not come from privileged backgrounds usually go into education that can pay the bills/gives a profession, not something to "hone their general skills and intellect", or get "rigorous logic or linguistic precision" because without connections/"cultural capital" they know this will not be enough to land them a decent job.

This may be a cultural difference but that's not my experience in the UK.  It does land you a decent job (or it can, times are pretty tough now) and there's not much of a social tilt to the different degrees, with a few notable exceptions.

I don't know what the percentage of university graduates in Poland is compared to the UK or the US, but just in raw numbers, the number of people in America with degrees may be more than the entire population of Poland.  There are just so many people with degrees that having one just isn't anything special--at least as far as 4-year degrees are concerned.  Post-graduate degrees are a different story, but even there, nobody is really impressed by someone with, say, a Master's in education.

I guess this could also be affected by the differences in how university education is organized here. You do not do several degrees in Poland - you go into a university degree that lasts for 4 or 5 years straight from high school and unless you want to do a PhD, that's it (obviously you can study more degrees than one, but they are separate and each takes 4 or 5 years, in principle). For example, you go to the university to get a masters degree in law which lasts for 5 years and you go there immediately after your "matura" (which is a general educational test you take after high school).

[Zanza]

Didn't Poland participate in the Bologna process?

[crazy canuck]

nobody is really impressed by someone with, say, a Master's in education.

In the U.S, most teachers, even in primary schools, either have a Master's or are working on it.  When something is that common, it no longer impresses anyone very much.

I find that hard to believe but I will take your word for it.

[Sahib]

Didn't Poland participate in the Bologna process?

Marty's info on higher education seems to come from his own uni experiences and appears to be about a decade out of date 

[Martinus]

Didn't Poland participate in the Bologna process?

Marty's info on higher education seems to come from his own uni experiences and appears to be about a decade out of date 

Quiet, you whippersnappers. :shakes his cane:

[MadImmortalMan]

In the U.S, most teachers, even in primary schools, either have a Master's or are working on it.  When something is that common, it no longer impresses anyone very much.

I find that hard to believe but I will take your word for it.

I'll vouch. Mom got hers because there's an automatic raise that goes with it and the district paid the tuition. That's common.

[ulmont]

In the U.S, most teachers, even in primary schools, either have a Master's or are working on it.  When something is that common, it no longer impresses anyone very much.

I find that hard to believe but I will take your word for it.

I'll vouch. Mom got hers because there's an automatic raise that goes with it and the district paid the tuition. That's common.

Yeah, this was common at my high school.  Everyone got the master's degree and then stopped.

[The Brain]

My high school teachers had doctorates.

[dps]

People who do not come from privileged backgrounds usually go into education that can pay the bills/gives a profession, not something to "hone their general skills and intellect", or get "rigorous logic or linguistic precision" because without connections/"cultural capital" they know this will not be enough to land them a decent job.

This may be a cultural difference but that's not my experience in the UK.  It does land you a decent job (or it can, times are pretty tough now) and there's not much of a social tilt to the different degrees, with a few notable exceptions.

I don't know what the percentage of university graduates in Poland is compared to the UK or the US, but just in raw numbers, the number of people in America with degrees may be more than the entire population of Poland.  There are just so many people with degrees that having one just isn't anything special--at least as far as 4-year degrees are concerned.  Post-graduate degrees are a different story, but even there, nobody is really impressed by someone with, say, a Master's in education.

I guess this could also be affected by the differences in how university education is organized here. You do not do several degrees in Poland - you go into a university degree that lasts for 4 or 5 years straight from high school and unless you want to do a PhD, that's it (obviously you can study more degrees than one, but they are separate and each takes 4 or 5 years, in principle). For example, you go to the university to get a masters degree in law which lasts for 5 years and you go there immediately after your "matura" (which is a general educational test you take after high school).

I'm not sure I understand your point.  The fact that many people in America hold multiple Bachelor's degrees doesn't impact the percentage of the population or the raw number of people who hold a degree.