why college football as we know it will be dead in 20 years

[dawgfan]

Great article about how potentially dramatic changes in higher education could kill college football as we know it. The title focuses on the football angle, but it's really a very interesting discussion about the trends in higher education and what the landscape may look like in 20 years.

It definitely has me reconsidering whether my family & I should be putting money in GET programs for my two little kids.

[Young Drachma]

I'm guessing this is the link to the article you're referring to:

http://www.cornnation.com/2013/7/18/...ithin-20-years

[Karlifornia]

College football will be dead, yet UW will still find a way to go 7-6

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

I'm guessing this is the link to the article you're referring to:

Why College Football Will Be Dead Within 20 Years - Corn Nation

Heh, yeah - forgot to include the link didn't I?

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

College football will be dead, yet UW will still find a way to go 7-6

Har har. Stanford's on a nice roll right now - enjoy it, but try not to let it go to your head.

[Logan]

I don't think it takes very much analysis/forward-thinking to predict that college football "as we know it" will be dead in 20 years. Hell, Swofford came out today and said that having a new organization within the NCAA to house the Power 5 conferences could come by next season. It's only a couple logical steps from there to get to what the author is talking about.

I think the jump from "here's why higher education is fucked" to "and this is why college football will be dead" was a little sudden and random, like he got tired of talking about the cost of education so he just fast forwarded to the end. That first question/statement is really interesting and I have no doubt that by the time my kids are ready for college (just married, couple years away from growing the family) that the entire system will be completely different. It's just not sustainable.

[molson]

I can't decide what I'd be happier to see the destruction of, the NCAA, or the higher education system.

[sterlingice]

Ten years after graduating, I think the value of my university experience mainly has to do with the networking aspect. The education at most schools is pretty similar within a class of schools (i.e. while a Comp Sci degree at Kansas =/= Comp Sci degree at MIT, it's going to be pretty similar to one at Colorado, UMass, Arizona, or Texas). However, what I did ok with but also really missed out maximizing (as I did not understand at the time) was networking and contacts. It's not about, necessarily, what you learned but who you met there.

Even in the most optimistic of circumstances, your grades and GPA will get you in that first door but after a couple of years, it won't mean much at all: just that you have the piece of paper as your job experience will overwhelm your education.

I think the author is correct that when jobs start accepting online degrees the same as in-person ones, that will be a major paradigm shift. However, clearly parents who are in the workforce, still see the value of a college degree for those entering the workforce, otherwise, they wouldn't be pouring stupid money into it.

SI

[AENeuman]

Even if colleges went all online, where would the students live? I don't think you can discount the eagerness for 17/18 year olds to get out of the house and have a "college" experience.

That being said, the easier and cheaper they can make undergrad non-majored requirements the better. I always thought it was silly that students have to basically retake their high school course their first 2 years of college, often in auditoriums run by TA's and $200 textbooks.

[bhlloy]

Not being a parent I can't really speak to this at all but I wonder how many parents actually do value the education vs just go along with it because its a norm and they are scared at the perception their kid is missing out. Are you going to be the one parent in the entire class who doesn't send their kid to college?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Not being a parent I can't really speak to this at all but I wonder how many parents actually do value the education vs just go along with it because its a norm and they are scared at the perception their kid is missing out. Are you going to be the one parent in the entire class who doesn't send their kid to college?

I'm a parent of two minds about this.

One the one hand, I believe that a degree is pretty much proof in most fields that you consumed oxygen for a period of roughly 4-6 years.

On the other hand, considering that even most secretarial jobs in our area expect at least an undergrad degree, I'd say that it's an unfortunate requirement for most anyone outside the traditional blue collar trades or retail.

[dacman]

The tipping point for the MOOC revolution will come when corporations begin to accept a MOOC-based degree as equivalent to a traditional degree.

But I'd wager that it will take a full generation for that to happen. Hiring managers now are the ones who earned that piece of paper the old-fashioned way and are apt to look for the same in a hiree.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Not being a parent I can't really speak to this at all but I wonder how many parents actually do value the education vs just go along with it because its a norm and they are scared at the perception their kid is missing out. Are you going to be the one parent in the entire class who doesn't send their kid to college?

I'm guessing this is definitely true in big numbers.

Losing the social aspect - not just partying, but meeting new people, living on your own, having more responsibility, etc - would also be a major downside of a change to the system. But is that worth the average kid coming out more than $30K in debt and having a basic liberal arts degree?