After talking quite a bit today about education and how in terms of opportunity costs it is to our advantage to seek out more education because it benefits us in the long run (e.g. you make more money over the course of your life). However, we have to remember there are strong connections between your education and they way it benefits society...this is why countries are so concerned about the state of their national educational systems. From a government perspective, they too are willing to bear the costs and the opportunity costs of paying for some level of education in their countries. What we were talking about today made me think of some wonderful articles I read this weekend on the plane on the way to Rio. In the international issue of Newsweek they examined the global race in education and how it is shaping up globally and why more countries are beginning to focus on improving their higher education.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20226758/site/newsweek/
How does what you have read relate to the concepts of labor and the PPC?
What is the total value of your education to more than just yourself?
Should the US be worried? If they are not...what might happen to their PPC in the future and why?
Address whatever aspects of the above you find most relevant, feel free to engage in conversation about this issue and I strongly encourage you to ready the other articles related to the subject of global education, it really was a very interesting issue.
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10 comments:
Wow, I think that is a great article. First of all, the US has so many colleges and universities, I can't imagine needing more! I do agree that the US is much more diverse than it is set up for thus this needs to be an added factor to the lifestyles and education in college.
If other countries are expanding and improving their higher education options, the US will suffer. Many international students choose to come to the US because they will get a better education in the states and/or they will have better job opportunities in the future if they are educated in the states. If the schools in their home countries improve, less international students will go to the states for college. This will hurt not only the population of individual colleges, but also the population of the work force. The US needs to evaluate the standard of education received in the US and if we are getting our money's worth ($40,000 in the states compared to like... $6000 /year up north!) If other countries have the same standard and cheaper prices for education, the US universities are definitely at risk.
Well our high level of education contributes a lot to our countries in the future in the sense of better work force, technology development and other discoveries. In the long run, the countries who aid their people to attend universities in return will benefit much more than they have now contributed because then they will have higher qualities of labor which will lead to economic growth. I think it is crucial to have educated citizens in a country because they are the people who will develop and lead the country in an effective way.
It makes sense that the US began the trend for having technological advances ect as a result of having a colledge education. Other nations, do not want to get left behind so they also begin to make universities to keep up with the US. you see this in history aswell when Peter the Great of Russia felt he needed to develop his country and meet the standard other European countries of the time had as far as education and modern technological advances go, so he sent out spies and collected the best educated ideas of each nation and that helped modernize Russias education and advance the country. To address the issue at the end of the article where it says alot of other countrys in the world are advancing their education is a direct result of the US advancement but now i beleive other countrys are relentless to stop that advancement and the US is becoming more lazy. Eventually like every great empire, for example the Roman Empire, the US will also fall behind the rest of the modern and quickly advancing world if they do not keep improving their education.
When the college reps come to Lincoln, they take pride in sharing how many international students they have at their school. I.e. Tufts is almost 18% international-- this is why it thrives, and why I want to go there! But the price of uni's prevents many international students & lower-income American students from studying there. When there is a high demand for college, the tuition is high. Its a basic economic principle. Yet THAT is the flaw: uni's are not a business, but an individual and govt. investment. Therefore, US schools, with govt. aid, must lower prices. Otherwise, they will lose their national and international diversity to foreign schools. And when you lose diversity, you lose an influx of creativity and innovation. Not to mention a total disregard for globalization!
This was a very interesting article, and what probably caught my attention was the fact that US colleges actually need to improve in order to be able to keep up with the expanding universities in the rest of the world. While I always realized that there are tons of amazing colleges in many countries, I somehow always figured that the US had so many colleges which international students wanted to attend, that they neevr really needed to worry about competition. However, it makes sense that countries have realized that education is the key for improving their work force and ultimately making their economy more efficient, and it is only natural that they would want to educate that labor force themselves, rather than have them move to another country. But as Tyler said, colleges shouldn't be businesses...in the end, governments are only benefitting themselves if they make education more accessible to all. considering the prices that many US colleges have, it would not surprise me if more international students decide to study in their country if the educational standars are improving. US colleges should take this into consideration, especially when observing that it is their desire to attract international students.
i agree with both luisa and tyler, especially when tyler said that universities are NOT businesses but investments...because that is exactly true. Colleges provide a higher level of education which in turn would improve factors of production because for one thing, labor would have a better quality. An improvement in the factors of production causes the PPC curve of a country to shift out, expanding its boundaries..Improving colleges dont only expand the PPC of just their country but in the long run it benefits the whole world, as more people would receive a higher level of education..and if colleges in the US want to keep their international students they really do need to focus more on their financial aid and scholarships because (at least in korea) the number one reason why students are hesitant about colleges in the States is because of its intimidating costs.
I don't think it's a bad thing that fewer new colleges are being built in the U.S.A., considering there already are thousands, probably more than needed. If there's no need for more...then why build?
I think everyone is wrong when they say that the colleges in the United States should lower prices overall or specifically to international students. Colleges are businesses, people make money out of it. If there's a high demand to study in a certain school, then naturally prices will be high. Although I would want prices to lower, I know that that probably won't happen.
Colleges that are not popular, who are desperate for students will then find a need to lower their prices.
Not enough college growth i wasn't getting that impression when i went college campus touring this winter/summer. All the campus's were growing, the university my brother is going to was a state college just the year before but has had Enormous improvements and expansions. Also id like to know why we need more colleges, this article made it sound like there is a high demand for them. Not really, the population is growing but not any more than usual. I also found it amusing that the article mentioned some man in India building a university for 100,000. arnt there like over a billion Indians and that number rising exponentially. Also, i haven't met many Americans who say, i really want to go to college but there are none that seem right for me.
In conclusion i disagree, Colleges in America are doing there job and well...its the rest of the school system im disappointed with. Public school had too many kids not wanting to learn making it impossible for everyone else.
agree with michael that there are enough colleges already, but dont agree with ezequiel about the college's costs. Of course colleges with higher demand make sense they are more expensive, but as debbbie said, colleges aren't a business but an investment. It isnt fair that only people with the amount of money the college asks can go in, everyone should have a chance of going. This way more people will be well educated and therefore the economy will expand, and as college is an investment, in the long run everyone will be benefited. If they make more colleges I think they should make a college at really low cost as good as Harvard, Penn, etc.
I agree with most of this article, the US is definetly losing it's edge on higher education expecially in the technology sector, this may mean stronger and more competetive foreign economies... but should the US be worried? I dont think so... looking at the tech industry (ussually the one which garantees the most sucess) the US will likely stay strong and in the lead because the most important and powerful innovation to technology are not solely provided by university but of course by business, so expecially in such a globalized world very bright scientist don't have to work where they studied but where there is more oppourtunity for employment, which is usually where the biggest business are... an interesting webpage by businessweek called "The Top 100 Most Innovative Companies Ranking" (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_17/b3981413.htm) shows that the US companies are by far the leader in the this aspect. So despite the increasing spending by foreign economies to increase higher education, I belive the US' PPC curve will continue to expand independently from the number of universities the US makes.
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