There are some fine ideas here, but the writer doesn't really seem to understand money.
> There would be no tenure, obviously. I assume you never thought it was a good idea at Microsoft —why have it here?
I have problems with the tenure system myself, despite having tenure at a university. However, we must realize that it's not just some silly idea someone dreamed up one day. Tenure has real economic value to those who get it. The standard deal for professors at many universities is somewhat low pay, made up for by serious job security. Thus, tenure is, in part, a way of saving a university money.
So if you throw out tenure, and you want to get something other than bottom-of-the-barrel teaching, then you need to pay people more.
But the writer says:
> Who would work at Gates University? Anyone who could do a great job. Maybe professors will have Ph.D.'s, maybe they won't. If a really smart person drops out of college, founds a phenomenally successful business, and decides to turn toward education as a way of giving back, he or she would be welcome to apply for a job.
So, not only have you put yourself in a position of having to pay people more, you also want to get away from people who just like to teach, and instead hire people who have proven themselves to be very good at making money. Well, go right ahead, but understand that these people are going to require enormous salaries. Where is that money going to come from?
> For-profit universities, meanwhile, are surging into the online market. Some provide valuable services, while others are ripping off students and taxpayers. But on some level they all want to provide as good an education as necessary for as much tuition as possible. Gates University would provide as good an education as possible for as much tuition as necessary, ....
> There would be no tenure, obviously. I assume you never thought it was a good idea at Microsoft —why have it here?
I have problems with the tenure system myself, despite having tenure at a university. However, we must realize that it's not just some silly idea someone dreamed up one day. Tenure has real economic value to those who get it. The standard deal for professors at many universities is somewhat low pay, made up for by serious job security. Thus, tenure is, in part, a way of saving a university money.
So if you throw out tenure, and you want to get something other than bottom-of-the-barrel teaching, then you need to pay people more.
But the writer says:
> Who would work at Gates University? Anyone who could do a great job. Maybe professors will have Ph.D.'s, maybe they won't. If a really smart person drops out of college, founds a phenomenally successful business, and decides to turn toward education as a way of giving back, he or she would be welcome to apply for a job.
So, not only have you put yourself in a position of having to pay people more, you also want to get away from people who just like to teach, and instead hire people who have proven themselves to be very good at making money. Well, go right ahead, but understand that these people are going to require enormous salaries. Where is that money going to come from?
> For-profit universities, meanwhile, are surging into the online market. Some provide valuable services, while others are ripping off students and taxpayers. But on some level they all want to provide as good an education as necessary for as much tuition as possible. Gates University would provide as good an education as possible for as much tuition as necessary, ....
And that's going to be an awful lot.