Trump, the moderate voice of the right

[tzor]

I just assumed that college tuition in the US is a big con anyway. What is it now? About 40% never get a degree?

I don't know the actual numbers are these days. I do know that when I went to RPI in '79 the standard speech was "look to your left; look to your right; one of you is not going to graduate." So that's a 33% drop out from Freshman year. Now that expression is banished and the staff works towards identifying students who are having problems with their courses and getting the resources they need to maintain their grades. RPI is also a college with a significant ROI.

[Symmetry]

I just assumed that college tuition in the US is a big con anyway. What is it now? About 40% never get a degree?

I don't know the actual numbers are these days. I do know that when I went to RPI in '79 the standard speech was "look to your left; look to your right; one of you is not going to graduate." So that's a 33% drop out from Freshman year. Now that expression is banished and the staff works towards identifying students who are having problems with their courses and getting the resources they need to maintain their grades. RPI is also a college with a significant ROI.

I remembered the article I'd read the 40% stat in-

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/

Really great article if you fancy a read.

[tzor]

I remembered the article I'd read the 40% stat in-

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/

Really great article if you fancy a read.

Not really sourced so I started doing a little checking on my own college. The number may be about right. Link - nasty - you will need to register

With 93.0% of students staying on for a second year, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has among the best freshman retention rates in the country.

Both the on-time (two or four years depending on the degree) graduation rate of 61.5% and the overall rate of 82.1% rank Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute among the best in the country.

[Symmetry]

I remembered the article I'd read the 40% stat in-

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/

Really great article if you fancy a read.

Not really sourced so I started doing a little checking on my own college. The number may be about right. Link - nasty - you will need to register

With 93.0% of students staying on for a second year, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has among the best freshman retention rates in the country.

Both the on-time (two or four years depending on the degree) graduation rate of 61.5% and the overall rate of 82.1% rank Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute among the best in the country.

It's a pretty thorough article, although that's not really its main thrust. Depressing though, isn't it? College in the US isn't even all that tough. Plenty of courses give you marks for attendance.

[saxitoxin]

It's a pretty thorough article, although that's not really its main thrust. Depressing though, isn't it? College in the US isn't even all that tough. Plenty of courses give you marks for attendance.

Depends on where you're talking about. Lower-to-mid tier U.S. universities are probably inferior to their British counterparts. Taking an undergraduate chemistry module at Arizona State is probably easier than taking the same module at Lancaster.

At the elite level, however you can't compare a Russell Group school against an Ivy League (or equivalent) institution. Except for Oxbridge they're simply outclassed. And even then it's a comparison between a smart pauper (Cantab) and a smart tycoon (Harvard); they just don't have the resources to do much more than keep up.

The QS rankings are inherently flawed, but for purposes of comparison here's their Top 10 UK and US universities. Comparing Yale to the University of Manchester, or Cornell to Bristol University or Penn to Warwick just doesn't pass the smell test. How many people outside Britain have even heard of Bristol University? Meanwhile, how many people outside the U.S. have heard of Cornell?

1. MIT | Cambridge
2. Harvard | Oxford
3. Stanford | UCL
4. Cal Tech | ICL
5. Chicago | King's College
6. Princeton | Edinburgh
7. Yale | Manchester
8. Johns Hopkins | LSE
9. Cornell | Bristol
10. Pennsylvania | Warwick

[saxitoxin]

Warwick
#10 university in UK
Founded: 1965 | Endowment: $13 million | Nobel Laureates: 1


Pennsylvania
#10 university in USA
Founded: 1740 | Endowment: $10.1 billion | Nobel Laureates: 28

[Dukasaur]

How does a political thread mutate into a college recruitment drive?

[mrswdk]

lawl. I thought John Hopkins was in Canada.

[Symmetry]

How does a political thread mutate into a college recruitment drive?

When the quite ridiculous con that is the US college system coincides with dropout rates being discussed.

[muy_thaiguy]

Also to note, I'm not sure about the UK, but the US also has a ton of Junior Colleges and Trade Schools. Not to mention a large number of less well known Universities.

[Symmetry]

Also to note, I'm not sure about the UK, but the US also has a ton of Junior Colleges and Trade Schools. Not to mention a large number of less well known Universities.

I think it's the less well known ones that are accredited, but probably shouldn't be, that drag the numbers down.

Top tier units in the US easily compete with the UK. The standard is way lower though.

[muy_thaiguy]

Sounds about right I suppose. And just for example on the number of post-high school schools there are; in Laramie, Wyoming, a town of about 30,000 people, there are three separate post-high school schools. A four year university (that is decently ranked, all things considered), a Junior College, and an automotive trade school that is quite well known in the US. Not saying all towns of 30,000 have such things, but in cities, its not unheard of for there to be multiple institutions. Particularly the larger ones.

[Symmetry]

Sounds about right I suppose. And just for example on the number of post-high school schools there are; in Laramie, Wyoming, a town of about 30,000 people, there are three separate post-high school schools. A four year university (that is decently ranked, all things considered), a Junior College, and an automotive trade school that is quite well known in the US. Not saying all towns of 30,000 have such things, but in cities, its not unheard of for there to be multiple institutions. Particularly the larger ones.

Yeah, it's a tough comparison. UK uni courses are usually 3 years,. It's often annoying to come across stuff that wouldn't pass muster at masters level given PhD status in the US though.