Score 1 for the University

Equal to my calling to point boldly to areas of lacking in my scholastic experience is the imperative to tip my hat when actual learning is taking place. Such is my experience so far in Advocacy in Communications Class this semester. Real reading, real research assignments, real interactive discussions. Although my return to academia is still new, I cannot help but wonder at the reasons for the difference. Could it be that this class being advanced for graduate students in pursuit of a Masters is the difference? It is a 500-level course. But if this is the actual learning and intelligence level that I hoped for—and I am still and undergrad—is there an unspoken comment in there reflective of the quality of undergraduate education? Have we seen standards slip so that we are churning out “basic” college graduates as if they are High School diplomas and therefore the “Masters” is the “New Bachelors,” and perhaps the High School is the new Middle School?

I will let that question stand unanswered for now as I enjoy my semester in the trenches.

I do need to gripe a bit about tuition escalation. I took one 3-unit course last semester at a cost of about $770. This semester, my one, 3-unit course is going to cost over $1250—a 65% increase in three months time. This raises the estimated cost of completing this degree from about $22k to $38k, +/-. When Shakespeare said to, “Empty your purse into your head and no one can steal it from you.” I do not think that he meant the “purse-emptying” quite so literally.

Be well.