As the week winds down, we wind down with some tidbits for your information, education, health, and enjoyment.
Quote of the Week: “Over the last 30 years, tuition has increased 1,120 percent; by comparison, even the “skyrocketing” cost of health care only rose 600 percent, and housing costs have gone up a paltry 375 percent.â€Â Bruce Watson
Humor Break:
Bev: There is an article in today’s paper about a banker who was arrested for embezzling $100,000 to pay for his daughter’s college education?
Al: Does it say anything about where he was planning to get the rest of the money?
Stat of the Week: $26,000 average graduating loan debt for college seniors with loans. This is up 40% in the past 7 years. 13 percent of student-loan borrowers of all ages owe more than $50,000. And students can’t repay these loans. 17% are more than 90 days in arrears. Meanwhile tuition costs at public universities increased by 27 percent in the past five years. Average starting salaries of recent college grads has decreased over the past decade. The newly graduated struggle to find jobs, can’t pay off student debts and can’t buy consumer goods that ignites the economy. And still many universities don’t see the disruptive changes necessary in higher education. Makes you wonder who are the educated.
Action Tip: If you are considering going back to school or you are making plans for your child or children to head off to college, pay close attention to what is happening with MOOCs (Massive Open Online Classes). They will shortly have a positive effect in reining in the escalating costs of college education. Stay tuned!
Self-Development Corner: Writing of MOOCs, summer brings a lighter load of classes from Coursera, but we have one course that might offer you some food for thought: The Science of Gastronomy (July 10, 6 weeks, University of Hong Kong, in English).
Or maybe it is just time to kick back and have some summer fun: History of Rock, Part Two (July 8, 6 weeks, University of Rochester, part in English, part in Hip Hop/Punk). You do not have to take Part I. Part 2 picks up with the 1970s through part of the 1990s.
For our medical readers, no start date has been given as of this writing, but Antimicrobial Stewardship: Optimization of Antibiotic Practices (TBA, 6 weeks, Stanford University) is scheduled for a July start.
Happy learning!
Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.
