5 Things They Should Change In Universities

Many people don’t know this about me, but I attended college for the first few years upon graduating from high school. However, I have taken the last few semesters off to focus on my business projects mainly. I say I’ve dropped out, but my parents still think I’m taking semesters off.

Regardless, I couldn’t stand my time inside the classrooms at my university. I was simultaneously running a successful business and saw so many disconnects with what I was learning from my professors.

I am not completely against colleges, but I think they can do a lot of things better to make the experience more valuable for people. In this article, I share 5 things they should change in universities:

1. Stop Testing Memorization Skills

I have always been horrible at tests. I think they are stupid and do not really measure what you know about a subject. Anyone can memorize a packet of information if they have enough patience and time on their hands to do so.

However, memorization doesn’t mean you can successfully apply what you learned. Application or implementation is the only true way to test something. It’s probably going to cost a lot of money to test in this manner, but at least students will find get value from this.

Instead of taking a quiz on how to re-assemble a computer, they should get students to actually re-assemble the computer in front of you for a grade. This truly shows how much you know about the subject while ensuring that you’ll be able to utilize this skill in the future.

2. Stop Hiring Professors Who Haven’t Really Done It 

I remember walking into my business class for the first time hearing my professor talk about his experiences and background. He was teaching a class on entrepreneurship, but his resume consisted of zero entrepreneurial experience.

I knew from day one that I would hate this class because I’d be learning about stuff my professor read about in a book instead of hearing about his experiences. If I’m paying you $15,000 a year in tuition, you can do the very minimum of hiring professors who validate the shit they’re talking about in class.

3. Stop Lecturing, They Really Suck 

95% of my professors load up a powerpoint and put it on the projector asking us to take notes. Again, why I am paying you $15,000 a year to learn from a powerpoint filled with jargon? If I wanted that, I’d go on Slideshare and watch powerpoints from experienced individuals.

Universities can make the education process more appealing by asking their professors to put more effort in. It’s funny because I’d skip class almost every time we had a lecture because I dreaded it. On the other hand, the most valuable experience I had in the classroom was from a professor who never did powerpoint lectures.

He told us to throw the textbook away and said we would learn about human communication by actually communicating. We did exercises and had discussions with our peers to learn the material. As you can imagine, I never missed this class!

4. Stop Creating Cogs In The Machine

One of the biggest reasons why I hated college was because I felt like I was being bred into a robot. The lectures and the curriculum really trains you to be an amazing employee who can follow directions and perform tasks as directed.

How about creating leaders or visionaries who can really change the world? Apparently, higher education doesn’t care too much for those individuals. Instead, they are too focused on getting you that degree and an average paying job as soon as you graduate.

Colleges care too much about their job turnover rates and ensuring that they have a high graduation rate. Wouldn’t you rather be known for nurturing 100 of the greatest minds in the world instead of helping 15,000 students get a well-paying job they hate at some big company?

5. Stop Making People Believe College Is A Must

What I hate about universities is that they constantly feed the world with this idea that you must go to college to be successful. That’s not true and I can name millions of people who have disproved that theory.

Universities should be graceful. Tell people that college can help make many people successful, but it’s not often the right answer for everyone. Stop being so money-hungry and start being honest.

Conclusion

In this article, I shared 5 things they should change in universities. What are your thoughts on this topic? Share them in the comments below!

photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc