US #4 most educated country in the world

And that is why the economy isn't growing near as fast as it should. People think interest rates and other things matter when they don't. If instead of having all these people deal with finance and interest rates, we had them actually do something productive, the economy would improve a lot more. Incentives shouldn't exist. The government (or someone else) should fund science and technology until it finds something that can replace the original thing cheaper. All of these great economists and businessmen still haven't figured out how to integrate technology into society very well. Shifting interest rates around just regulates economic cycles. There doesn't have to be economic cycles, and there wouldn't be if there was more focus on technology instead of giving people worthless jobs in the finance industry. What if we didn't develop tractors? You'd need a lot more farmers to get the same yield, and there would be a lot fewer people to do other jobs, thus the economy would be a lot smaller. What if we never developed cars? It would take a lot longer to ship things which would require more people or man hours, and the economy isn't nearly as big. What if we never developed robotized factories, electricity, or energy production from coal, oil, or natural gas? Imagine what the economy would be like if these things didn't exist. And you think interest rates are more important than technology for economic growth? The only thing that really matters in the economy is the rate of scientific and technological progress. You see, you are not allowing creativity or thinking if you think economics has to be done the same way we've done it for the last century. Economics is very important, but the focus is not in the right areas.

Politics is a branch of philosophy, so there are some parts of philosophy that do require relevant thinking. Philosophers do concern themselves a lot with things that don't matter or that I don't care about. A large part of philosophy is worthless because they have the wrong idea to begin with. I've found the opposite to be true in that Physics and Calculus allow more freedom and creativity, while English stifles them. I do think they should allow even more freedom in science and math classes, though. They should allow more "fringe science" instead of worrying about losing a little bit of money or funding. And scientific funding should be setup to allow for more fringe science. You aren't going to discover something unless you try. I don't really care much where they score on tests. Math, science, and engineering majors are going to benefit society a lot more even , so it doesn't matter what they score on a test. I have nothing against history, philosophy or economics other than they are usually focused in the wrong areas and usually don't allow for much creativity or freedom. Majors like art, music, and English are absolutely pointless.

 

Actually, I did. 8 pages was the most I've written, and there were a few that were 3 pages. And there's another thing. Why do you have to write 20 page essays when you can say the same thing with a lot fewer pages?

 

Then, how on Earth did you get your Bachelor's and/or Masters?!

I mean your Bachelor's thesis and your Master's thesis?

Only the bibliography takes a page or three/four!

 

American degrees are rather like printed paper only. An American BA and BS are taken for high shool finals in Europe (Abitur). The American degree level achievement starts with the Masters degree, but most Americans can't/don't do that. Is the most educated country the one that prints the most certificates?

 

This is misleading. we are one of the few countries who have a population that can pay for secondary education. Also we live in a country were there are no blue collar jobs so you must get a education.

 

BTW -- SPT5 is an American living in Monaco to avoid taxes. So he must know the situation on the ground the best of all of us.

I got a so-called "Abitur", well the equivalent thereof.

The "Mittlere Reife" (you get after 10 years of schooling in Germany) is the equivalent of the American high school diploma (which you get after 12 years of schooling).

Just to show my previous point that indeed, a lot of things that Americans learn in the course of their tertiary education is rather basic in European secundary education. How on Earth do y'all think we speak three to four languages?

 

I know, but does it need to really be that long?

 

Academics suck...

A friend of mine, after graduating is now engaged to one of the professors. She also works for the University now. She says that they effectively read every Bachelors and Masters' thesis!

 

This rating is just based on the percent of the population with College education. It doesn't say how much or how high the quality of the education is in the article. I suspect that the USA is overrated here.

 

Absolutley, I can obtain an american university degree based on "life experience" by answering a few questions on the internet and mailing a check away for a few hundred dollars, as far as I am aware the US is then only country where this is legal however technically I would then be regarded as university educated.

 

I don't know where you went to school but there is no university where I've been where you could adequately cover the required subject matter in 8 pages. Not even in a freshmen intro English course. Some of the shorter assignments perhaps but 8 pages as the maximum?! No way.

 

#31 in Math!

 

A Master's thesis?! Yes, dude. How in the world would you do the intro, cover the pertinent background information, go over study design, materials, results, statistical analysis, caveats, conclusion, etc? Journal articles are longer than 8 pages! How in the world would an entire thesis be shorter than a journal article?! I suspect you've never done one.

 

a typical essay is 10-20 pages...a thesis? ya I suspect you're right

 

Those aren't real degrees you know. The actual smart people go to good ol brick and mortar universities. Most employers treat online degrees for what they are....mostly useless, about on par with a degree from your average unknown EU university=)

 

some online degrees are worthless, others are valid..

 

The ignorance on display in this thread has been astounding!! I am quick to defend the world from mouth breathing xenophobic right wingers at this forum, but it seems the international community is as stupid and closed minded as the American right at times. The US has the best post-secondary education system in the world. It isn't even close either. All these people from across the globe, have made bigoted statements based on an ignorance of reality. The US has an enormous number of flaws, but a poor post-secondary education system isn't one of them.


PS. The idea that an american BA is equivalent to a European high school degree is laughably stupid.

 

Ya, that isn't possible unless possibly you did a undergrad degree in math(even that is highly unlikely because you need to do Gen Eds). Or maybe if you did a joke subject at a joke university. However, otherwise the only 2-3 page papers I ever wrote were the weekly responses to that weeks readings(and even those were very often much longer than that).

 

Um, no he didn't. He has a degree from Yale, and an MBA from Harvard. After that he became president. I hate the guy, and think he was a truly terrible president, but I am entirely convinced he is about 100 times smarter than the average poster at this forum(that says a lot more about this forum than it does George Bush).


PS. He also became president. Now some presidents are smarter than others, but none are dumb as the mouth breathing right wing morons who make up this forum!!

 

I'm not sure who stated that a BA is the equivalent of an European high school degree. . .because that is untrue.

But what is true, is that an European high school degree can get you directly into the sophomore, and even sometime Junior, year in a US university!

In fact, even American students who successfully complete one year of high School in Europe can be accepted directly into the Sophomore year in US universities.

 

Ummmmmm, no. Students who complete high school in Europe can be accepted into American Universities, and even then they need to have done well at their school. You see, shockingly universities don't accept people who don't have high school degrees or the equivalent of it!! I know it is hard to believe, but it is true.

 

I have to agree with this post. From what I can tell a lot of the right wingers on this forum aren't very well educated. I mean it. I'm not just trying to take a cheap shot at them. They seem to be mostly laborers who never made it to college. The remark about eight page papers in an English class is absurd. Actually it started off as 5 page papers and when challenged migrated up to 8 page papers. Actually we were told about an 8 page master's thesis. I suspect the poster in question never went to college and certainly never wrote a thesis.

If you ever have the opportunity to go to a solid US university for a reasonable price my advice is GO. They are top notch.

By the way at any job I've had as an adult you would be laughed out the door if you showed up with any degree from any online university. Do not think for a minute people are rising through the ranks at Goldman Sachs with a degree from the University of Phoenix. No way.

 

In some cases perhaps. But the same can be said of US high school degrees if you take AP courses. It is entirely possible to test out of lower level courses. I would say that the vast majority of EU high school students though would not skip any years at Harvard or Yale. They may at the University of Phoenix. But I wouldn't brag about that accomplishment.

 

You are wrong!

first, in Europe, all high school degrees are NOT equivalent. It is NOT "one fits all!"

European students who have completed one of the top level secondary levle cerificate receive enou credits in many US universities to have basicly completed their basic course work for the freshman year.

The same is true foe US student having completed a full year of secondery level schooling in Europe. the classes tehy took during that year, if completed successfully, count toward their freshman years credits, and depending on the classes completed in Europe, it may account for enough credits to pass directlyinto the sophomore year.

You are also incorrect about American students having to complete their high school degree before being accepted at an university. My daughter was accepted as an advance placement student in a CA university when she was just a junior in high school. She continued to take about 2/3 of her classes in advanced placement in her high school, and she took about 1/3 of her case load at the university.

As a person who has attended both European high school and US universities, I know for a fact that you are wrong.

 

I also got accepted into University before I received my degree, as do most people. However, I didn't enroll until after I received it. This is all basic stuff.

PS. Why do people say objectively false, and entirely stupid things, and then say "I know for a fact." It is impossible to be enroll at a US university without a high school diploma or it's equivalent.