Making the Grades | Hacker News Reader

Making the Grades

buzzfeed.com

39 pointsdidntlogin12 comments

why single this school out from the rest of their peers? i.e. Phoenix.

the entire system has incentives completely mis-aligned at every level. it you look at how the subsystems of immigration, finance/loans, for-profit education, and corporate sponsorship interact, how could you expect anything other than the corrupt clusterfuck we see today?

Right or wrong, I think it might have to do with NPU being a non-profit. There've been plenty of articles on the scumminess of for-profit universities; far fewer on non-profits. Plus, the immigration angle is an item with high public interest today. I think the focus on NPU here (though perhaps warranted given the seriousness of these allegations) is also part of Buzzfeed's pattern of desire for high-profile stories.

Sounds like they built something users love.

"Those false credentials are all the students need to stay in the country. Many seek jobs in the tech industry, and their degrees allow them to remain working in the U.S. for years..."

This quote says more to me about the companies hiring them and about degrees from any university than it does about NPU.

If they aren't giving an education and people can still get jobs "for years" what exactly is the point of $200k education again?

>If they aren't giving an education and people can still get jobs "for years" what exactly is the point of $200k education again?

Its purpose is more symbolic than realistic. Symbols are easily faked. An example of this is how Frank Abagnale was able to fake having gone to medical, law, and flight school, among many other things.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

Yeah, but Abagnale never tried to fly an airplane.

Wikipedia says he was sometimes invited by the actual pilot to take the controls. Presumably that was just holding it steady. Apparently, he knew enough to switch it to autopilot.

He also didn't do a very good job as a doctor (supervising the residents doing the actual work). Wikipedia mentions that a baby nearly died because he didn't understand what the nurse was talking about.

You can spend $200k and master beer pong, or you can spend $200k and learn how to make analytical / computational models of real-world problems. A lot of people split the difference. Either way, you get the same degree, and employers seem unable to differentiate. The university system has already debased the currency, so forgery doesn't bite as keenly.

The only point is getting a work permit/a legal way to stay in the US.

Higher Education in America is largely chicanery like noble titles before the French Revolution: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11756804

Ethics aside, what a great way to leverage market demands/incentives.

This article rambles a bit and seems a little thin.

There's a lot on the accusation side to spin up uncertainty and doubt about the school, but I was expecting some hard hitting evidence behind the story outside of the line items on their 990.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com