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Comment by nimithryn | Hacker News Reader

Some of these points are correct. College does seem to be providing less value in the US, etc. Maybe some third-tier universities could be in trouble if there's a decline in college attendance.

But, "collapsing"? Universities are one of the most long-lived types of institutions known to humankind. Oxford was founded in 1096. I suspect they will be around quite a lot longer.

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"collapse" is trending in general, from unipolar world order (financial, cultural), to climate change, it's in a lot of people's mind. Maybe explains the use of the word here.

Oxford is in the UK, though.

US universities famously have different priorities, compared to their European counterparts.

I don't think he's suggesting universities will go away completely. A 10% or 30% or 90% in US university attendance/revenue/headcount over a period of a few years would objectively be a collapse no matter how well Oxford or MIT continues to thrive.

I mean, his ideas for replacing universities seem oriented at the elite institutions: https://twitter.com/sama/status/1505599701864701954

TBH I don't think it's clear what he's suggesting.

Until the 1970’s, college was something some people went to. By the 1980’s, it was something “everyone” did.

A return to the way it was from 1096-1969 would absolutely be properly labeled a collapse.

Just as capitalism fails to account for economic externalities, it also fails to account for education helping people make good choices for themselves and the country, including voting. There's often unaccounted value, in a democratic society, for people to be educated.

Also, just because someone is doing a menial work it does not mean that they should not have a access to higher education. Especially since there's not enough of higher valued jobs for everyone and to assure worker mobility.

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