The allegations in the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal outline a seemingly unlimited trove of dishonesty that wealthy parents have been using to get their children into top universities. Bribery, special accommodations under false pretenses, and even entirely made up athletic or classroom achievements, are some of the ways parents have tried to get…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Grant A. Mincy‘s “Education Beyond Capitalism” read by Thomas J. Webb and edited by Nick Ford. To the libertarian, however, education is an expression of individualism. If we imagine education without the state, we are left with self-directed learning, initiative, creativity, co-operative/mutual labor and robust competition between academic institutions. Education is re-imagined as a…

On Friday, January 9, US president Barack Obama traveled to Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee. Here, Obama announced plans to make an associate degree as obtainable as a high school diploma. Deemed “America’s College Promise,” the new plan, according to Obama, will bring community college tuition down to zero for students. The plan…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Grant Mincy‘s “IP is a Hurdle to Self-Direction” read and edited by Nick Ford. This is the curse of IP – excessive restrictions upheld by laws used to protect the “economic rights” of authors. Instead of promoting scientific progress we are instead beholden to copyright. Instead of allowing human innovation to flourish, we…

Perhaps the most rewarding experience of education is self-direction. Here, the individual fully enjoys his or her own labor. Whatever one’s interests are, self-direction is achieved on one’s own terms. Self-directed education promotes initiative, creativity, co-operative/mutual labor and healthy academic competition in one’s field to cultivate a learning network. This is the very basis of the…