[HN Gopher] A new trade and liberal arts school: "College of St....
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       A new trade and liberal arts school: "College of St. Joseph the
       Worker"
        
       Author : jseliger
       Score  : 113 points
       Date   : 2022-07-10 16:07 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.collegeofstjoseph.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.collegeofstjoseph.com)
        
       | Imnimo wrote:
       | Do you really need to pay $15k a year to learn HVAC from guys
       | with PhDs in Theology?
        
         | throwoutway wrote:
         | > Do you really need to pay $15k a year to learn HVAC from guys
         | with PhDs in Theology?
         | 
         | An incredibly ignorant and uneducated comment that's
         | unnecessarily dismissive.
         | 
         | It took two seconds to confirm on their website that your
         | comment is wrong. Not all their faculty is theology
        
           | morelisp wrote:
           | It is still significantly more expensive than existing
           | Salesian programs. There's definitely an ideological
           | component here they expect someone will pay for.
        
           | Imnimo wrote:
           | Yes, it's only half theology degrees - there's also a
           | philosophy and a history degree. The only ones actually
           | related to the trades are two guys with no listed degree. One
           | says "Math and Engineering", and other just says the single
           | word "carpentry".
           | 
           | Sounds like exactly the qualifications I'd want for an
           | expensive HVAC certification...
        
       | edent wrote:
        
         | UkrainianJew wrote:
         | Like it or not, the mainstream liberal arts education has
         | devolved into a religion of its own. For instance, we treat
         | climate change not as an engineering problem worth solving (how
         | many "climate studies" prepare actual engineers for building
         | nuclear power plants?), but as a source of irreparable guilt
         | used to push back on ambition and launch personal attacks on
         | people that do not agree with this viewpoint. This is textbook
         | original sin straight from the medieval times. There are many
         | other examples. Trying to call it out publicly very quickly
         | gets you labeled with one of the modern-days equivalents of a
         | heretic, and anyone trying to defend you will be considered a
         | heretic by association.
         | 
         | There are many, many people who are not happy with the status
         | quo, and they are looking for others who share their opinion.
         | And since the media and the social networks are actively
         | working on deciding who's opinion gets amplified, and who gets
         | memory-holed, the people disagreeing with the mainstream agenda
         | will have no choice but to join existing opposing organizations
         | and adopt some of their views, even if they don't fully agree
         | with them.
         | 
         | That's polarization of the society happening in front of our
         | eyes.
        
           | FredPret wrote:
           | I've been thinking of this and Nietzsche's Genealogy of
           | Morality in recent months.
           | 
           | He describes how Christian + Jewish morality came about, and
           | what might happen as religion fades away. I think you're
           | hitting the nail on the head. Same same but different.
        
           | watwut wrote:
           | There is no shortage of engineers for nuclear plants.
           | However, it is engineering, physics, programming or other
           | specialization. And it requires exactly that specialization.
           | 
           | Climate change is something else and there is zero reason for
           | itself to try to overtake actual quality engineering, physics
           | etc programs that existed for years.
        
           | crabmusket wrote:
           | > the people disagreeing with the mainstream agenda will have
           | no choice but to join existing opposing organizations and
           | adopt some of their views, even if they don't fully agree
           | with them
           | 
           | This confuses me a bit. For convenience, can we refer to the
           | "mainstream" climate-change-as-religion group as M, the
           | dissenters as D, and the opposition as O.
           | 
           | If we're taking the single issue of how climate change is
           | presented, why would D go and side with O despite not fully
           | agreeing with them, instead of M who they don't fully agree
           | with?
           | 
           | Concretely, it seems to me that O are likely to not
           | prioritise climate change in any way. Are D willing to give
           | up climate change action for other principles? Why should D
           | not join M and push for change, or be the faction that is
           | more welcoming of other "heretics"?
        
           | Teever wrote:
           | > For instance, we treat climate change not as an engineering
           | problem worth solving (how many "climate studies" prepare
           | actual engineers for building nuclear power plants?), but as
           | a source of irreparable guilt used to push back on ambition
           | and launch personal attacks on people that do not agree with
           | this viewpoint.
           | 
           | But climate change is largely a social problem at this stage,
           | not a technical problem. We can't even begin to solve the
           | technical issues surrounding it until we get stakeholders on
           | board with the plan to solve it. That isn't possible because
           | people deny that it exists and/or actively fund denial in
           | others.
        
         | howmayiannoyyou wrote:
         | The non-religious, progressive side has dominated college
         | campuses for about 15 years. It's okay to have alternatives,
         | and it's okay for both sides of the belief continuum to be
         | represented.
        
           | jen20 wrote:
           | You realize that religion and conservatism need not be
           | connected?
        
           | vehemenz wrote:
           | Presenting religious education as an alternative to
           | mainstream secular education ignores the fact that most of
           | the religious teachings are false. Teaching things that are
           | false is not education. If you want to call it education,
           | then it's poor education.
        
             | gjsman-1000 wrote:
             | I do not know how to describe this post as anything other
             | than anti-religious bigotry not tolerated on Hacker News.
        
           | adenozine wrote:
           | With Roe V Wade overturned recently, this seems a bit tone
           | deaf.
           | 
           | The beliefs are being much more than represented, they're
           | being mandated and legislated and protected unfairly.
           | 
           | Nobody has opposed the existence of churches or religious
           | institutions in any major political setting for a long time.
           | That's what representation means, that their right to exist
           | and operate is protected. It's not being attacked.
           | 
           | I'm a devout follower of Neaus Christ, but calling myself a
           | Christian in modern America makes me absolutely sick to my
           | stomach these days. I'm nearly ashamed of what that means for
           | this country.
        
             | seneca wrote:
             | > With Roe V Wade overturned recently, this seems a bit
             | tone deaf. The beliefs are being much more than
             | represented, they're being mandated and legislated and
             | protected unfairly.
             | 
             | This is actually the opposite of reality. Roe was the
             | mandate of one belief over the entire country, legislated
             | from the bench no less. Overturning it is a return to
             | federalism, and allows each state to decide which beliefs
             | it wants to uphold.
        
               | whatshisface wrote:
               | We probably shouldn't turn this into a Roe v Wade thread,
               | but perhaps they were talking about the state legislation
               | _released_ by the court, which is applied equally to the
               | people who want or don 't want it and is not a result of
               | a popular vote.
        
               | seneca wrote:
               | > We probably shouldn't turn this into a Roe v Wade
               | thread
               | 
               | Yes, you're probably right. It's not likely to be
               | productive.
               | 
               | > ... but perhaps they were talking about the state
               | legislation released by the court, which is applied
               | equally to the people who want or don't want it and is
               | not a result of a popular vote.
               | 
               | Perhaps, but it doesn't read that way. Even if it were,
               | that would just be lamenting representative democracy.
               | Maybe a better point than the one that actually seems to
               | have been made, but also probably not a particularly
               | productive conversation.
        
               | whatshisface wrote:
               | Even a direct democracy can violate the rights of 49% of
               | its voters. That's why we have a concept of inalienable
               | rights and a semi-aristocratic branch of government that
               | is supposed to be a check on violations of them.
        
               | adenozine wrote:
               | Well shit, why stop there then? Let's peel back the FDA
               | and let the state decide what food is safe. Let's peel
               | back the DMV and just let states decide who is fit to
               | drive and let each state run their own database. While
               | we're at it, let's go ahead and lose the IRS and let
               | states collect our taxes up.
               | 
               | Federalism just works! (tm)
        
               | thaumasiotes wrote:
               | > Let's peel back the DMV and just let states decide who
               | is fit to drive and let each state run their own
               | database.
               | 
               | That is what we do.
        
               | reaperducer wrote:
               | _Let's peel back the FDA and let the state decide what
               | food is safe_
               | 
               | For many foods, we still do. It's why you sometimes see
               | "Registered with the Pennsylvania Department of
               | Agriculture" printed on packages. (Usually abbreviated to
               | something like "Reg. Penna. Dept. Agr.")
               | 
               | Sometimes particular states set standards that all the
               | other states, or an entire industry, follows.
               | 
               | When they (used to?) give away cars on TV game shows, the
               | announcer always lists "California emissions" in the
               | description of the car.
        
               | dvt wrote:
               | What a weird post. This is _lirerally_ how the US
               | government works.
        
               | User23 wrote:
               | Serious question: are you joking or is this sarcasm?
               | 
               | The states can and do regulate food safety. The states,
               | not the federal government, govern motor vehicle
               | licensing. And finally the states do collect taxes. In
               | fact the constitution even permits the federal government
               | to levy an apportioned tax on the states and leave it up
               | to them on how to come up with the money.
        
               | dvt wrote:
               | Small correction: this would be a return to anti-
               | federalism (statism).
        
               | seneca wrote:
               | Ironically, the way the phrase is applied depends on the
               | time period. Historically, federalism meant what you're
               | saying. That is to say Jay and Hamilton were Federalists,
               | and advocated a strong federal government.
               | 
               | In modern parlance Federalism generally means the
               | opposite: being strongly in favor of states rights.
               | You'll also see this called "new federalism". The
               | explanation for this is that Federalism is about balance
               | of power, and the phrase is generally used to indicate
               | policy that would return a stronger balance. Currently
               | (since the Civil War in particular) the federal
               | government is extremely strong, whereas historically, in
               | the time of the Federalist Papers, it was extremely weak.
        
             | reaperducer wrote:
             | _devout follower ... but calling myself a Christian in
             | modern America makes me absolutely sick_
             | 
             | You seem to be working with a definition of "devout" that
             | I'm unfamiliar with.
        
               | adenozine wrote:
               | This is embarrassing to post. Just say you have trouble
               | relating to people, it'd come across better.
               | 
               | Devout is about dedication, not visibility. My journey
               | has nothing to do with how I portray myself and behave in
               | social settings. Very few of my coworkers even know I
               | attend church and do mission work. I don't have to wave a
               | flag out of my ass to worship the Living God, unlike the
               | majority of phony half-believers keeping pews warm Sunday
               | mornings. They leave church filled with impatience and
               | anger, and treat those less fortunate as a filth and a
               | burden despite being commanded by God to serve THEM!
               | 
               | All that said, I'm not at all shocked you don't
               | understand. Good luck.
        
               | reaperducer wrote:
               | Wow, that was... an overreaction.
               | 
               | Nobody stated that you have to "wave a flag out of [your]
               | ass." I merely pointed out that "devout" has a particular
               | meaning that seems to be in conflict with the notion of
               | being "sick" to admit that you're Christian.
               | 
               | In my (Roman Catholic) theology classes, and many decades
               | of religious study, I was always taught that part of
               | being Christian is to not be afraid of what other people
               | think of you being a Christian. That accepting
               | persecution for your faith is a very basic act of faith.
               | 
               | I merely suggest you use a word other than "devout" to
               | describe your relationship with your faith. "Adherent"
               | might work. But as there are many different types of
               | Christianity, perhaps your line requires less devotion,
               | or a different type of devotion than mine.
               | 
               | I'm not sure what a "journey" is, but I wish you well
               | with your life and your interest in improving your
               | relationship with God.
        
               | watwut wrote:
               | He is ashamed to be associated with other Christians,
               | because he finds their actions shameful.
               | 
               | He is not ashamed ofnthe God part. He is ashamed of
               | Kavanaugh.
        
               | [deleted]
        
           | lettergram wrote:
           | 15 years? It's been dominating college campuses since the 60s
           | at least; probably goes back as far as the 20s.
           | 
           | Recall, most of the eugenics movement was started in the US
           | in the 1910s - 1920s
           | 
           | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_State.
           | ..
           | 
           | It was wide spread and taught in colleges in the 20s
           | 
           | https://fee.org/articles/the-progressive-ideas-that-
           | fueled-a...
           | 
           | Arguably since 1900, there's been a steady decline in
           | religion in the United States (slower than elsewhere). It
           | marched through the institutions and now even religious
           | universities are supporting outright sins stated in the Bible
           | (see the split in the Methodist church)
        
             | WaxProlix wrote:
             | Are you trying to draw a dotted line between
             | areligiosity/agnosticism and... eugenics?
        
               | lettergram wrote:
               | Eugenics are inherently opposite to the teachings of
               | Christianity. Christianity being the dominate religion in
               | the US it's easy to argue that progressivism has been in
               | universities / dominate in universities since the early
               | 1900s which was my point.
        
               | WaxProlix wrote:
               | Your first sentence requires a lot of citations (I think
               | that a lot of eugenicists of the past and present have
               | been enamored of 'Tradition' and race, and Christianity
               | is tightly bound to those in modern times), and the
               | second doesn't parse well for me.
        
               | elcritch wrote:
               | It's quite a bit more complicated than it'd seem. The
               | Scopes trial for example is widely misconstrued (IMHO) as
               | science vs religious ignorance and is a good exemplar. It
               | really had more to do with eugenics which went hand in
               | hand with evolution at the time. The science book in
               | question was full of racist and eugenics pseudoscience.
               | 
               | There's a few of the accounts of the Scopes trial from a
               | more wholistic understanding:
               | 
               | A more academic one:
               | 
               | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0950543080206
               | 288...
               | 
               | > Using Bryan's unread closing remarks as a key to his
               | views, this revisionist historical work argues that Bryan
               | opposed evolution primarily for political and ethical
               | reasons--reasons that have been lost to historical
               | memory. Bryan's overarching concern was the threat to
               | society posed by extrapolations of evolutionary doctrine
               | --namely, Social Darwinism and eugenics. His commitment
               | to the Social Gospel put him at odds with the concept of
               | natural selection being applied to humans.
               | 
               | A more biased one but which highlights the emotional
               | aspects better:
               | 
               | https://unherd.com/2019/11/americas-great-victory-for-
               | scienc...
               | 
               | > The relevant statute, known as the Butler Act, was not
               | a fusty old one. In fact the Governor had signed it into
               | law only two months previously. The Tennessee House of
               | Representatives had passed the bill by 71 votes to 5; the
               | state Senate endorsed it 24 votes to 6. ...
               | 
               | > At this time almost everyone who considered themselves
               | 'progressive', including everyone who considered
               | themselves a 'Darwinist', strongly supported the-then
               | rampant eugenics movement. In rural Tennessee, folks may
               | not have had a sophisticated grasp of Darwin's theory of
               | evolution, nor of his cousin, Francis Galton's related,
               | but pseudo-scientific theory of eugenics; but they knew
               | the progressives who preached Darwinism in the cities
               | despised country people, called them "imbeciles" and
               | "defectives" and would sterilise them if they got half a
               | chance.
               | 
               | > More than 60,000 Americans were forcibly sterilised
               | under eugenics laws passed by 33 states. It wasn't just
               | low IQ that established someone as likely to have a
               | dysgenic effect: a history of heavy drinking, or
               | conceiving a child out of wedlock, were enough to mark
               | someone down as a "moral imbecile".
        
               | hindsightbias wrote:
               | I'll need a cite for Christians against anti-
               | miscegenation laws.
               | 
               | Unless you think progressives controlled all the votes in
               | these 30 states: https://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/tree
               | /535d39a37095aa00000...
               | 
               | Christians were all over it, with all their own
               | rationalizations.
        
               | Thorrez wrote:
               | >I'll need a cite for Christians against anti-
               | miscegenation laws.
               | 
               | >In 1967, two Catholic social services agencies and
               | eleven bishops in the states that still had laws
               | prohibiting interracial marriage used a "friend-of-the-
               | court" brief in Loving v. Virginia to urge the United
               | States Supreme Court to strike down the laws in Georgia,
               | Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina,
               | Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and
               | West Virginia.
               | 
               | https://ccgaction.org/node/1011
        
           | watwut wrote:
           | You are aware that Christian colleges existed for years? They
           | have pretty large tradition.
           | 
           | However, many of them are unpopular outside that demographic,
           | because they enforce quite serious restrictions on students.
           | You can be kicked out for having sex, drinking, for cloth you
           | wear and quite a few other infractions that don't exists
           | elsewhere. Teacher can't be divorced or omg single parent
           | either.
           | 
           | As bonus, all discussions about free speech of students in
           | what you call progressive school are quite funny, if you
           | compare it to large speech restrictions students in Christian
           | school have to follow.
        
         | throwaway0x7E6 wrote:
         | the sheer amount of liberty we have enables us to choose an
         | education establishment that fits our preferences.
         | 
         | nobody forces you to pick this particular establishment, nor is
         | it the only one you can choose. in fact, it costs money to
         | attend, and they won't care if you choose not to.
        
         | Topolomancer wrote:
         | The Catholic Church, despite any other misgivings one might
         | have, has always been open about the "mission" aspect of their
         | establishments. I would not call this indoctrination: they
         | offer to teach you a trade and earn a BA in Catholic theology;
         | knowing that education in the US often puts you in dire straits
         | financially speaking, this place could make a difference for
         | many people.
        
       | 8bitsrule wrote:
       | > devoted most of the years of his life on earth to manual work
       | 
       | Not sure sure about those missing 12 years, tho.;-|
        
         | Thorrez wrote:
         | >Christian tradition suggests that Jesus simply lived in
         | Galilee during that period
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unknown_years_of_Jesus#New_Tes...
         | 
         | That period is what they're referring to by "most of the years
         | of his life".
        
       | protomyth wrote:
       | In a weird way it reminds me of many of the TCUs (tribal colleges
       | & universities) where trades / vocational degrees are taught
       | along side "normal" college classes. Its actually a pretty good
       | idea and if properly done can result in some really nice
       | interaction.
       | 
       | I really wish that someone will mix a vocational robotics
       | certificate with an actual robotic engineering degree. I just
       | want to see the interaction. I dearly wish the result of the
       | technicians having to build something designed by the engineering
       | degree.
        
       | Animats wrote:
       | This is the Catholic Church returning to its roots - ensuring the
       | aristocracy a supply of diligent, compliant workers.
        
       | seibelj wrote:
       | I think you could make a pretty inexpensive Computer Science non-
       | profit that is unaccredited but issued its own degree. No one
       | cares about accreditation anyway. It would take a wealthy person
       | to put their name on it, and be a struggle to get the first
       | cohort off the ground, but once you get solid lecturers and a
       | good reputation it would be self-fulfilling. You only need cheap
       | laptops and a single room for the whole cohort. Otherwise it's
       | knowledge transfer. If you paid the lecturers above-average
       | salary and outsourced everything else, you could probably do it
       | for under $5 million a year, which for a rich tech person is
       | peanuts.
        
         | ModernMech wrote:
         | Our CS department just spent an entire year on our
         | reaccreditation. It's a huge pain in the ass and takes a ton of
         | effort. But it's one of the main thing parents ask about.
         | People definitely care.
        
           | chrisseaton wrote:
           | Parents ask... do employers? I would guess not.
        
             | Nasrudith wrote:
             | Yes and no. Unaccredited are a red flag but proven
             | abilities shows it was legitimate enough. Still makes it
             | harder to get through the door with an unaccredited degree.
             | Which is reason to care.
        
               | chrisseaton wrote:
               | > Still makes it harder to get through the door with an
               | unaccredited degree.
               | 
               | But who is checking? I've never asked myself if someone's
               | degree is accredited. I wouldn't even know how to check
               | if I cared.
        
             | watwut wrote:
             | Parents are the ones who pay.
        
         | chaosharmonic wrote:
         | An accredited CS degree program is actually one of
         | FreeCodeCamp's long-term goals.[0]
         | 
         | [0] https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/free-accredited-
         | bachelors-...
        
         | ThrowawayR2 wrote:
         | > " _No one cares about accreditation anyway._ "
         | 
         | " _... U.S. jurisdictions where the use of higher education
         | credentials from diploma mills and unaccredited schools is
         | explicitly illegal or legally restricted include Illinois,
         | Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North
         | Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
         | Many other states are also considering restrictions on
         | unaccredited degree use in order to help prevent fraud. ..._ "
         | --
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma_mills_in_the_United_St...
        
           | bencollier49 wrote:
           | This sounds like moat-building. But what does "the use of
           | higher education credentials from diploma mills and
           | unaccredited schools" actually amount to? Listing them on a
           | CV?
        
             | ThrowawayR2 wrote:
             | You know, you could've just Googled a bit to find the
             | relevant laws. For example, for Washington state:
             | https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.60.070
             | 
             | " _... (2) A person is guilty of knowingly using a false
             | academic credential if the person knowingly uses a false
             | academic credential or falsely claims to have a credential
             | issued by an institution of higher education that is
             | accredited by an accrediting association recognized as such
             | by rule of the student achievement council:
             | 
             | (a) In a written or oral advertisement or other promotion
             | of a business; or
             | 
             | (b) With the intent to:
             | 
             | (i) Obtain employment;
             | 
             | (ii) Obtain a license or certificate to practice a trade,
             | profession, or occupation;
             | 
             | (iii) Obtain a promotion, compensation or other benefit, or
             | an increase in compensation or other benefit, in employment
             | or in the practice of a trade, profession, or occupation;
             | 
             | (iv) Obtain admission to an educational program in this
             | state; or
             | 
             | (v) Gain a position in government with authority over
             | another person, regardless of whether the person receives
             | compensation for the position.
             | 
             | ...
             | 
             | (4) Issuing a false academic credential is a class C
             | felony.
             | 
             | (5) Knowingly using a false academic credential is a gross
             | misdemeanor._"
             | 
             | Seems doubtful that it gets prosecuted much though.
        
             | woodruffw wrote:
             | It can amount to financial fraud (or at least
             | incompetence), shoddy engineering, adverse and inefficient
             | selection for graduate and post-graduate studies, and so
             | forth.
        
         | nibbleshifter wrote:
         | > No one cares about accreditation anyway.
         | 
         | Outside of HN and the SV bubble, accreditation _really_
         | matters.
        
           | 8bitsrule wrote:
           | Back when I was a manual laborer, if you could pick up a
           | hammer and hit the nail every time - or mixup a good batch of
           | mud - or drive a skidder of logs to the landing - that _was_
           | the interview _and_ accreditation.
           | 
           | College enabled me to talk fancier during that time.
        
             | watwut wrote:
             | You don't need trade school for hitting nail with hammer
             | nor for digging holes. You don't need previous experience
             | either.
             | 
             | For those kind of jobs this is complete waste of money.
        
           | tolleydbg wrote:
           | Not in trades. These students will graduate with years of
           | experience, taking the website explanation at face value.
           | There isn't something akin to ABET, or even FE/PE exams for
           | these skills, but if they can count their work experience
           | while in school here, they can become licensed tradesmen in
           | states with work and apprenticeship requirements.
        
           | SV_BubbleTime wrote:
           | I'm hiring for a Flutter and BLE job right now. Couldn't
           | possibly care less about accreditation and far from an HN-
           | typical.
           | 
           | We're out there. Really doesn't matter on the specific job,
           | all I care is, can you do it, and will you be a distraction?
        
         | wildrhythms wrote:
         | Oh you got your degree from Omnicorp College? Sorry, at
         | Megacorp we only accept degrees from Megacorp University (a
         | subsidiary of the Walt Disney-Unilever School). No one cares
         | about accreditation.
        
           | whatshisface wrote:
           | How does writing a one-sentence cyberpunk story say anything
           | about who cares about accreditation?
        
           | pram wrote:
           | Costco degrees have pretty broad acceptance though.
        
             | _-david-_ wrote:
             | What is a Costco degree?
        
         | rchaud wrote:
         | > It would take a wealthy person to put their name on it, and
         | be a struggle to get the first cohort off the ground, but once
         | you get solid lecturers and a good reputation it would be self-
         | fulfilling.
         | 
         | Any real world examples of this? Besides the Thiel fund of
         | course, which is a ideological vanity project.
        
           | seibelj wrote:
           | There is a new university called UATX that is trying
           | https://www.uaustin.org/
           | 
           | But they seem to be going down the route of trying to get
           | accredited. IMO no one cares about any of that except other
           | academics, businesses only care about talent and
           | intelligence.
        
             | jen20 wrote:
             | Immigration agencies tend to care.
        
             | whatshisface wrote:
             | Accreditation is meant to protect students (in the new
             | model, customers) from scams. Would you, personally, go to
             | a college that wasn't accredited?
        
               | seibelj wrote:
               | Yes - if a graduate can demonstrate they received a good
               | education, then the reputation of the school will grow.
               | Many rules for accreditation (like libraries with a
               | certain number of books) make zero sense in 2022.
        
               | whatshisface wrote:
               | Would you, as a student, rather grow the reputation of
               | your non-accredited institution by demonstrating over
               | time that you don't match the prevailing prejudices
               | against it, or would you rather go to an accredited
               | institution that people can see with a little research,
               | is not a diploma mill?
        
               | mathgladiator wrote:
               | > Would you, personally, go to a college that wasn't
               | accredited?
               | 
               | If there was solid evidence of a pipeline towards big
               | tech, then maybe? I went to K-State which is accredited
               | and yet no big tech recruits from there. The only way I
               | got into the big tech game was starting a company in the
               | mid-west and having CTO on my resume.
        
               | whatshisface wrote:
               | I've never seen solid evidence, that the public would be
               | able to see, of a pipeline to big tech except at
               | Stanford, and maybe Harvard, because that's what people
               | talk about and put in movies. I am not saying there isn't
               | a "pipeline" anywhere else, just that the pipeline has to
               | be very big and obvious before a highschooler or a
               | midwestern parent of a highschooler would know about it.
               | 
               | If it was really true that nothing mattered except for
               | quality, there'd hardly be a need for universities at
               | all, because students could buy books and self-teach or
               | hire tutors. Nonetheless, that is almost never done,
               | because outward signs like accreditation matter a lot.
        
               | User23 wrote:
               | The University of Waterloo's co-op program is a major
               | pipeline into big tech. I've worked with Waterloo interns
               | and graduates many times and they've all been well above
               | average.
        
               | scythe wrote:
               | But you've picked one of the most prominent schools in
               | Canada as an example. A good example would be somewhere
               | that isn't already extremely prestigious.
        
               | watwut wrote:
               | The other reason is that the learn from books alone
               | simply does not work in practice. First, it is super hard
               | to keep motivation without that external structure. And
               | second, choosing books to learn from and choosing
               | curriculum itself requires a lot of know how.
        
             | howmayiannoyyou wrote:
             | Graduate only, for now.
        
           | RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote:
           | Vanderbilt, Yale, Stanford, Duke, Carnegie Mellon.
           | 
           | Rich people have been putting their names on institutions of
           | higher learning for some time.
        
             | daniel-cussen wrote:
             | Stanford had to do all kinds of shit to make its way up the
             | rankings, the Termans in particular, just pulling all the
             | stops on the way to number 1. It got $80,000 in WW2 when in
             | contrast Caltech got $120,000,000. As Steve Blank put it,
             | DoD (then Department of War) had no respect for Stanford
             | engineering. They just plucked Terman put him in charge at
             | Harvard. Harvard Radio Lab. It used to be bombers didn't
             | get through, Terman changed that, after WW2, "the bomber
             | will always get through." Then he plucked 8 guys from the
             | Harvard Radio Lab, made them Stanford professors, and
             | that's when Stanford started getting...a little bit of
             | respect. It helped his best students became strong
             | entrepreneurs like he wanted them to be, AND were generous
             | --David Packard becoming Stanford's greatest benefactor in
             | fact, in particular donating directly to the Stanford
             | Endowment so the University could do whatever it thought
             | was best--and having a long-lasting string of successes.
             | This longevity was based on Stanford engineering graduates.
             | 
             | There's other colleges named after whomever, anybody, and
             | they don't go anywhere. There's a lot of cooperation
             | required, a lot of people refusing to let each and every
             | other one of them down.
        
         | jollybean wrote:
         | Accreditation is not necessary, but it matters. Also the
         | reputation of the college, particularly in professional fields.
         | 
         | For trade school, it probably does not matter at all.
        
       | ThrowawayTestr wrote:
       | I was hoping the religion part would be more of a background
       | thing and not a core tenant of the program. No option to skip the
       | BA in Catholic Studies.
        
         | riffic wrote:
         | tenet
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | smkellat wrote:
       | I'm very curious how they're getting around section 1713.02 of
       | the Ohio Revised Code as seen at https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-
       | revised-code/section-1713.02
       | 
       | They're not on the Ohio Department of Higher Education's
       | authorized list. They make no mention on their website of even
       | seeking authorization. They're not clearly identifying themselves
       | as a "Bible College" to take advantage of that loophole.
        
       | slater wrote:
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | the_only_law wrote:
       | $15000 a year including room isn't bad, but I can still get
       | similar education much cheaper at a nearby CC.
        
         | dragonwriter wrote:
         | No, you cannot get the politico-religious indoctrination that
         | is the overt mission of the "Catholoc Studies" education this
         | school offers at your local CC; give the current Supreme Court
         | a few more terms and if you live in a predominantly Catholic
         | state, that may change, but historically the Establishment
         | Clause jurisprudence would prevent it.
        
           | jollybean wrote:
           | Since almost all of the early, 'good' Universities including
           | the entire Ivy League (and of course the much older European
           | schools) literally started as 'Seminaries' to train the
           | Priesthood, and expanded from there, and the very notion of
           | 'University' education in the US and around the world is
           | based on this framework of higher learning, with integrated
           | spiritual aspects, I think the material reality of the
           | situation is a bit more nuanced.
           | 
           | Yes, there are issues of Separation of Church and State, yes,
           | the current SCOTUS is a scary in terms of their willingness
           | to bend the constitution ...
           | 
           | ... but it's also given that our colleges are by some
           | measures a grift, that communitarian values may not be
           | directly taught as many would like, that far-left ideologues
           | dominate the social and political language, and that many
           | people would like their colleges to at least have some kind
           | of Religious Affiliation though maybe not outright 'Religious
           | School'.
           | 
           | This school seems to be really heavy on the 'Catholicism',
           | but I can see something like it where there aren't any
           | 'religious studies' directly, but rather with some
           | affiliation, as resonating quite a lot with people.
        
             | thebradbain wrote:
             | > Many people would like their colleges to at least have
             | some kind of Religious Affiliation though maybe not
             | outright 'Religious School'.
             | 
             | Public universities still have chaplains of various
             | faiths/creeds. There's no problem with that (for now).
             | There is also no issue with student-run clubs affiliated
             | with a given religion, and they're likely still eligible to
             | receive the same type of funding any other club is. The
             | issue is if there is _only_ one faith/creed
             | represented/forced at a public school (and even then, some
             | public university sports teams historically get away with
             | only having a chaplain of one faith [1]).
             | 
             | [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-
             | lead/wp/2015/08/21...
        
         | wildrhythms wrote:
         | There's also the fact that a CC is accredited, so not only do
         | you get a degree, but you also get credits that can be
         | transferred to another college.
        
           | tolleydbg wrote:
           | I don't think the student who who attend a trade school like
           | this would care in the slightest that it isn't accredited.
           | Taking them at their word that they teach five trades, offer
           | employment at a local construction company, and set students
           | up with an apprenticeship, these students could care less
           | about accreditation or a degree. They'll finish with several
           | years of experience in a trade.
        
             | jxf wrote:
             | > I don't think the student who who attend a trade school
             | like this would care in the slightest that it isn't
             | accredited.
             | 
             | They will if they want to claim tax credits, take out a
             | loan to pay for the education, gain discounts on insurance,
             | continue their education later, and so on.
        
           | UIUC_06 wrote:
           | > There's also the fact that a CC is accredited
           | 
           | One wonders if the accreditation agencies are neutral, or if
           | they're going to say "well, you're not a _real_ school, so we
           | 're not going to accredit you."
        
             | Nasrudith wrote:
             | I saw a university accrediting its new engineering
             | department during a tour. It is a bunch of bueracracy and
             | standards as opposed to something adhoc and fiefdom style.
             | In that case the first few waves of graduates were
             | conditionally accredited as graduates were required to
             | accredit. Standards here seemed to be aligned in interests
             | - they want to preserve reputations more than gatekeep.
             | Given the sheer university volume gatekeeping is a dubious
             | approach anyway.
        
             | d4mi3n wrote:
             | Can't speak for the east coast, but the west coast
             | accreditation organization (I forget the name) has a fairly
             | clear set of standards for accreditation that boil down to:
             | 
             | 1. Facilities required for accreditation (library, labs,
             | offices, etc)
             | 
             | 2. Degree programs and learning objectives (e.g. Bachelors
             | of Computer Science and a list of competencies said degree
             | asserts)
             | 
             | 3. Processes and procedures, particularly around course
             | management and curriculum. A big part of this is mapping
             | out your listed degree requirements to classes that either
             | provide those competencies or provide building blocks
             | required for those competencies. E.g. Calc -> Lambda Calc
             | -> Category Theory to provide a lot of fundamental math
             | skills for a proposed CS curriculum.
             | 
             | EDIT: found them--the Western Association of Schools and
             | Colleges is the organization that performs accreditations
             | of colleges in California: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/
             | Western_Association_of_Schoo...
        
           | reaperducer wrote:
           | _There 's also the fact that a CC is accredited_
           | 
           | Doesn't the school have to open first, and then get
           | accredited later? Or is it possible to be accredited from day
           | one?
        
             | ModernMech wrote:
             | True it takes time, as student outcomes and testimonials
             | are part of the accreditation process. But that doesn't
             | change the calculus for new students. It's kind of a
             | catch-22, but necessarily so.
        
               | SV_BubbleTime wrote:
               | I would suspect the cost would go up if accredited. So,
               | maybe an early adopter discount in some cases if not this
               | one.
        
       | karmicthreat wrote:
       | These new "freedom" or other themed universities set my griftdar
       | off every time. Like the University of Austin does. I'm not very
       | fond of the grifty nature of established post-secondary education
       | either. But you at least get something of some value at the end.
        
         | jimbokun wrote:
         | And the fortunes charged by long standing universities for
         | degrees with little value in the marketplace, don't?
        
         | jollybean wrote:
         | They are literally directed at reducing crippling debt of
         | students.
         | 
         | If they grift harder than Northwestern, and leave students in
         | 2x more debt than a decent school, well, then I guess it's
         | maybe a grift.
         | 
         | I would take their statements at face value.
         | 
         | I suggest they are absolutely trying to do what they state they
         | are trying to do.
         | 
         | That said ... it's obviously a bit of a risk.
        
         | rayiner wrote:
         | > But you at least get something of some value at the end
         | 
         | Aside from a few elite universities, do you? What's a Bachelors
         | of Arts from Directional State worth?
        
           | karmicthreat wrote:
           | Probably get you through more doors than someone without one
           | if you both have zero experience. It can lessen the hurdle of
           | getting that first experience also if you take advantage of
           | internship your university can arrange.
        
             | elcritch wrote:
             | This one seems like a genuine attempt to train for valuable
             | trades while providing some of the college trappings. It's
             | also significantly cheaper than most grifty schools like
             | ITT Tech or Devry. Though I couldn't find anywhere saying
             | they're a non-profit.
             | 
             | If they do a decent liberal arts portion of the Catholic
             | studies the students would gain a good grasp on reading,
             | writing, and history with some philosophy too.
             | 
             | Their mission page actually has some interesting parts
             | about their view of the dignity of manual trades and labor:
             | https://www.collegeofstjoseph.com/mission-and-vision
             | 
             | To be honest many employers will also see "BA" and
             | "college" and not look further since they don't actually
             | care; it's just a filtering mechanism.
        
         | melony wrote:
         | Isn't UT Austin an established state school? They have a lot of
         | alumni in the valley.
        
           | karmicthreat wrote:
           | UT Austin is a completely established school. I'm talking
           | about the deceptively named University of Austin which is the
           | Musk, Rogan, Fridman affiliated school opening maybe soon. I
           | don't know if those 3 are actually affiliated with it, but
           | their names come up with it.
        
             | pyuser583 wrote:
             | Isn't "University of Dallas" also deceptively named?
        
               | jxramos wrote:
               | I think this may be an unfamiliar pattern for towns that
               | haven't yet crowded their name into university titles but
               | it's a well established pattern when enough institutions
               | land on the ground.
               | 
               | Eg
               | 
               | University of San Francisco (USF) San Francisco State
               | University (SFSU) University of California San Francisco
               | (UCSF)
               | 
               | Same exact pattern in San Diego too. Probably going to
               | see this pattern permutations across several towns in the
               | future. I think Seattle and towns in Florida May have a
               | similar pattern too. Kind of makes a schools named after
               | individuals a bit more distinctive come to think about
               | it.
        
           | webel0 wrote:
           | Parent is referring to a non-UT, liberal arts school [1].
           | 
           | [1] https://www.uaustin.org/
        
       | rossdavidh wrote:
       | Less significant in and of itself, is the fact that this is not
       | the first new college I've heard of being founded in the last few
       | years, at a time when overall undergrad college enrollment is in
       | decline, and a few colleges have recently either closed or merged
       | with other institutions to make one college smaller than the two
       | were when separate.
       | 
       | This would seem to be contradictory, if it is interpreted as a
       | result of less demand for post-secondary education. It makes more
       | sense, if it is the result of a dissatisfaction with current US
       | post-secondary institutions.
        
         | indymike wrote:
         | > It makes more sense, if it is the result of a dissatisfaction
         | with current US post-secondary institutions.
         | 
         | This is exactly what is going on. Boot camps, income share
         | models, and a lot of newer colleges are simply attempts to
         | disrupt the post-secondary industry. In this case, they have a
         | really interesting table on the Tuition and fees page showing
         | how students come out $171,000 ahead with their apprenticeship
         | program (and it is quite conservative).
        
         | mikeryan wrote:
         | Dunno this seems like a bit of a strange one and I'm sure
         | others have popped up. This is a faith based, trade school
         | where everyone graduates with a "Catholic Studies Degree"
         | 
         | It's barely a college, its not accredited AFAICT and seems more
         | like a trade school - outside of the "Catholic Studies Degree"
         | which maybe counts for a "real" BA?
        
           | philsnow wrote:
           | To my knowledge, accreditation takes a few years and requires
           | demonstrating adherence to the accreditation standards over a
           | similar period of years.
           | 
           | I don't know if, for a new school, accreditation groups
           | retroactively "credit" any degrees that the school has
           | granted since opening.
        
             | dragonwriter wrote:
             | Non-accredited schools that are seeking accreditation
             | always highlight this fact and what it means for students
             | who start before accreditation is award. This school does
             | not, so it almost certainly is not seeking accreditation,
             | and since it's degree program is pretty overtly not a
             | traditional academic degree program (not even in theology),
             | but a religio-political indoctrination program designed to
             | create warriors for a particular political viewpoint on
             | behalf of a theocratic faction within Catholicism, I doubt
             | it would have much chance at accreditation if it sought it.
        
       | robg wrote:
       | For $15k a year, couldn't someone just apprentice in a trade and
       | get paid?
        
       | philsnow wrote:
       | My understanding of this new college is that it's aimed at
       | solving the perceived problem of four-year Catholic liberal arts
       | schools, namely that they graduate a lot of young adults with the
       | same (or roughly the same) degrees, but without an obvious career
       | path laid out for them.
       | 
       | So, to begin with, high school graduates who go to these schools
       | were predisposed to go to a Catholic liberal arts college. If the
       | College in the article is successful in its mission, these folks
       | will graduate with the degree they wanted, in the
       | surroundings/environment they wanted, but also with solid career
       | possibilities.
       | 
       | People have been swearing up and down for over a decade that the
       | US graduates far more people with bachelors degrees than we
       | "need", and that more parents[0] should be encouraging their kids
       | to learn a trade. This new college is a response to that.
       | 
       | [0] it's seldom "us"; the problem seems to be isolated, in many
       | peoples' minds, to other peoples' kids, and they don't want their
       | own kids to be the ones who learn a trade.
        
         | sircastor wrote:
         | My mom frequently encouraged me to learn a trade on top of my
         | chosen (at the time) field (Special Effects). She always
         | pointed out that people would need their cars fixed and would
         | need their electrical wired.
        
           | jseliger wrote:
           | _people would need their cars fixed_
           | 
           | This may turn out to be false: electric cars require almost
           | no maintenance.
        
             | distortedsignal wrote:
             | You'll still need alignments. You'll still need the
             | steering adjusted. ABS modules can fail, those need to be
             | replaced.
             | 
             | Just because we're getting rid of two large issue
             | generators in the engine/transmission system, doesn't mean
             | the new machines are bulletproof.
             | 
             | People are going to need their cars fixed.
        
               | DiabloD3 wrote:
               | I'd also like to mention that half of the parts in any
               | given Tesla are off the shelf parts shared with other car
               | brands. Just normal boring things you'd never think of...
               | but ones that also require NHTSA approval, thus, a small
               | number of Chinese companies have a monopoly on those
               | otherwise boring parts. This came up when the pandemic
               | started, and Tesla had to halt production lines waiting
               | for the cargo ship to arrive from overseas because Tesla
               | doesn't make that part.
               | 
               | We have like 3 actually good mechanics locally... most of
               | what they do is related to alignment, suspensions, and
               | consumables that owners don't feel comfortable doing
               | themselves. All three of these still apply to a Tesla,
               | even though they don't need their oil changed, they still
               | have tires, antifreeze, air filters, brakes, etc, and
               | that's still bread and butter work for the local shop.
        
       | shp0ngle wrote:
       | "Catholic" and "Masonry" on the same page?
       | 
       | https://www.collegeofstjoseph.com/trades/masonry
        
         | Thorrez wrote:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry
         | 
         | not
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry
        
         | joemazerino wrote:
         | I got the joke -- take my upvote
        
         | elcritch wrote:
         | It's ok because the masonry isn't free. ;)
        
       | pyuser583 wrote:
       | This seems like an interesting idea. You can object to the
       | religious element. But a low cost liberal arts college that also
       | teaches a trade sounds like a really, really good idea.
        
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