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We got sick of complaining about how broken higher education is. So we decided to do something about it. Announcing a new university dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth:

@uaustinorg

thefp.com

We Can't Wait for Universities to Fix Themselves. So We're Starting a New One.

I left my post as president of St. John’s College in Annapolis to build a university in Austin dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth.

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Thank you for confirming that this is unaccredited, no campus, no degrees, run out of one of those houses-turned-offices that lawyers love on Rio Grande.

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We're a brainwashed society to think that being accredited means auto good and unaccredited means auto bad. it's like we can't even process the idea that education might happen outside the existing beauracracy

We Need A Truth and Reconciliation Commission

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Ah ok, so credentials and accreditation aren't important? You want an uncredentialed surgeon operating on you? An uncrededentialed pharmacist compounding your meds? Electrician? Engineer? Sure, pay to take courses, but understand that no degree is offered and no standards met.

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I'd be okay with this given I had reason to believe they were competent. Credentials are one way of doing this, but credentials != competence. I've met many uncredentialed people better at what they do than credentialed people.

9:33 PM · Nov 8, 2021

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We Need A Truth and Reconciliation Commission

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Very true, but institutions without credentialing and oversight often have serious issues despite intentions. That is to say being credentialed doesnt guarantee competence. But not being credentialed makes incompetence more likely.

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This is beyond dumb. We have a credentialing system for a reason--It might not be perfect but it's a necessary way of ensuring one's level of training. Just because you know people that aren't credentialed that are good at what they do says very little.

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We get it though, you're an antiestablishment edgelord, Cool.

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How exactly would you measure their ability? Are you going strictly by word of mouth? How, then, do you account for new replacements of skilled workers. Perhaps if they were trained by knowledgeable people in their field. Then you could trust their word instead.

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Accredited universitys have access to resources and networking that unaccredited ones don't, and are held to a higher stabdard of quality. There's not really a reason besides money not to choose an accredited school.