Why doesn't Catholic University of America like poor people?

[CrossCuT]

I know you're being sarcastic, but just to draw a serious point out of this...not everyone is cut out for school...or rather, let me put it a better way...an academic career is only useful for very limited purposes. We learn best by actually living...to the extent that academics helps us enhance our learning-by-experience, it can be good. Some of the smartest people around are poor peasants or street hustlers, they learn what actually matters in the environments they operate in. I work with an immigrant who's been cooking for a year...I asked him how he learned, he said he just learned by watching and observing...and he's great at cooking, the guy can chop up vegetables without looking, works 12 hour days 7 days a week. Some people DO learn better in an academic context...maybe they are wired to think in terms of ideas rather than experimental imitation...but even then, the academics only take them so far, they will have to learn  a whole lot about life in order to actually work out ideas in the real world.

I won't linger on my hobby horse, but I think it's absurd how we equate attending an educational institution with learning...our first instinct, whenever we want to do anything in life, is that we have to "go back to school"...it's pretty sad because it would be a lot cheaper and more effective if most people just had real-world apprenticeships where they could learn by experience. School is remarkably good for making us into administrators and function-performers...and I guess for many people that's what they want in life, a nice comfortable spoke in the wheel. I guess that's the ultimate purpose of school in our civilization. For those who seek something more, school has never  been a substitute for real life.

From the traditional idea of the university, I don't think the point is for people to go there to "learn" "stuff" but to enter into a community of learners...big difference, and a distinction that would probably make modern universities more meaningful for students today, if they realized the distinction.

This my good Sir, was excellent.

My fiance hated school, so he finished high school early, attempted college, but dropped out after 2 years with no degree. He is almost entirely self taught and can easily out compete with a bachelors or even masters degree + in knowledge and technical skill in his field for a job that pays $100k/year.

He is a special case though because he is quite motivated and knows exactly what he is good at. Not all students can reach that point. There are students who have the same potential but are crippled with anxiety and self esteem issues due to the inability to fit in with their peers in the academic atmosphere. That struggle also impacts them socially as well as academically which causes a negative feedback loop that eventually spirals into them giving up. We are getting better at encouraging these students, but we still have a long way to go in harnessing their strengths in a way that is appropriate for them. Offering alternative learning paths as well as the wisdom and care to avoid needless judgement and assumption is mandatory. Its all about opening your mind to new things instead of being stuck in the way we always used to do things. The world is learning and growing and we need to use our knew knowledge to make everyones lives better.

Our entire culture is still composed of enough old fogies who still embrace the ignorant lines of "That kid performs poorly because he is lazy and doesn't apply himself" when really, there is so much more to the picture. We too often shun these kids and label them as defect much sooner than we look for solutions that help them.