Bitcoin + Universities

[MercyC]

Since companies (like Coinbase) are giving college students bitcoins, should universities start incorporating virtual currencies like bitcoin, litecoin, dogecoin, etc. into their curriculums? What do you think? 

[Aswan]

Since companies (like Coinbase) are giving college students bitcoins, should universities start incorporating virtual currencies like bitcoin, litecoin, dogecoin, etc. into their curriculums? What do you think? 

I think they should first stop selecting their students by a worthless piece of paper and instead select them by how motivated and talented they actually are.

[Ron~Popeil]

Universities lost their "laboratories of progress" status a long time ago. Most academics look and act more bureaucrats than intellectual leaders now. They screech about funding while giving their students no real tools to use in the the real world after they leave school. 

[greenlion]

Universities lost their "laboratories of progress" status a long time ago. Most academics look and act more bureaucrats than intellectual leaders now. They screech about funding while giving their students no real tools to use in the the real world after they leave school. 

Obviously this should be taken with a grain of salt because it's a generalization, but becoming a university professor is basically the fallback position for somebody who has academic qualifications but no discernible value transitioning into the real world. It's a self-selecting population of failures who simply succeeded keeping their nose clean and going along with whatever the groupthink flavor of the month is in academia.

[Bibop]

I'm the only one who think that students are the biggest part of population that the community want to add them?

young ambitious technically evolved and the next generation that will rule their countries..
I'm sure that some universities will accept some deals that involved BTC and even lectures that explain the main idea of it.

[newIndia]

Since companies (like Coinbase) are giving college students bitcoins, should universities start incorporating virtual currencies like bitcoin, litecoin, dogecoin, etc. into their curriculums? What do you think? 

Hitting universities with Bitcoin is a Good idea and we are trying that in India through different meetups.

[greenlion]

I'm the only one who think that students are the biggest part of population that the community want to add them?

young ambitious technically evolved and the next generation that will rule their countries..
I'm sure that some universities will accept some deals that involved BTC and even lectures that explain the main idea of it.

Even on a practical level, a while back when I explained Bitcoin to my mother, the very first thing she thought of was that she wished this existed back when me and my siblings were in college, because she could immediately send money to us whenever with no hassle.

[Ron~Popeil]

Universities lost their "laboratories of progress" status a long time ago. Most academics look and act more bureaucrats than intellectual leaders now. They screech about funding while giving their students no real tools to use in the the real world after they leave school. 

Obviously this should be taken with a grain of salt because it's a generalization, but becoming a university professor is basically the fallback position for somebody who has academic qualifications but no discernible value transitioning into the real world. It's a self-selecting population of failures who simply succeeded keeping their nose clean and going along with whatever the groupthink flavor of the month is in academia.

Dude my wife is an English professor 

For the most part you are actually dead on though. I have become friends with quite a few that would say the same thing. 

[freedomno1]

I did read an article last week that said MIT students will receive bitcoin when they begin their semester
http://tech.mit.edu/V134/N22/bitcoin.html

So I can see it having a role in universities

[jubalix]

Universities lost their "laboratories of progress" status a long time ago. Most academics look and act more bureaucrats than intellectual leaders now. They screech about funding while giving their students no real tools to use in the the real world after they leave school.  

This well put.

Universities are now just regulatory bodies that soak up funding to get a piece of paper that is required for a registration board somewhere.

Universities have become trade schools rather than research bodies. I am forced to uni to get the recognized certification to register to work.

The Uni thus has a state sanctioned stranglehold/monopoly.

It's hard to think of a more f...ked up system.

I had the joy of exploding this one in a Legal Philosophy/Law Social theory class at UNI at why I was forced to be there.

[a7594li]

If the bank use BTC in terms of large funds transfer，We will get a better development,Because BTC is safe.

[Light]

Since companies (like Coinbase) are giving college students bitcoins, should universities start incorporating virtual currencies like bitcoin, litecoin, dogecoin, etc. into their curriculums? What do you think? 

It's a nice idea but I think not at the moment. Bitcoins and crytocurrency's are experimental at the moment and pale in comparison to the sheer size of fiat. I would say before we start teaching kids the merits of a system we need to actually show the system isn't a failure and in this case comes large consumer and merchant acceptance.

[BillieGin]

1st UK university to accept bitcoins - Carlisle university
http://www.itv.com/news/border/update/2014-01-21/tuition-fees-can-be-paid-with-bit-coins/

Unfortunately, it only accepts BTC for two certificate programs. You can't pay your whole tuition in BTC, but that's to be expected. It's still awesome that the university is cautiously exploring crypto-currency as a payment option.

[Don007]

I think that's too far ahead of us. I think Bitcoin first has to prove itself and be stable for a quite a long time. Than some (probably technical) universities might accept Bitcoin.

However, I don't think that would happen this year. Maybe in 2015, or 2016.

[wangjj1]

It's a smart action if bitcoin can be well advocated  in universities, because those students will be mainstream users in future.

[acs267]

Since companies (like Coinbase) are giving college students bitcoins, should universities start incorporating virtual currencies like bitcoin, litecoin, dogecoin, etc. into their curriculums? What do you think? 

Why not? Bitcoin is a part of Technology, thus, Science. And also a part of Math.

[gendal]

Some universities "get it".

e.g. the University of Nicosia has an MSc in Digital Currencies and has just kicked off a free MOOC on the topic.  twitter.com/polemitis is behind it.

And twitter.com/gvrooyen is doing some really interesting work at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.  I met him and some of his students this weekend at Bitcoin 2014 - very smart.

Traditional unis with clearly defined silos seem to struggle to "get" it - perhaps because you need a combination of economics/computer science/crypto/finance to appreciate the achievement Bitcoin represents?

[sugarfree]

Of course they should do it. I would be very glad if somebody told me about cryptocurrencies when I was still in University

[Bit_Happy]

I did read an article last week that said MIT students will receive bitcoin when they begin their semester
http://tech.mit.edu/V134/N22/bitcoin.html

So I can see it having a role in universities

I'm surprised it took 9 posts before someone mentioned MIT. The experiment in Boston is very exciting, one of the best stories all year.
Ideally, it could be repeated at many schools, but you need someone honest collecting the donations at each location.

[Davis14]

That could be added to anyone studying computer sciences or economics/currencies/inflation/deflation.