Customer Reviews

Self University: The Price of Tuition Is the Desire to Learn : Your Degree Is a Better Life

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Charles Hayes has set the example for all of us to become self-educated. He is an inspiration to continue in our lifelong learning process. The way he writes of his own experiences, what he has learned from them and his willingness to share his knowledge and experience is awesome. A "thinking" man, you are inspired after conversing with him or reading his books. They are one in the same--you are motivated to learn more and share more. This is indeed a valuable reading experience for anyone and especially if you are in the academic world!

In the realm of many books covering self-directed learning, I would like to single out two books which I have read on this subject.

They are:

- Self University: The Price of Tuition is the Desire to Learn, by Charles Hayes;
- Proving You're Qualified: Strategies for Competent People without College Degrees, by Charles Hayles;

After having spent twenty-four years in the corporate world, I really consider them to be the wisest & most useful books I have ever read on the subject of self-directed learning.

'Self-University' is a heart-warming book. It encourages all of us to think of education as a life-long, self-initiated venture instead of a lifeless, institutionalized affair.

Let me recap the author's catchy metaphor from this book: "The caterpillar is condemned to crawl, but the butterfly has the potential to soar above with an all-inclusive view of the world. As humans we complete our caterpillar stage when we reach mature physical growth. If we are to soar like the butterflies, we must do so through the development of our minds."

'Proving You're Qualified' is a career book for competent people who have learned their jobs, on the job...& yet they are often passed over for promotion for lack of a degree, which has nothing, whatsoever, to do with their performance. This book offers readers a frank discussion of educational merit and actual performance in a workplace caught in the grip of frightening change. It can help you to better understand the nature of power in hierarchies, to gain insight into methods for fighting credentialism, and to save time and money by utilizing alternate methods of adult continuing education.

My favourite chapters from 'Proving You're Qualified' are:

- Chapter 6: Leverage, Options & Choices;
- Chapter 7: Learning to Live with Change;
- Chapter 8: Me, Inc.;

These three chapters alone are worth the price of the entire book!

The above two books are very thought-provoking. Each chapter of the two books are so compelling that you may feel forced to write comments in the margins of the pages as you go along.

To sum up my review, these two wonderful books offer an excellent approach to ensuring your career security in the 21st century.

Charles Hayes is a superb writer. He asks you to think about important things. If you would like to learn what it feels like to discover yourself and the excitement of what learning is all about, read this book and particularly its Introduction. Jack Roderick

After reading this book, I became more enlightened and aware that education is, indeed, readily available to anyone who wants it bad enough and that it's not some rare commodity that can only be obtained through a traditional institution or entity. The idea that a lack of financial resources or interest to attend a university doesn't preclude one from becoming educated through independent scholarship is very illuminating. And is an idea to be championed.

Charles D. Hayes has written the book that most educators want to write, but are afraid to. He's convinced that there exists no method superior to self-education for accomplishing one's goals. His mission is simple: To empower you with the confidence, conviction and desire to create your own Self-University. For him, self-education = self-empowerment.

While diplomatically denouncing the collegiate system and calling into question the "true" knowledge obtained by those who have college degrees, he eloquently makes the distinction between self-knowledge and passive education (being told what to study), and correlates mindless classroom behavior with mindless corporate behavior.

The issue here is not formal education versus informal education, but rather the plight of those without a formal education upon which society places at an unfair disadvantage in terms of their educational qualifications and credentials. Self-University has pliable remedies for the self-educated, and provocative perspectives which will challenge your perspectives on formal education.

His summation about our first twelve years of school being the greatest source of learned, self-limiting behavior is spot-on accurate. I concur with his belief that for many, college is nothing more than a continuation of high school.

Even for me, as an adjunct professor, I never gave much consideration to the fact that psychology is not taught until children reach the secondary education level. Charles D. Hayes makes the point that it's a grave oversight and should be a part of the primary education curriculum; a time in which self-discovery naturally takes place, and self-knowledge should be obtained. It would significantly impact the decisions and the lives of adolescent children as they transition into adulthood.

Make no mistake about it: Self-University is all about self-knowledge, and how it can be used as a tool to become a self-actualized person, find the right career field, and have a more fulfilling life. To this end, the book offers brief overviews of the personal sciences, and the contributions of psychologists in those fields; most notably Abraham Maslow, whose five level hierarchy of needs theory he finds most useful as a means of self-discovery.

In conclusion, I'd have to say that Self-University is perhaps one of the most important books that high school, and undergraduate students could read. It proves, definitively, that knowledge of who you are, what tasks you are best suited for, and what you really want in life, are the keys to a real education, and real happiness.

I initially read this book from the local library and after I read the book, I immediately purchased the book soon after. This book is a must have for anyone interested in furthering their life long right to self education. Charles D. Hayes makes you think about your rights to empower your mind. This book offers a variety of necessary topics that should be discussed and studied more.

Mr. Hayes' Self-University is a great addition to my personal library!

His exit from formal education was the same as mine, I dropped out on my seventeenth birthday as well, but for me the year was 1985. I also sought to join the military. Yet, fortune did not smile on me there and I failed the physical. What we shared though was the same similar disdain for the formal educational system, even though twenty five years separated our individual experiences!

Not much changed during that span of years. In fact, looking at the statistics for our educational system -K through 12- it has stagnated or gotten worse!

With the technology we have available today and that which is coming out, learning can be had now that was not available in previous generations. There are few doors closed to the masses and soon new paradigms will not only be brought forward, like Mr. Hayes has done, but will be experienced.

I have ordered more of Mr. Hayes' books and will recommend and them to everyone I interact with in my own journey from this point forward.

Bravo, Mr. Hayes, Bravo!

Read this slowly ...

If you have consideration for yourself read this book.

If you have a great friend, buy him a copy.

If you care very much about people, buy a copy for your public librairy.