The Story of Profs and Pints
Before establishing Profs and Pints , Peter Schmidt spent nearly 30 years as a journalist covering education. What he loved about such work was waking up every morning knowing that he would spend that day learning something new. What bothered him about his job was constantly seeing the barriers that people face in trying to learn, or teach, at a college.
As a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, academe’s leading newspaper, Peter’s beats included academic labor, higher-education policy, and issues related to college
access. He became deeply familiar with two of American higher education’s biggest problems: High tuition costs have made college unaffordable for many. Profound changes in academe and the economy have depressed professors’ salaries and left most colleges dependent on part-time instructors who get paid little despite having earned advanced degrees.
Profs and Pints won’t remedy such problems, but it intends to make a dent. It provides the general public with easy access to knowledge imparted by college instructors whom it pays fairly for their efforts. It’s inspired by an informal, democratic model of education found in ancient Greece, where students often simply gathered around the philosophers of their day.
That’s the “Profs” part of Profs and Pints . The “Pints” part is about having fun and bringing people with similar interests together to socialize and share ideas.
Profs and Pints: Helping college instructors earn extra money by offering the public rich learning experiences. It’s a winning proposition for everybody.
