Deep Springs College: Higher education on a remote ranch

For two years, students live on a remote ranch in California, where drinking is forbidden and they’re required to perform at least 20 hours of labor per week, on top of a full course load. Jon Wertheim reports.
#60Minutes #News #DeepSpringsCollege
"60 Minutes" is the most successful television broadcast in history. Offering hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments and profiles of people in the news, the broadcast began in 1968 and is still a hit, over 50 seasons later, regularly making Nielsen's Top 10.
Subscribe to the “60 Minutes” KZbin channel: bit.ly/1S7CLRu
Watch full episodes: cbsn.ws/1Qkjo1F
Get more “60 Minutes” from “60 Minutes: Overtime”: cbsn.ws/1KG3sdr
Follow “60 Minutes” on Instagram: bit.ly/23Xv8Ry
Like “60 Minutes” on Facebook: on. 1Xb1Dao
Follow “60 Minutes” on Twitter: bit.ly/1KxUsqX
Subscribe to our newsletter: cbsn.ws/1RqHw7T
Download the CBS News app: cbsn.ws/1Xb1WC8
Try Paramount+ free: bit.ly/2OiW1kZ
For video licensing inquiries, contact: [e-mail]

[@unknownt5391]

I think this is a wonderful alternative to the traditional college experience. They're taught skills that they'll never get anywhere else. Bravo. I probably wouldn't fit in, but if my kids ever told me they wanted to attend here, I would be all for it.

[@sldonaldson17]

I wish there were more education opportunities like this...

[@ashleybeabout9685]

I wish i had this when i graduated

[@hippyelise1]

If I had the chance to this instead of my college, I would have gone. ❤️

[@luci4087]

from their website, “Between twelve and fifteen students are admitted each year. Each receives a full scholarship; the college covers the costs of tuition, room, and board for every student offered admission.”

[@milly5678899]

I really enjoyed it. The fact that these bright students have chosen this remote location to experience "real life" instead of other places more according with their capacities, it is marvellous to me. I wish I could have had that kind of education. I have none. By the way, I'm glad that now women are allowed too! This experience is very valuable to them, I am completely sure. I guess that most of them are happy with their choice. Congratulations to 60 Minutes Australia to make me find out about the place. Thank you!

[@REPR100]

Hopefully they teach the women how to make a sandwich

[@milly5678899]

@@REPR100 Hopefully they teach men how to make a sandwich too!

[@sunshine09944]

one of the best stories; all college students should be a part of something like this

[@macos-brasil1814]

Yeah, right rs or you could just stop wasting time on the KZbin and read a book for Christ sake rs

[@hankhalbert6542]

By definition, this style of institution is not for the masses. Sorry.

[@joeykoo49]

This feels like a sort of modern-day monasticism. So interesting and compelling.

[@FriarFan38]

My teacher went here. The stories he told us were quite literally unbelievable... I clicked on this to see if they were true. THEY ARE

[@slitor]

Reminds me a lot of the concepts of "Folk Education", or what is known as the Grundtvig Programme. Which is very popular in Scandinavia and Germany(probably elsewhere). It's mostly considered a "Saabatical" year, you take during "highschool" (16 - 19), not usually as a college pre-course as done here, but those exist to. I took a year of "Folkehøyskole"(Folk High School) when I was 17-18 and while we didn't grow our own crops, we did have weekly rotating duties like dish cleanup, swabbing one of the classroom and bi-weekly duties for our own dorm-hallway and a meeting of all the residences of said hallway. The academics part wasn't very high stakes, it does ammount to some credits and will help somewhat in university admission. But the courses and study time were more worthwhile if you were really focused and engaged to expand your own field of interest.(unfortunatly for me that was the year I decided to try to go without ADHD meds so *TBFHlllts!*)

[@manamsetty2664]

Well that's bad

[@HarlemSexyBlaqkat]

I like the idea wish more schools open up like this

[@yvonnemurray5537]

I just found a genie on our Florida beach…my wish was that my grandson and and his best friend could qualify for this two year program… awesome concept. Keep on keeping on ❣️

[@robertlaabs5066]

I like the older cowboys final song. I'll Fly Away 🙂

[@chippies121]

What an amazing experience full of life lessons would we all have if we all could this for the first two years of college/uni.

[@ashleelarsen5002]

😆 they are going to all be weed farmers anyways! This was fun..

[@1drwang]

Do your homework Ashlee. Their alumni include Fortune 500 CEOs, diplomats and Nobel prize winners among other accomplishments.

[@livenfree]

I'm almost 50 years old, don't know what it is but this place is incredibly attractive to me and intriguing! Feel drawn to it!

[@throne1797]

I was raised on a farm where we were all needed to keep things operational. I learned how to field repair tractor equipment. And I learned how to butcher. And how to clean up barns and pig sties. I went to college to study engineering and worked 20 hr/wk on the factory floor at an engineering firm all school year and 40 hr/wk every summer. These tasks helped me throughout my career in research, in academia and in starting and running my own business. I always sought college students who had real world experience to back up their book learning. The best engineers are those who have no hesitation to get dirty fixing something.

[@jeanneblondewomanstamping9788]

Wow! What a wonderful place and opportunity for these young adults. 👏👏👏👏

[@chukchee]

I visited the place back in 1993. It was great! I had some food, played with the dogs and collected chicken eggs. Probably one of the most memorable days of my life.

[@sophitran]

This should available to all American students.

[@sophieedel6324]

who is going to pay for that

[@IditaBugger]

Have you read the Admissions Criteria? Help ya out. It is available to ALL American Students AND International.

[@IditaBugger]

@@sophieedel6324 Im not sure if there was an off-hand meaning in that statement that Sophie Tran wrote? Cause anyone the U.S. or International can apply.

[@peteroehrlein9686]

Looks like a great place. Very interesting . Thanks for posting.

[@lgarcia67]

I think we need more of these throughout the country. I went to visit different college campuses with my son. I found absolutely appalling that they all looked like vacation resorts with these magnificent gyms and different amenities. Crazy. Kids should go there to learn and end up going to a place that looks more like a vacation spa. No wonder it’s so expensive; that is actually what we are paying for.

[@TheRemoteTTL]

idea i great, it prepares them for life itself and gives basic skills how to do and survive. its more important in future than managing apps or assets or making stuff and not producing anything. great idea.

[@WaterproofSoap]

Just look at that sparkle in the young woman's eyes when she talks about the hard work of moving cattle on horseback. I've done it once myself, and it's all I can think of when I daydream

[@californiasun162]

It’s the simple mind of living that’s worth more than Berkeley good for her

[@rafaelviscash]

There needs to be more of these, but for high school.

[@karenfromva]

Why the smartest? I'm 57, I wasnt in the high grades, but I would have flourished at a school like this!

[@Nighthawk-8050]

If I would have known about this college several years ago I would leave Chicago and go their in a heartbeat. We definitely need more colleges like this absolutely

[@kathrynkerr3317]

I'm so glad it is now open to women.

[@ryancarroll3961]

Now that would have been for me for sure when I finished school some 30 years ago

[@Lost-uj6rz]

Looks wonderful! What a beautiful place! What a view on life that is priceless to survival. Knowledge everywhere, from everyone.....nurtures the spirit and soul as one grows with a varied education and breadth of knowledge which is priceless! Kitchen labor and proper cleaning is important! Vital! Work with Grandmas and Grandpas!

[@k1j2f30]

An academic pool, of genius!

[@manueljalafriz8921]

Fantastic and exciting opportunity to continue doing the work ethics every young people like my grandchildren should go for it

[@elchapojr6219]

This is what school should be we need more of these schools throughout the country not your fancy university’s or even Charter schools

[@andreahoke9740]

I really like this program.

[@gregnixon1296]

I was surprised to see the students wearing masks when they are in a remote setting, and excursions from the school are rare.

[@splint3048]

Might be more to do with the 60 minutes crew being on site.

[@truthBtold99]

yes... totally rediculous and not "smart" - but part of the demonic agenda.

[@honeybunch5765]

Awesome start after school.

[@t.h.8475]

There is a wonderful free liberal arts college in Berea, KY. It is very difficult to get into but it's very unique and worth the experience. You work on campus and if ky memory serves me it is a 4 day school week. They offer free music lessons, teaching instruments taught by music student's There is also a similar college in the Ozarks.

[@KyDarknight]

I wish I could do this.

[@isenfirecat]

Woah. Okay, I've been doing a little research (being a HS junior and all that) and this blew my mind. Wow. Dude. Holy hell. This is amazing. I'll come back here and write my thoughts when I can actually articulate myself. This is just awesome.

[@lucaroy9974]

Did you end up applying? Im thinking about it since I'll be a senior in the fall

[@ei3545]

Great idea for some!

[@stylz1]

Good for those students for stepping outside the norm and their own comfort zones.

[@aeromtb2468]

awesome, we need this.

[@Dave-hc6pp]

I believe Berea College in Kentucky operates in a similar manner.

[@klaytonpeterson1596]

Excellent....

[@marknrogers]

Nowadays I would trust one of these students to run my business way before I would ever trust a Berkeley grad!

[@1m2rich]

Not when they can't read financial statements. It's not smart to NOT learn real things. Finish their degree? Get no credits for cooking and barn cleaning. BS.

[@marknrogers]

@@1m2rich you don't get it.

[@kevinm.8682]

@@1m2rich I can read a financial statement, and I didn't waste time being indoctrinated at Berkeley.

[@williamgechtman9287]

@@1m2rich It's a 2 year school with an *excellent* reputation. You can transfer from there to virtually any University you choose to finish your degree and get the "prestigious" diploma from a school of which someone has heard. One of my greatest honors coming out of high school was being asked to apply. I didn't, as it takes a degree of commitment I did not have.This was back in the all male days. The place actually had a crank telephone to which you had to travel, to reach a human operator outside the valley who could put you through to, basically, the real world. One of my high school friends from those days was also asked to apply, was accepted, and went. He is now living in Mali and is Chairman of the Board for RobotsMali, in their words, "the National Collaborative Center for education in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, the structure has applied since its creation to train leaders in the fields of STEM, robotics and artificial intelligence." I believe he does it all in French, one of the too many to count languages he speaks. They did very well in the Pan African Robotics Competition (PARC) this year, btw. A high school kid from N.J. who spent his first two years of college on a working ranch.

[@tylerkostich6203]

@@1m2rich These students transfer to top colleges like the Ivy League, UChicago, Stanford, etc. The majority also pursue postgraduate studies.

[@nancychace8619]

Interesting. From the Bay Area and never even heard of it.

[@christopherrodriguez7212]

Warren Wilson College in North Carolina is another school kind of like this

[@alfonsomunoz4424]

She had a scholarship offer to Berkeley. That means she's smart and hard working. She's gonna be just fine.

[@gwenniegirl50]

This is great!

[@lunerwerewolf]

While I would not train the friends and the experiences I gained at Humboldt state university for my undergraduate and graduate education i wish I had had the opportunity to have some of the experiences these young people are getting

[@thegringo.08]

great 👍 idea 💡💡💡

[@DataSet]

Wish I went here

[@mikewrasman5103]

Most college students are extremely pampered these days. They whine and cry if they have to take an 8 a.m. class or if the class isn't Basket Weaving 101.

[@MrRatingz]

very nice!!!

[@tracydr01]

If it had been there when I was in school I would have been there for sure

[@allisonlew4508]

Marvelous.

[@obsina9009]

Wow interesting.

[@diatribe1194]

BRAVO!

[@sescuba6405]

The best college in America!

[@yawopokugyamfi6609]

Please do a report on Derontae Martin? YOG

[@leroyconley5647]

What leaders came from this college?

[@valleriebyers9197]

Beautiful!! Hard!! Perfect....Real!!!! Praise God!!!

[@griffhenshaw5631]

I did the UC thing....good job girl.

[@evalina98000]

¡Órale! Ziani, out of East Los into el rancho 👩🏽‍🌾

[@Atmywindow1]

One does not need to be in this type of isolated ranch to learn about real life experience, life skills, and leadership skills. One can work 20+hrs and still attend a fulltime school, like UC Berkeley, Harvard, and etc. I had to work during all my college years to support myself because I became an orphan before college. I had worked nights and weekends while earning my BA at UCLA and during another 3 &1/2 yrs fulltime intensive graduate degree. I also had worked 40+hrs in my very busy profession during my doctorate. A real life experience and leadership skills come from actually working and living in the real world while dealing with the challenges of real working people outside of the protective college environment. This isolated ranch is still just another school for kids who don't have to work to survive.

[@MissTXTee]

On a different note, what was your PhD area of study? That's so impressive that you worked a full time job and were able to complete your doctorate.

[@ilikequiet6474]

You are correct.

[@celiawhite4355]

I think both are valuable. That is super impressive that you were able to do that! I don't think you need to be disparaging of the good this school is doing or the people who go there. Some of them might have had to work to survive -- and if they haven't, not having had to do that doesn't make you a less able, less driven, less gutsy, or less successful person. There are different versions of all of those things, and it takes all types of people to show their grit in all types of ways.

[@rokoi3]

Surely it's easier to see what's most essential when the fat of modern living is trimmed a bit. And living on a ranch was a common lifestyle for centuries. Modern city life isn't a completely different model, just the original with a lot more bells and whistles, no? As 60 Minutes said, these are sensitive, bright people looking for meaning. Two years of monastic living + learning the classics seems a valid strategy. And all the better when done with like-minded people. Of course it's not for everyone, but I think one already knows whether they're the type that could flourish here

[@tomfeigelson5461]

It's good that you did what you did in school - but your gratuitous swipe at Deep Springs " just another school for kids who don't have to work to survive" - seems completely wrong. During their two years the students at DS work harder than other students (yes, I know them - and not just the 60 minutes video) and while on the campus raising and preparing their own food, etc., they are precisely those "who have to work to survive." Seems your education, of which you are so proud, didn't allow you to look clearly at the Deep Springs experience.

[@dumbassloser]

I wonder if they have tests.

[@FigaroHey]

When some teacher said something like, 'You can't think about politics without including Marx,' I thought, 'Hey, that's what they said at Berkeley!' I would very much have liked to have seen a critical look at exactly what the academics are - and how much they differ from Berkeley in mindset and the political correctness that you MUST subscribe to (or do as I did and keep your head well down except in 'safe' areas of the campus) or you will earn the wrath of certain professors. I was tremendously blessed at Berkeley with a professor who managed - in a stealthy way that I only recognized decades later, but which has stuck with me like no other lesson - to teach that there is TRUTH, it is objective, and we can know it and demonstrate that it is truth. He had tenure, so he could get away with this, but he knew how to inculcate that fact - that truth IS the same as reality IS - without getting lynched by students or faculty. The robotic students couldn't cope with his classes - because he insisted that we defend every answer, and insisted that 'nobody really cares about your opinions; only about what is true.' They would bail out of his classes in the first few weeks. Likewise the ones who didn't want to work. He was left with students who were hungry for truth (as all humans naturally are), and who didn't even necessarily know WHY they were challenged by his classes. They were determined to succeed in his classes, no matter how hard the intellectual work might be of cutting through the 'my opinion is my truth' crapola and finding REALITY. That one professor made the whole Berkeley experience worthwhile. I took three courses with him and it was only after I became a university teacher myself that it finally clicked and I realized the gift he had given me: the gift of a passion for finding the TRUTH about anything. It's an adventure, seeking truth. I hope I was able to pass it on to at least some of my own students.

[@horsymandias-ur]

Any given fact can only ever be known by means of the knower-which is itself a broader collection of manifold facts, desires, and fears.

[@edbail4399]

No name , no book ,no teacher

[@dinomartinez5800]

I feel like I was cheated on (I think I said that correct, if not, my apologies) when my college readiness teacher never told me there were colleges like this one out there.

[@liammcgilligan4335]

There is a new movement in higher education which is a direct outgrowth of Deep Springs called the micro college movement. If this video spoke to you look into this movement there are a handful of institutions founded in the last decade that are expanding this tradition.

[@horsymandias-ur]

Would you be familiar with any off the top of your head?

[@chonghunyi]

Must be very competitive to get in...

[@forestlawrencegrading9154]

Looks like a normal part of growing up to me

[@28105wsking]

ITs so much like Franconia College and Goddard College where I went that I just have to laugh! We did turn out a lot of leaders and a lot of people who are creative, to say the least! LOL!

[@geangarcia2673]

What a life

[@janiekcarney5482]

Crazy.

[@jbgem1369]

If i am stronger and younger i will go❤️

[@DC-rd6oq]

Kudos to these hard working students. They won't have any problem finding jobs. And because of their hard work and subsequent gainful employment, they will be forced to pay off the debts of other college students who did not work so hard.

[@jimringer5540]

Is there a graduate level at this ranch?

[@horsymandias-ur]

Nope

[@mariapilarme]

I would take Berkeley.

[@MrNaturalSez]

Fortunately there's Chesty Puller University for idiots like me.

[@B.K.7.7.7]

Maybe every college should be like this...

[@throne1797]

At one time, many colleges had work-study programs.

[@1m2rich]

Education or free labor? It's not a real college. Life skill?

[@1m2rich]

Call it what it is. Spending two years at a dude ranch. Life skills? College credit 0.

[@honeybunch5765]

What is it with the American cool kids and not cool kids? Why the categories?

[@brotherchunt]

wow

[@rmutter]

👍

[@GSL1]

No video, black screen

[@dee468]

I don’t think delivering mail compares to all the other jobs. They’re depriving that kid of a lot of learning opportunities.

[@pax61]

Student jobs rotate. No one is stuck doing the same job for the length of their stay.

[@dee468]

@@pax61 good to know! Thanks

[@MegInWhispers]

i love everything about this except: no helmets for the horseback riders?

[@luiscastillo7009]

pony ride and berkley. mmhh makes me wonder about that student's background

[@susanr1903]

This is what kids learn every day in Midwest on ranch or farm they learn how to work..but iffunnythey do this but look down other who live there doing this there hole lives

[@bargdaffy1535]

Fails at Scale and Scope, nice but really just Hopium. Also, college is not just Concerts and Parties and Football Games, a lot of it is just finding yourself just like this place.

[@horsymandias-ur]

Excellency and Universality, quality and quantity, are eternally at odds with one another-if ever I were to write a KZbin comment and wake up one day to find that everyone else in the entire world agreed with it fully, THAT would be a true failure.

[@user-xm5zd2ki4w]

We treat the body rigorously so it will not be disobedient to the mind. Seneca

[@brediculous5866]

This is not real

[@rebeccaelle135]

❤️

[@maidenfan237]

searching for life and humanity

[@jadeh2699]

Just about everyone has the opportunity to be part of this type of learning. It's called military service!

[@kevinm.8682]

She passed on UC Berkeley? Smart woman! She chose education over indoctrination.

[@pmabrouk]

this is an exercise in mindset, identity, and productive failure

[@pollos6807]

Plz, if you know anyone who can stop the special military operation tell them to do so. Let them know that the S.M.O. will cause famine all over Africa and Asia, because of food shortages. Ukraine is a very, very, very important supplier of grain to the entire world and now Ukraine can't currently use a huge portion their farmland because of this absolute madness. Anyway if you know anyone at all who has connections to the Kremlin, let them know this. The lives of hundreds of millions are on the line here and you can help save them by contacting that one person. Anyway have a great day and remember that the special military operation has an impact on us all.

[@shawnmccori]

I wish my friends new how much I would love to be at the free collage with them in Texas. I just don't have the same name I use to have. I have my real name now lol. Sadly I didn't finish my treatment and I am adolescent still lol. Sorry from john doe or now Shawn lol

[@FigaroHey]

Honey, you are semi-literate. You need to learn basic English skills for one thing. Just not likely to get into any kind of college that requires high academic potential.

[@celiawhite4355]

@@FigaroHey Hey, be nice to the kid.

[@markgrunzweig6377]

This is heremtic pedagogy in a very close way; it's not a business as most so called State Universities are.

[@FigaroHey]

Doing manual labor is not 'life experience.' Try raising a family. That will teach you to care DEEPLY about the kind of society you are creating. Fixing a tractor or irrigating a field won't make you care if the society is healthy or not. Investing in the future by having kids is what makes people really, deeply concerned about the long-term consequences of their choices and of social policies. When you have children, you care what kind of world they will end up in, and you are less likely to be selfishly focused on what's pleasurable or feels good or reflects well on you personally. Having to apologize to other students because you made dinner late is nothing. Having to apologize to your children because you lost the house or voted for something that would make you rich but destroyed their neighborhood or environment - that's something that teaches you real responsibility.

[@pax61]

Fairly uncharitable take. So what are you saying? Having children is the only way to teach people to care and be responsible? Really? And are you advocating 18 and 19 year olds have children instead of going to school? This is a unique and excellent environment for talented young people. I've visited, and I know a Deep Springs graduate well. Oh, and by the way, he now has a Ph.D., has worked in a scientific capacity for the past 30 years, and with his wife has raised two outstanding young children who themselves are stand-out achievers. Open your mind a little wider.

[@briannabowler8610]

i can see where you’re coming from and you commented this months ago, but a student this is before you start a family. i want to build a good place for my kids before i jump off the deep end and do the hardest things first. i’m going to start with people who aren’t tiny offspring and things that aren’t completely in my responsibly. baby steps. it’s a microcosm of society, you’re right it’s not completely accurate but it’s still helpful to experience life and other people in a isolated and focused view instead of having to deal with it all at once. we will all have to vote and care for kids and come to terms with deeper things anyways. also manual labor and working with animals is extremely educational and surprisingly rewarding! you learn a lot about your self and your limits while doing some good. also apologizing to a whole group of exhausted, grumpy people who expected you to be done after their day of hard work is no easy feat. give credit where it’s due even if you don’t agree with everything which is absolutely fine.