Posted on 02/19/2009 9:08:08 AM PST by Notoriously Conservative
Is college a scam? When it comes to careers like engineering, law, medicine, etc., of course an education is paramount. But answer me this: would an intense series of exams to test the knowledge of applicants for certification as say, a lawyer, not be just as effective as requiring 6+ years of college credit and passing the bar? They both would effectively measure knowledge of the field, but the aforementioned series of exams would not require the credit hours, and better yet the money to acquire those hours. Why is college credit required? Why can't self study, and proof of the necessary knowledge suffice?
I spent four years attaining my degree in a field that has nothing to do with my current occupation. Was it necessary? Well, yes, in order to get my job. But should it be? Perhaps not, it is not as if I am using any of the skills or knowledge from my degree, in a field that is totally unrelated. I could certainly do without the tens of thousands of dollars in debt my education blessed me with.
I'm not advocating the abolishment of the current higher educational system. I am simply posing the question for further thought; simply as an excersize in questioning the status quo.
So, back to the question, is college a scam? Kathy Kristof of Forbes seems to suggest it is. In this intriguing article, Kristof argues that with student loans with terms worse than what you can get from the mob, and with the overinflated importance of a college degree, higher education can actually mean a financial disaster.
Mindy Babbitt entered Davenport University in her mid-20s to study accounting..
(Excerpt) Read more at notoriouslyconservative.com ...
Because it is a protected industry! With a lousy overpriced product too!
Of course its a scam. My husband and son’s all have jobs that have nothing to do with their degrees. The degree helps you get the job because of elitist hiring practices but the required course work has no practical application. It is just the liberal establishment attempting to keep control of our children’s thinking.
I think it would be a grand idea if people could just take the ‘certification tests’ (i.e. the bar) without having to go to college. The purpose of the test is to verify a certain level of knowledge. If an individual can attain that without spending the dollars for college, why not?
I have a 4 year degree, and I’ve discovered you learn a lot more a month listening to talk radio than you’ll learn 4 years in college.
From that point, people with these abilities can learn to do just about anything. Why not go back to apprenticeships like in the old days?
Not everyone is cut out to go to college.
Not everyone SHOULD go to college.
Trade schools, military training, even self study will suffice for many jobs.
Yes, young people are mortgaging their future to get the education that they would have gotten with a high school diploma 100 years ago. College should be for specialized degrees like doctors etc. And high schools shouldnt be pushing every student toward college. Some (dare I say most) have no need for a college degree and would do better with an internship in a job that suits their personality and talents.
Colleges are credential mills.
They have monopolistic control of certifications.
Pedigreed professionals aren't going to oppose this situation because it reduces competition.
But it seems to me that the whole world is being turned upside down:
Bernie Madoff? Scam
Social Security? Scam
Bank bailout? Scam
Housing bailout? Scam
Universal healthcare? Scam
I think that people might start saying: "You know what? Don't bother with college, we all know it's a joke, and you can't afford to waste the money."
“The degree helps you get the job because of elitist hiring practices..”
Exactly. Sometimes that’s becuase the person hiring you had to jump through the college hoop, and now thinks everybody else should too.
But more often I think the problem is this: HR people.
Most HR people know nothing about the position for which they’re screening applicants. So they use a requisite degree level like a big dumb filter.
A lot of jobs used to hire people based on IQ tests. If you seem like a smart person, they figure they can train you. But then people started noticed that ... ah ... certain groups weren't doing doing so well on the ol' IQ tests. So that became verbotten. After that, the idea became "If you're smart enough to get a college degree, we figure we can train you.
College is a very, very expensive IQ test. (And the old IQ tests were better.)
Ah, maybe it’s a scam, but it is what it is. Until there’s a fundamental paradyne shift, nothing will change. As the author and several posters noted, they needed the piece of paper to get their entry level job.
Our solution was to seek out ways to lower the cost of the “piece of paper.” Our kid’s about to get his Master’s and so far it’s all been tuition free. Find ways to make that happen and you don’t feel as “taken” by the system.
>Exactly. Sometimes that’s becuase the person hiring you had to jump through the college hoop, and now thinks everybody else should too.<
They get really mad when high school dropouts can do the same job as well as they do if not better.
All that cr&p about paying your dues and all.
Well, what do you expect from government-subsidized programs? Efficiency? Effectiveness? Don’t you know they make more money by doing the least they can for the longest amount of time? [/cynic]
I have a cousin who has a masters in history (yeah i know), huge debt and works making sub sandwiches. He is never going to be able to pay off those student loans. If it were a mortgage we would say he is upside down and the government would force the bank to re-negotiate, but since it is a student loan he is SOL. Not complaining for him, just saying don’t let this happen to your kids/family.
The people who are hiring have no common sense.
They’ve heard how rotten the economy is, but hold gaps in employment history due to the economy against a person.
So true. You read about kids with probably an average IQ who spend tens of thousands of dollars to go to college. They take out loans and major in sociology. Somehow they think it will make them smarter and more employable.
It's very sad. These kids have been taken in by an education scam. The schools get the money and the kids get saddled with loans.
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