Decoding the decline in college enrollments: Society will have to change its attitudes towards having a college degree, given the ongoing problems of higher education

American Thinker ^ | 03/13/2023 | Rajan Laad

[Tell It Right]

A degree from my college today in Comp Sci, would set you back about 80-100k
You’ll walk into the same job the guy who did a 14 week certificate from Tech Elevator’s 14 week program which cost him about 16k if he paid full price.
By the time you have your 4 year degree, they’ll be 3+ years into their career, and you’ll just be starting with 100k in debt, and be 3 years behind them in salary and experience

I agree in sentiment. But in my case the #'s are different and perhaps the training, so perhaps two different programmer-wanna-be's with two different career plans ought to look at two different paths to get there.

A 4-year degree from my college today in computer science would set you back about $50K (half the cost you stated). And it's heavy on math, software design, and analytics. So if one wants to get his foot in the door and do web design, the cert you stated might be best. But if he wants to be hired to be part software designer and part data analyst involved with processing big money, the BS in CS from my school is a good way to get there.

[HamiltonJay]

You college is cheaper than the one I graduated from, trust me I looked 80-100k is the price today for a 4 year degree.

I can tell you the last 3 years company I work for has hired more Tech Elevator grads that College Grads, even ones that have interned with my company. They get the same job and same salary, and honestly from a performance standpoint of entry level positions, the college folks aren’t any more qualified, hungry, or able than the tech elevator folks.

As a person with a 4 year degree in Comp Sci, I agree the 4 year degree exposes you to more of the theory side of things etc. However, don’t kid yourself, we process big money every day at my job, and the tech elevator kiddos are holding their own. Trust me, I’ve also met more than my share of 4 year degree people that I won’t let anywhere near a mission critical system.

[GingisK]

Depends entirely on the major.

[GingisK]

Do you, personally, want to be one of those, in the age of machinery and all?

[Starboard]

Depends entirely on the major.

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To be sure, some majors are more serious than others and attract more industrious minds. But the education establishment is infested with liberals in all programs, particularly the administrative layers. They push the liberal agenda hard and that seeps into every program. Not saying all liberal profs are bad; its just that many of them are ideological and inclined toward viewing the world through that lens rather than emphasizing critical thinking abilities in their students.

The net result of this heavy liberal bias and groupthink mentality is a general lowering of educational standards. Most people you talk to in the business world are not very impressed with the quality of college grads today.

[GingisK]

I think you encapsulated the situation rather well.

[Starboard]

Thank you. You are right to call it a ‘situation’. I don’t see it turning around any time soon, if ever.

Sadly, the decline in academic standards is symptomatic of a broader decline of standards in our society. We have lowered the bar for nearly everything.

[GingisK]

We have lowered the bar for nearly everything.

Our society is crashing. Like Egypt or Rome are to their old empires, we are becoming nothing.

[Starboard]

Our society is crashing.

************

We are suffering from severe cultural degradation, which is very hard to reverse. And a large percentage of the population is completely detached from reality.

At a time when leadership with principles and vision is so desperately needed, we have none. The kleptocracy runs everything now for their own benefit.