Higher education creates poverty

Marshall University Parthenon ^ | 11/9/2005 | MICHAEL HUPP

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Cut out the unnecessary courses provided in four-year colleges and help students save money, while getting the training we need to be productive pawns of American society

I've been saying this for years. Plumbing students don't need to take electives in literature, so why should chemistry students?

[Great Caesars Ghost]

Not only can I not think of what a degree in Women's Studies would qualify someone for other than more education, I would not hire someone with that degree because I would see only one word: Trouble.

[jrny]

My point was that he, like others of his "class" already had the advantage to go to a "better" school. So, I tend to agree with the writer of the article here. Money breeds money. I am not discounting my own skills, but just realizing that some people already get to start off at a much higher standard of living (thanks to parents w/ money mostly) that the rest of us have to work for to even get to that point. I don't begrudge any honest working person who has money. What upsets me, though, is the plethora of kids who party and goof off in college but still end up getting great jobs with good pay...all thanks to their well off parents subsidizing them the whole way.

[Gone GF]

"For that matter, are there any credible J-schools anywhere? I think Columbia's is supposed to be the best and they are just a bunch of commies."

Washington and Lee.

[Reaganghost]

My father went to college during the depression. His parents were dirt poor. His mother never attended college, but managed to get what was then the equivalent of a high school "ged" and eventually a teacher's certificate that allowed her to teach in one room schools out in the boondocks. His father found abandoned, falling down farm houses that he could fix up and repair as rent. My dad left home at 13 and between basketball and work paid his own way through both high school and college. Not an intellectual giant, but smarter than the average, my dad made up for his economic weaknesses with plain old hard work and determination. He didn't need help from the government. Neither did Abe Lincoln; what makes you think anybody else does?

[texassizednightcrawler]

I didn't post the articles about police breaking up the student block party. The police tell to leave. So what do they do? Throw beer bottles and eggs and cops whip out pepper spray. They complain the police acted unprofessionally! I swear sounds like something from the Savage Nation.

[11Bush]

I once had client who had a MBA and owned a plumbing company

LOL. Was he a plumber with an MBA, a company owner but not a plumber, or just an MBA who needed guaranteed access to a plumber?

[Ninian Dryhope]

I would recommend having your kids live at home and go to the local community college for the first couple of years.

Not only will this save a ton of money, but it will let your kids grow up a bit before they are exposed to college life. There is a lot of difference between an 18 year old and a 20 year old.

If your kids do well in community classes, there is no problem with having them transfer to even the best colleges. If your kids do not do so well in community college, then at least you have learned that college was not their thing without having to spend a fortune.

Most of the time the classes in community college are much smaller than are the equivalent introductory classes at state colleges, so the kids in the community college get a little more individual attention.

In any case, that is what has worked out well for our family.

[texassizednightcrawler]

True, but saidly Mr. Hupp is a graduate student!

[from occupied ga]

I just got hit with that.

I went through it some time ago. I feel your pain :-)

[FreedomCalls]

K-Mart has this journalism kit. Just as useful as any "journalism school."

[CSM]

"but rather "needships" where those famlies that exhibited the most irresponsible fiscal behavior were rewarded with grants and no interest loans,"

After leaving the Army, I had $10K in the bank for school. Due to that savings, I qualified for zippo. Within a year I had to spend the whole thing. They guy across the hall from me was also older. After graduating HS, he started working full time as a bank teller in Chicago. He had a nice apt. as well as many "toys." He was in hock up to his eyebrows. Then his bank was bought out and they kicked him to the curb.

He then filed for bankruptcy, which resulted in a full ride.

[Ninian Dryhope]

"She is lucky."

Yes, she is very happy to have the job offer in her back pocket while she finishes her senior year. It takes a lot of the pressure off. Now she can just enjoy her classes.

[Little Ray]

The only thing he is correct about is trade school. Not everybody is made for college; And plumbers and carpenters can earn d@mn good livings, too.

If anything, colleges need to be more exclusive, and we need more and better trade schools.

[Lou L]

You have a point, about "money breeding money." You and I are in similar situations though--we've worked hard to get our degrees--and I think I'm much better off with one than without. While it'll always be more challenging to compete against those with "connections," we're at least, "in the game" now.

Hopefully, our children will be that much better off, and then generations from now, our great grandchildren will have those connections too.

[.cnI redruM]

Utter baloney. my first degree was in history. I went back to school while working at night, and got a degree in Applied Mathematics. I'm what would be statistically classified as UMC. People that lack paying jobs, generally are either very unfortunate or highly unmotivated. Neither has anything to do w/ what you study in college.

[.cnI redruM]

No one saddles you with a degree. In most places, you spend a ton of $$$ and sometimes work your butt off for the privilege. Do your research prior to enrolling in a course of study.

[Ninian Dryhope]

Rice only has about 15 ChemE's per year graduating, which does not saturate the Houston market.

TAMU and TU both have big classes, however, and they sill all seem to find jobs. I noticed the other day that last year the average starting salary for a Texas A&M Chemical Engineer was $56,000. The average Math SAT score for ChemE's at Texas A&M, according to their web site, is 659. 75% of all Rice students, including their psychology, English, and art majors, have Math SAT scores above 670.

Most chemical engineering schools are adding bio engineering to their names and required classes in order to cash in on the new bio tech industry.

[sandbar]

I dropped out of high school, got a GED, paid my dues as a file clerk and worked my way up to becoming a Industrial insurance account manager. 16 years in the field and I make more than most college grads because I learned from experience.

I will encourage (as a matter of fact my kids think it's a law you can't have children until you get a college degree, lol) my children to attend school. But in this world, people think they can walk out of college and make $100,000 a year. Not gonna happen.

[VegasCowboy]

What's a real crime is saddling young twenty-somethings with $100,000 in student loans for a degree that qualifies them to flip burgers.

Nobody's forcing them to select majors that are not marketable in today's economy. There are plenty of majors that almost guarantee you a starting salary of at least $40K with lots of opportunity for advancement (accounting being one). Further, there are plenty of schools that don't cost $100,000. There's a whole marketplace of schools and majors to choose from. These kids ought to do a little research before selecting a major in Elizabethan Poetry.