A Degree of Insignificance (College Degrees getting to be useless nowadays)

WorldnetDaily ^ | 12/29/2007 | Phyllis Schlafly

[SeekAndFind]

.S. News & World Report, which has made a name for itself by ranking and announcing the best colleges every year, is now ranking and listing the best careers for young people. A comparison of the latest lists shows a shocking disconnect and makes for dispiriting holiday reading.

While the price of a college education has skyrocketed far faster than inflation, many careers for which colleges prepare their graduates are disappearing. U.S. News' Best Careers guide concludes, "college grads might want to consider blue-collar careers" because bachelor's degree holders "are having trouble finding jobs that require college-graduate skills."

Incredibly, U.S. News is telling college graduates to look for jobs that do not require a college diploma. Among the 31 best opportunities for 2008 are the careers of firefighter, hairstylist, cosmetologist, locksmith and security-system technician.

Where did the higher-skill jobs go? Both large and small companies are "quietly increasing off-shoring efforts."

Ten years ago, we were told we really didn't need manufacturing because it can be done more cheaply elsewhere, that auto workers and others should move to information-age jobs. But now the information jobs are moving offshore, too, as well as marketing research and even many varieties of innovation.

The flight overseas includes professional as well as low-wage jobs, with engineering jobs offshored to India and China. Thousands of bright Asian engineers are willing to work for a fraction of U.S. wages, which is why Boeing just signed a 10-year, $1 billion-a-year deal with a government-run company in India.

Society has been telling high school students that college is the ticket to get a life, and politicians are pandering to parents' desire for their children to be better educated and so have a higher standard of living.

[1rudeboy]

Nice. World Net Daily even embeds some hyperlinks in the passage to make it look authentic.

[BARLF]

Sheesh! Do you ever take responsibility for your decisions/life?

[Amelia]

The teachers at our school were told several years ago that 80% of the jobs in the 21st century would not require college degrees, but tech school instead.

No one seems to have told the Georgia Dept. of Ed., which thinks all students should be on college tracks, or the districts that are reducing vo-tech offerings...but it's gonna be hard to outsource plumbers, electricians, and automobile repairmen, I think.

[SoftballMominVA]

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[sionnsar]

Why do you think Bush caused this and not the market? I work for a corporation that has outsourced some of its engineering work to India simply because it’s less expensive as well as some creative jobshifting across North American. (We are under a lot of pressure from the shareholders to be “more efficient.”) And yet, they’ve not cut their North American or UK (AFAIK European too) staff — in fact we’re hiring for positions that were vacated.

[GinaLolaB]

Sheesh! Do you ever take responsibility for your decisions/life?

There are hundreds of people chasing one or two job openings. In the mean time, the student loan people are sending me letters everyday wondering where the money that they sent to the college for my tuition is.

[ladyjane]

Iowa State has an excellent reputation. I haven’t really heard of Rose Hulman but they may have a world renown engineering program.

[EVO X]

The teachers at my college sucked! I cannot pay the loans because I cannot get a job.)

I hear the military is hiring.... It is unlikely you would get shot at with a masters in accounting..

[SeekAndFind]

That’s certainly not true in the tech/engineering world.

Can someone then verify this statement from the same article :

"A Duke University spokesman said that 40 percent of Duke's engineering graduates cannot get engineering jobs. A Duke University publication suggests that the best prospect for good engineering jobs is for the U.S. government to start another major project like going to the moon. "

If it is true that there is great demand for tech/engineering in this country, how on earth can an elite college like Duke graduate engineering students where close to half are begging for engineering jobs ?

[SeekAndFind]

Students with egineering degrees are getting summer COOP jobs and earning $15,000-$20,000 for about 3 1/2 months work. They are getting 4-5 offers with starting salaries of $55,000 to $60,000.

The same article alleges that a Duke University spokesman says that 40% of their engineering graduates cannot get an engineering job !

Either this is false or there are literally no engineering jobs in that part of the world. I find it hard to believe that an elite school like Duke cannot help their engineering grads find work.

One other possibility is these grads have so high salary expectations that they are rejecting entry level offers en masse leaving employers no choice but to go overseas.

[SeekAndFind]

Education, communications, general studies, etc. are just certificates of attendance.

Come to New York City if you have an Education degree. The public schools are begging for teachers. The New York Post recently had an article on the teacher shortage in the City.

[Bernard]

You have a Master’s in Accounting and you can’t find a “good job”? That requires a willing suspension of disbelief. Since the entire profession is looking for people at all levels, I don’t think your expectations match the market.

[bboop]

Glad to hear that, just as I was wondering. Our son is a Jr at Boulder in Computer Science. He said no one is majoring in that and the field is screaming along, wide open for the soon-to-be grads.

[Logical me]

One of the major problems is student loans. The availability has allowed colleges to increase the tuition much higher than inflation. And it is continuing so that it is almost impossible for a college education for the middle class to the poor. Don’t see any easy answer.

[KoRn]

I work in IT, and a college degree for an IT person is nearly useless. As a matter of fact the more educated people have been that Ive worked with over the years, the less ‘smart’ they are about the job.

A diploma helps an IT professional as much as it helps an auto mechanic.

[surrey]

My son got his MBA from Boston College in May. I can’t tell you how many job offers he got but there have been plenty. His biggest decision was which one to choose.

[billorites]

"Among the 31 best opportunities for 2008 are the careers of firefighter, hairstylist, cosmetologist, locksmith and security-system technician."

Oh, please.

Either you go to college or you get a job catering to my children.

Trust me, you don't want that aggravation.

[AD from SpringBay]

In the mean time, the student loan people are sending me letters everyday wondering where the money that they sent to the college for my tuition is.

Sounds like you're pretty much out of options, unless you consider getting a job. First jobs out of college aren't always the best. Sucks to be you, but no more so than for anyone else.

[GinaLolaB]

Why do you think Bush caused this and not the market?

Because Bush is always peddling the free trade agreements and globalization. He is even peddling another wonderful trade deal to South Korea right now. Bush even outlawed telemarketing and then the RNC exempted themselves and also outsourced their telemarketing to India.

Believe me, I know what the globalists are doing because I have taken all of those worthless college business courses. They are maximizing profits for the shareholders. Their opinion is to screw the American Worker.

[Logical me]

I think George Bush eliminated the accounting jobs and outsourced them to India.

You have a Masters and you come up with this? No wonder you have a problem.