Posted on 01/28/2009 5:28:36 AM PST by Kaslin
University of Phoenix is exactly the right idea, but unfortunately most employers - especially at Fortune 500 firms - still don't consider a UoP degree the equivalent of a "real" bachelor's degree. And there's no good reason other than inertia, because the only purpose a "real" degree serves at such firms is to keep some HR person from automatically throwing a resume without one into the trash.
This is one case where a little government spending could create an actual purpose for the Department of Education - to create a free, fully accredited, UoP-like, online university that grants bachelors and masters degrees in fields that don't require lab work to students anywhere in the world for a tiny fraction of the cost of a traditional campus. Pass the exams - get the degree...period. It won't happen because of the cacophonous howls of protest it would draw from the academic Left, threatened by the loss of their politically privileged positions.
My feeling is that the Internet has already rendered most college degrees obsolete. Everything you want to learn is already out there - for free - people just need a way to pass exams to tie it all together.
Look at the bright side- all those millions of children enrolled in college effectively keeps the unemployment rate down.
This college debt is the next ticking time bomb of consumer debt.
And there are bizarre differences in the interest rates. I’m close to someone who pays double my rate, though rates were lower when she attended college than when I did. The inconsistency arises from different refinancing rules.
Well said. I am forwarding your post to some of my employees. Sometimes they think I am too rigid, and that I do not accept changing times. I try to tell them, that they are missing the entire point. Thanks. The have a high drive to learn, and try to read as much as I can about every subject possible.
The biggest result of this, is that I never have to ask anyone how to do something. While I have employees, they can do nothing that I can not. And i can do many things they can not. I even rebuilt my entire house by myself, without any formal prior training.
I think I can. The youth of America needs to learn that.
The wealthiest people I know? Yes, a few top law-school lawyers, but most are people who learned a trade/industry, and then worked their butts off to own or manage a business.
University is HIGHLY over-rated. Especially now that one is paying to be indoctrinated.
A lot of successful millionaires don’t even have a high school diploma.
I’m not good with sarcasm, so I take everything literally and let people correct me ;-).
My bigger point was that, should a person wish to pursue basket-weaving as an occupation, the route to success was probably not through a college degree.
I say that landscaping, construction, carpentry, metalworking and all the other trades should be promoted by primary education as worthy careers for both men and women.
(I know there are many exceptions, but I wish there were more truly smart and talented people running these kinds of businesses. They’re out there, but they are rare gems).
The aim of our schools and colleges is to produce as many mind-numbed liberals as possible. And it’s working.
In the Marine Corp your son is going to learn some real technical skills, and 100X more about real life and how to be a responsible adult than he will at college.
good for him and God Bless.
“And many engineers will say that is garbage and they would never want to use a car or plane designed by a bunch of guys that never got an engineering degree.”
I think it depends on the particular engineering discipline in question. In software, for instance, there’s not much you could have learned 20 yrs ago that would still be of value now. Same’s true for EEs.
For MEs, yeah. I guess the statics and dynamics really aren’t gonna change.
You’re right.
it's far better than majoring in "Social Justice", a program offered at the College of Marx & Engels
Absolutely correct. HR people won't even talk to me about jobs that are just like the one I have been doing for 18 years.
Some people, such as this writer, confuse college with education. I don’t have any personal experience with college - I’ve never attended a college or university. In spite of that, I make a six figure salary. I just got my education in a different way. Thirteen years in the military, lower paying jobs where I was able to pick up new skills, self-study, trial and error, etc.
My point is, and what a lot of people seem not to understand, is that a college degree isn’t a checkbox. It’s a means of collecting knowledge. It doesn’t go very far in teaching constructive ways of deploying that knowledge in useful ways that, for example, may lead to an income. College is a means to an end rather than the end itself.
People who gripe about a college degree not leading to instant fame and fortune don’t seem to have learned the single most important skill and education can give them - the ability to learn. Learn how to learn, aquire knowledge for the sake of knowlege, be constantly intellecually curious and the opportunities will present themselves.
Even though I’m in my 40s now, I haven’t given up on the notion of going to college. I’d still like to be a history major. Why? Because history interests me, and for no other reason.
“.. because the only purpose a “real” degree serves at such firms is to keep some HR person from automatically throwing a resume without one into the trash”
Bingo! That’s exactly right.
The only real purpose of a degree anymore is as an entry ticket to even be considerred for most jobs. Most of those jobs shouldn’t even require a degree - and many employers don’t really care what your degreee is in for a lot of positions.
I suppose it could be “education inflation” given the poor quality of our secondary education. But I think it’s more than that. I think it a social construct meant to impose exlusivity.
Know what I mean? The modern “good old boys” club.
In my experience, most HR people have no actual abilities themselves.
Since they know nothing about the jobs they are screening people for, they fall back on the only thing they know: degree level.
Yet these idiots are the gatekeepers to employment.
The point of much required schooling is simply to provide salaries to faculty and other employees. All those people would be out of work if the subject were taught to anyone who wanted to learn through a single, recorded, internet-delivered course, and passed through an online exam. Tests could be proctored by private testing centers, as is presently done for many professional-certification exams, or at centers added to high schools or community colleges.
My son recently spent an entire week - 30 class hours - taking Drivers’ Ed. There’s no reason, other than to employ driver-ed instructors, that he couldn’t have viewed the content online and taken the test when he had learned it. The driving practice was useful (at least in demonstrating that driving is more difficult than he thought!). I took First Aid and CPR training online last fall, and then went to my county Red Cross office for hands-on CPR practice. Total of about 3-1/2 hours, not counting the drive into the county seat, to complete what would otherwise have been covered in an 8-5 class day, away from home.
I kind of like your idea of a free online college service, since the unit cost of the instruction is minimal, once it’s recorded. Maybe free to audit, but a fee to test and receive credit.
Aren't you years toooo late in your advice. I think Rachel has learned that she spent years of her life working for a piece of paper for $85,000, and has NO 'hope' to pay that loan off, let alone earn enough to pay for her housing.
Maybe some government agency will spam her into buying another piece of paper called a mortgage and she can go further into debt.
The MSM proudly proclaimed that the overwhelming majority of under 40 college educated crowd were Bama supporters. Rachel did sign up to pay to play and who in her world is now going to be there with a hand out to keep her in debt to them.... Think Rachel was educated about 'freedom'. No she got taught the scientific methodology of how the fittest survive. What are her options? Remember Bama won, and who is going to 'free' Rachel?
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