Posted on 05/27/2011 4:41:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
We can’t deny it anymore: college is a scam and a bubble (see the reasons why below). But I’m the first to admit it’s going to take years for that bubble to burst. And while college tuitions are still skyrocketing and student-loan debt is creating a generation of indentured servants, we might as well benefit from it
Many stocks will continue to go up from the multi-decade college bubble, even as it eventually bursts: The Washington Post Co. , which owns Stanley Kaplan, gets all of its earnings from the education side of its business. Blackboard , which is the firepower underneath online course management. Google , which has all the knowledge of the world at your fingertips and also is trying to get into the online course management game. Apple , because the increase in MacBook Air sales is due to more colleges buying them for their labs, and probably a basket of the cheaper online education schools like APOL , etc.
Student loan debt is now greater than credit card debt for the first time ever. After the huge debt crisis we experienced in 2008 and the financial bust in housing that ruined so many lives you would think we would be having more of a national discussion on this but we just aren’t.
¦ As a result, for the first time ever we are graduating a generation of indentured servants rather than the entrepreneurs, innovators, artists, and inventors that America is known for. I have no self-interest in this (I’m obvious not shorting colleges. That’s impossible). I just hate seeing American go down the drain.
¦ 44% of graduates in 2009 are either unemployed or hold jobs that don’t require degrees. So in other words, these millions of young people are five years behind their peers
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
The author tries to dismantle arguments given for going to college...
For instance:
* “school teach kids how to think”.
HIS RESPONSE:
“learn how to use a library.” And while we’re at it. Put more computers in the library. The knowledge is out there. We don’t need to own the banks and the government $800 billion to get knowledge.
* “There’s a huge income gap between people with a college degree and people without a college degree”
HIS RESPONSE:
“Did you take Statistics 101 in college? That spurious statistic that is making the rounds fails the basic test of an accurate statistic. It has selection bias. It also ignores cause versus correlation. That’s chapter one of Statistics 101 in college. A true test would be to take 2,000 people and separate them into two groups of 1,000. Group A is not allowed to go to college. Group B goes to college. 20 years later lets see how they are doing. Obvious this test will never get done but the basic idea is common sense. Take people who are equally intelligent and ambitious and give them a five-year head start and with no debt.” They are going to do very well, I have no doubt.
etc. etc.
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR HIS RESPONSES TO THE COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR GOING TO COLLEGE.
This wouldn’t matter as much if they actually learned something in college. But except for the sciences, it has all become one big excursion into political correctness and social norming.
I just can’t get on board this anti-college stunt. I cannot imagine the three in my family not going to college. What would we be now? College is important. Perhaps if those that are not good students went to a community college for two years that would at least help. I agree with the fact that some students feel that they are Ivy League types but are not really intelligent enough for it. Let’s put it this way. Some here say that college is not necessary but lets say you have two students. One does not go to college and goes right to McDonald’s....he works for four years and makes 400 a week. Now you have a guy that goes to college and needs a job. He goes to McDonald’s too and because of his business and Management degree he is hired as the manager for 800 a week. In this situation, it is STILL worth going to college. I just think that some of you have this big blanket of NO COLLEGE because it is not worth it.
I finished my undergraduate degree in English less than ten years ago, and I have neither student loans nor credit card debt. I'm also a semester away from a Master's degree in English, fully paid for.
My degree has taken me higher up the food chain and garnered more respect among "leadership" in my company than those without. Your mileage may vary.
This article is replete with poor grammar. Perhaps the author should look in the mirror before casting aspersions.
With 59% of U.S. parents still supporting their 20-30 year old “children,” according to a new survey, they certainly did not get their money’s worth after sending thousands of their hard-earned dollars to universities.
We have a very well educated bunch of waiters, waitresses, dog walkers, etc. who will never see the promised financial rewards from the tens of thousands of dollars “invested” in a college education. Those who are up to their eyeballs in student loan debt are really stuck in this horrible economy.
It’s a scam in more ways than one!
Indoctrination—political, social, economic, etc.—in effect a system where those able to sit on their butts in a classroom all those years, eventually gets to go to the head of the employment line, ahead of others who may be in effect as qualified.
In the meantime, the ivory tower education (so-called) industry/establishment has grown to gubmint proportions or more.
On and on....
My son just finished his first year of college. When he got home, I asked him if it seemed liked the year just flew by. His response was, “When I think about how much I learned, it seems like I’ve been gone for quite a while.” He’s a biology major who wants to be a doctor someday. He is also a National Merit Scholar, so he’s not paying a whole lot to go to school. My other boys are engineers who absolutely learned a lot in college and are doing very well now.
“This wouldn’t matter as much if they actually learned something in college. But except for the sciences, it has all become one big excursion into political correctness and social norming.”
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My stepson has a degree in computer science and he knows vastly more than I do about computers and math but I am certain he could not pass the public high school finals that I took in 1962. He knows nearly nothing about history, government, economics, literature, biology, geography, business etc., the list goes on and on. He is 36 and is still unable to make his own way in the world without assistance .
My grandson is a third year engineering student. Co-ops with an Engineering Firm, and will probably be offered a job with them when he graduates.
Of course he needed to go to college. You don't learn to be a civil engineer at McDonalds.
save
I saw the change of attitude from avocation to for profit institutions. My first degree the State paid 75% and student paid 25%. Now it the exact reverse.
Then they started this sleazy practice of having the text books written by the Professor, printed by the University press, and sold only at their bookstores. The result were what they wanted: a poorly written text that cost way too much.
Its all about the money now.
And what if, instead of working at McDonalds the 1st student gets a trade? There are good apprentice programs and most pay the student. Another route if none are handy is to start as a helper – carpenter, plumber, mechanic etc. and work up the chain. In a few years it’s good money. I know several people who took this route and now own their own businesses.
More arguments for college answered:
Well what about teaching kids the classics like Plato. How does art and beauty persist generation after generation.
HIS RESPONSE:
People with passion will read. I didn’t read a book while in college. But I read several thousand in the 22 years since. If people want knowledge they will seek it out with a hunger like you can’t even imagine. You can’t force feed passion or knowledge.
You maid the authors point..Masters in English..hmmm. Good luck with that.
sfl
If your stepson got a BS degree in CS (as opposed to a “DeVry” degree), then he had to take required courses in things like humanities, econ, history, and social science. I’m sure he can also read on his own. Programming is a very marketable skill but its unrealistic to make it sound like anyone with a CS degree is an idiot savant/geek. If he is having trouble, its probably due to issues beyond just his degree.
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