If your degree is in a major that has the word “studies” in the title then it’s worthless.
Bkmk
Back around 2010....I had to fly into a southern city late at night and pick up a rental car. Just one gal left...the manager of the agency. I got into a discussion with her...she was a recent graduate of the local college...four-year degree, and this car rental agency manager job was the only thing she could find.
I looked at this...a decade prior...these rental car companies would have hired some guy...high-school diploma...maybe 20-year guy from the Army or Navy. They had reached a point where they were hiring college graduates for a meaningless job that really didn’t require their skills. I didn’t say that to the young lady, but obviously....this was a waste of her time and ability.
I look across today, and can probably assume that at least 10-percent of all graduates have jobs well below their capabilities but that’s how much thing have changed since the 1990s. A degree means more or less nothing today.
There are young people we know that have gone into sales after high school, and three years later are making over $50,000 a year. Add to this that they have no student debt. No prospective employer could use the “over qualified” excuse for not hiring them, which is a road block to college graduates. They were trained on the job and have proven to be excellent employees.
Whatever you do, do not go into debt financing a college degree that proves to be worthless when you need a job.
My collegiate alma mater was admitting remedial students thirty years ago. It just didn’t make the news.
This article is spot on, and I should know since I’m a college professor. Every semester my classes are filled with kids whom either shouldn’t be there, or don’t really want to be there. In the end, they run up debt, waste years doing nothing, and end up with a worthless piece of paper. Now throw in the dynamic of an entitled millennial generation and a ed-u-cart obsessed liberal faculty, and you have yourself a toxic mix.
A couple of things the article didn’t mention that are noteworthy in the discussion. Generally, I agree with the sentiments expressed. However.....
There are a lot of degrees these days that have been added that are completely and intentionally meaningless (in my opinion). What job does a Bachelors in “Women’s Studies” prepare you for? I am amazed at the list of degrees that some “prestigious” universities offer. I think enrollment is up because there are easier places to hide otherwise unqualified students. They can still collect the money regardless of the value of the “degree”. It’s a good business for the “non-for-profit” industry that is education.
Also, when considering these statistics, there are some degrees that will certainly provide an initial opportunity into a chosen career field. Engineering, Law (passing the bar included) and Medical School are all examples of degrees (often with Masters) that can get you in the door these days (first job).
I knew it was a scam 45 years ago
Student loans were the worst thing that ever happened for the so called students
The LEFT controls most of the colleges today. And, because of that, they have liberal left-leaning teachers who spew only the LEFT’s talking points.
Parents: Either send your child to a conservative college, or let them study online from a conservative college.
Otherwise, all you’re going to get is an un-educated LIBERAL who always votes DEMOCRAT.
How about graduating high school with a trade. Or at least well on their way to having a trade. When I was in HS there was auto shop, wood shop and an electronics shop. I do not think these exist any more (may be wrong). Some of my class mates were in those courses and did well in life. No shame there.
College, real college, isn’t for everyone any more than learning and becoming competent at a serious trade is for everyone.
The answer is a resounding yes If you have the intellect to actually learn at the college level and make use of what you learn.
The answer is no if you do not have the intellect.
Dumbing down colleges and moving low IQ students through in order to pump up diversity statistics doesn’t really educate those students - it just cheapens the entire process of higher education and makes the degree suspect.
And it sets the low-info graduate up for disappointment when they can’t perform at the graduate level in the workplace.
Many of us have worked with “college graduates” who can’t compose a complete sentence, speak understandably, or do simple arithmetic.
Yes, and the number of ill prepared, frank incompetence, largely rests with low IQ, minorities. But, the key is, which major to select. Liberal farts is filled with useless degree programs. There are still good jobs for STEM field majors.
It depends on the degree
A STEM college program is still a fine path to a good paying middle class job. Science, technology, engineering and math are still good majors. Anything from the college of sciences has potential to lead to a good middle class job.
Don’t condemn the college of sciences just because the college of Arts and Letters is nearly useless on the career path unless you become a teacher.
There are few jobs where a college degree is absolutely necessary. Doctors, lawyers, aerospace engineers, biomedical engineers are a few (I’m selfish because my two oldest just graduated with aerospace and biomedical engineering degrees).
Most other jobs should not require degrees, and I’m case-in-point: I have a high school diploma, four years of technical military training, and a couple of community college credits. I am currently a business executive at a VERY well-known high-tech company, and have held sales and marketing positions in several other well-known tech companies.
We are creating an entire generation of young people who will never realize the payment of their student loans, and are immediately saddled with a mortgage payment as soon as they graduate (and that’s BEFORE they go get their real mortgage payment). Most of the available jobs out there come nowhere near the salary necessary to live and pay off their debt.
It is extremely sad what we’ve setup for our future.
I managed my career by first joining the Army, completing 60 hrs in business and then started the IT certification route. By the time I was 32, I had a six figure income and still no degree.
At 45, I was told by HR that I could no longer be promoted unless I had at least an associates. So I went and obtained that. At 50 I was told again, that unless I had a BS or BA, I could not be promoted. Working on that now, will be finished Aug 2018.
The degrees have not helped me improve my income as I still make 6 figures. They have helped the HR folks feel better about hiring me.
College has become a scam wherein the current ponytailed Baby Boomer professors, and administrators, con the youth to hand over a sizeable portion of their future life earnings in exchange for nothing more than a promise of access to higher earnings.
I have two kids in college. The pressure from their high school to attend the best college possible was enormous. And parents got bragging rights if their kid got into a good college.
Stop the tape!
Kids at 17 or 18 rarely know what they want to do, or what their gifts are. Rather than spend and potentially waste tens of thousands of dollars, my kids are both taking their general studies at the local community college while living at home. Two years done with the general courses out of the way and they are debt free, own their own car, and have a much better idea of what they want to do when they transfer to a 4-year school to finish their last two years.
Saying your going to community college sounds pretty low-brow to most, but why should I pay $15k to $20k per year for general studies not related to a major that can easily be taken far cheaper and then transfer out to a 4-year school?
I do not want to burden my kids with mountains of school loan debt for the rest of their lives. And, IMO, outside of a hard science degree, college is of very marginal value anymore.
30-40 years ago, a college degree meant something. Now, the majority of graduates can’t even speak proper English. They sound like babbling fools. But it’s diversity, right?
later