Most college degrees do not lead to jobs or career paths. So it’s not surprising to hear that they have to be trained. College doesn’t train people for particular jobs.
Yes there are exceptions, such as getting degrees in accounting or nursing or some of the hard sciences. Otherwise, most degrees just don’t translate into the job market.
Even in the hard sciences, college is merely foundational work. I learned more in 4 weeks of OTJ engineering than getting a BSME, but I could never have stepped up to the plate without the BSME.
The purpose of college is to train you how to think, so that once you’re out of college it’s easy to acquire the on-the-job skills.
It's not about specific skills for the individual companies but basic educational skills like reading, math, writing, etc. that everyone should know.
But these kids sure do know all about their safe-spaces, triggering words and actions, spotting microaggressions, blocking opposing speech, indoctrinating themselves in socialist revolution and "feeling good" about themselves.
Colleges and universities nowadays are about indoctrination, not education.
I wouldn’t for the world trade my double B.A. in Anthro/Soc and Religion. I cherish the life long learning triggered and enhanced by my classical “liberal” education. When I went to college in the late 60’s and early 70’s, all classes in the various disciplines were rigorous.
I have since had three entirely different careers that were made possible only because I have “learned how to learn.” My recreational reading and pursuits have similarly been enriched.
That said, college is not for everybody. In fact, other posters are correct, way too much money is wasted by way too many students on a traditional four-year university. Business should train their own employees and not expect someone else to do it for them. Vocational schools should be the normal way for most students to extend their education after high school.
My own children graduated from highly regarded universities and were debt free a few years after graduated. Both are gainfully well employed in areas outside their majors in college.
That’s just my opinion based on my own experiences.
Universities specialize in debt for the students and worthless degrees. No wonder the students are frustrated.
Just to be clear, are you stating a universal belief in the role of college, or the state of decay of college degrees today?
Wasn't there a time when industry would give grants to colleges for research into needed technologies for the dual purpose of developing next generation technologies for businesses and preparing a program for students to learn the funded field?
In other words, there was always a Humanities component to basic college curricula to teach critical thinking and the arts, but then there were the specific upper division disciplines that reflected the economic needs of the workforce.
Now, this may have been more distinguished when America was still an industrial manufacturing powerhouse, and colleges now are reflecting the social changes from the liberal "peace dividend" that transitioned away from industrial (read: wartime) economies to service economies to "social justice" economies (read: green, climate-change, privilege transfer) that we see today.
We are seeing the inevitable result that colleges today are no longer serving the economic needs of the nation, because the products of these schools are unprepared to take the place of their retiring counterparts.
-PJ