Robert Reich: College is a ludicrous waste of money (1 Viewer)

[roadkill1292]

Surely there is more to life than "go to college in order to get a job"? That's certainly important, but college should also be a highlight of your life, not simply a stepping stone. I was a political science major, which has no bearing whatsoever on my current profession. But I loved the years I was there.

Yeah. If your dad is just going to hire you then go to college and have fun.

As a university employee I think the subject is a complex one but mostly I wanted to voice my support for the gratuitous insult aimed at tim.

 

[snogger]

I wouldn't say it's absurd. College has become ridiculously overpriced. This isn't to say that college isn't important, or can't add value to your future, as it obviously can.

But it's quickly getting to the point where you have to question whether the costs outweigh the benefits?

College admission prices haven't kept up with median household income. They've exploded and are reaching the point where many families just can't do it. So some kids are getting in major debt just to get the degree.

Kids need to stop being told that they have to go to college if they want to be successful. But colleges aren't going to do it because they want the gravy train to continue.

Some Parents are also responsible for this.. I know a kid who graduated this year and is off to get a 4 year Degree.. For Network administration..

A 2 year Technical college would better prepare him for that job.. Not to mention he'd be in the work force two years before those who choose a 4 year degree with at least half the debt.. By the time they graduated he'd have 2 years of experience which would outweigh their 4 year degree and he'd be that much more ahead of the curve for that field.

I asked him why he just didn't go to a technical college, get his Associate degree and then, IF he really felt the need to get a 4 year degree, do so..

His answer was "My parents( One is a teacher, other is a FBI Agent) told me I HAVE to get a Bachelor degree if I want to succeed."

 

[chet]

As I have said many times before, the bottom third of college students are wasting their time and shouldn't be there. There aren't enough white collar jobs in this country and the bottom tier of college students is graduating with no real chance of getting a job commensurate with their qualifications. This leads to frustration which eventually results in rebellions such as Occupy Wall Street.

I was a bottom third college student. Hell, probably bottom 10th.

Besides the first job ir two you get, nobody knows whether you got A's or C's in school

I don't think students gradutating with that kind of academic performance are getting hired today. When did you graduate?

Won't there always be a bottom third of college students?

Of course, but my thinking is that there are too many college grads today. The ones that aren't getting hired are the ones with the lowest grades. IMO, at least the bottom third shouldn't waste their money on a degree that they will never see a return on. The number of college grads needs to be closer to the market clearing number of jobs.

 

[Rove!]

As college degree was almost an guarantee of keys to the kingdom in previous generations (not so now) there was a lot of prestige that went with a degree. Parents understandably pushed theirs kids towards it with the good intention of wanting them to have a better life. A side effect of this happening for a long time is that choosing not to pursue college got saddled with the notion of a poor choice, a bad family, limited upside, something’s wrong.

This perception still hangs around, if a family you know had a kid who made great grades in school, took all advanced classes, was bright personable, sharp etc.; and you asked the parents what he was going to do after his last year of High School and the replay was “He’s going to be a mechanic.” A lot of times the response would be somewhere between confusion to outright disdain.

It’s almost a knee jerk response (at least in my experience), and there needs to be no social ‘shame’ for lack of better word, with choosing this path. I like to hope most of us have no issue with having friends from all career types, blue and white collar. It’s somehow different with the young when they are at the age where they are laying down the first steps of entering the work force. But seeing a kid intentionally choose non-desk work is still causes a hiccup socially which we need to get away from. A lot more choices to pass on college would be made otherwise IMO if there wasn’t a family/social pressure to go to college regardless of situation or goals.

I think there needs to be some social disdain....a kid may be a legal adult at 18, but they don't have any clue about real life responsibilities and what it would be like to be 60 years old and busting your hump in an auto garage for one tenth of what they could have made doing something like auto engineering.

People that age don't have the brain development, experience and maturity to make that much of a life changing decision or truly understand their options and consequences....

 

[Brunell4MVP]

College prices go up due to simple supply and demand. Sticking to US colleges, how many new legitimate 4 years campus universities have popped up in the last 20 years? Maybe a couple. And overall available enrollment at the established schools has only maybe increased 10-20%.

But the US population has more than doubled in that same amount of time. So you have 2x the number of candidates trying to get into almost the same number of spots.

So colleges can charge almost 2x in tuition.

College is a waste of time, but it's a necessary waste of time for 99% of professional employees if you want a decent career.

 

[Vanilla Guerrilla]

The nature of the collegiate academic experience mattered, too. Students who spent more time studying alone learned more, even after controlling for their sociodemographic background, high school grades and entrance exam scores. So did students whose teachers enforced high academic expectations. People who studied the traditional liberal arts and sciences learned more than business, education and communications majors.

Did everyone slagging the liberal arts in this thread miss this part of the original post?

When I was in school, I don't think I ever met someone in one of those majors that made me think they were brilliant. Most of the people surrounding me were either engineering or accounting. All of the engineers I knew were either really smart, and/or hard workers, or they washed out of IT. The accountants were all over the place, some were very smart, a couple; not so much.

I've also known a few people that went to college for a year or two and realized that it just wasn't for them. They were very bright guys, they just didn't like college, and went to a trade school. They all got their tech degrees and did well.

On some other topics mentioned - You can party in school and still do well. You just can't party every night. If you get to the point where the hangovers and drinking are effecting your classes, your issues are bigger than school. I knew plenty of people that weren't in school that would show up to work hung over so it isn't just a school issue.

 

[bigbottom]

As I have said many times before, the bottom third of college students are wasting their time and shouldn't be there. There aren't enough white collar jobs in this country and the bottom tier of college students is graduating with no real chance of getting a job commensurate with their qualifications. This leads to frustration which eventually results in rebellions such as Occupy Wall Street.

I was a bottom third college student. Hell, probably bottom 10th.

Besides the first job ir two you get, nobody knows whether you got A's or C's in school

I don't think students gradutating with that kind of academic performance are getting hired today. When did you graduate?

Won't there always be a bottom third of college students?

Of course, but my thinking is that there are too many college grads today. The ones that aren't getting hired are the ones with the lowest grades. IMO, at least the bottom third shouldn't waste their money on a degree that they will never see a return on. The number of college grads needs to be closer to the market clearing number of jobs.

I guess the trick is knowing for certain that you will graduate in the bottom third without actually going to college.

 

[TwinTurbo]

As I have said many times before, the bottom third of college students are wasting their time and shouldn't be there. There aren't enough white collar jobs in this country and the bottom tier of college students is graduating with no real chance of getting a job commensurate with their qualifications. This leads to frustration which eventually results in rebellions such as Occupy Wall Street.

But if the bottom third didn't enroll, wouldn't that make college even more expensive for the remaining two thirds? I think the bigger problem is not with the bottom third of students, rather that educations from the bottom third of colleges (and more) are not worth the price paid.

 

[17seconds]

As I have said many times before, the bottom third of college students are wasting their time and shouldn't be there. There aren't enough white collar jobs in this country and the bottom tier of college students is graduating with no real chance of getting a job commensurate with their qualifications. This leads to frustration which eventually results in rebellions such as Occupy Wall Street.

I was a bottom third college student. Hell, probably bottom 10th.

Besides the first job ir two you get, nobody knows whether you got A's or C's in school

I don't think students gradutating with that kind of academic performance are getting hired today. When did you graduate?

Won't there always be a bottom third of college students?

Of course, but my thinking is that there are too many college grads today. The ones that aren't getting hired are the ones with the lowest grades. IMO, at least the bottom third shouldn't waste their money on a degree that they will never see a return on. The number of college grads needs to be closer to the market clearing number of jobs.

I guess the trick is knowing for certain that you will graduate in the bottom third without actually going to college.

In my college experience it seemed that at least 33% of the people were there either for fun, or for some other reason other than to get a job in their major. There's your third right there.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

Surely there is more to life than "go to college in order to get a job"? That's certainly important, but college should also be a highlight of your life, not simply a stepping stone. I was a political science major, which has no bearing whatsoever on my current profession. But I loved the years I was there.

Exactly. If you're not looking back on those 4 years as some of the best years of your life, then you did something wrong. As a parent, I know that experience is a large part of what I'm going to be paying for.

The best nine years of my life.

 

[Fennis]

George Will: The Speech Every 2015 College Grad Needs to Hear.

A lot of good content. He kind of lost me at the end though.What is Prager college? For profit?

http://www.prageruniversity.com/Prager University is not an accredited academic institution

and does not offer certifications or diplomas.

But it is a place where you are free to learn

nice, I clicked on the Should America be the America's Policeman course and it is a 5 minute video.

ETA: Spoiler, the answer to the question was yes. All the video was an op-ed video piece about America's exceptionalism. I hope no one is suggesting that this has anything to do with higher or advanced education.

 

[Mister CIA]

Wild mathematical speculation - the proliferation and weight of internet ads and click-bait material is directly proportional to America's collective student loan debt. Where the bang meets the buck, sadly.

 

[Nugget]

As I have said many times before, the bottom third of college students are wasting their time and shouldn't be there. There aren't enough white collar jobs in this country and the bottom tier of college students is graduating with no real chance of getting a job commensurate with their qualifications. This leads to frustration which eventually results in rebellions such as Occupy Wall Street.

I was a bottom third college student. Hell, probably bottom 10th.

Besides the first job ir two you get, nobody knows whether you got A's or C's in school

I don't think students gradutating with that kind of academic performance are getting hired today. When did you graduate?

Won't there always be a bottom third of college students?

Of course, but my thinking is that there are too many college grads today. The ones that aren't getting hired are the ones with the lowest grades. IMO, at least the bottom third shouldn't waste their money on a degree that they will never see a return on. The number of college grads needs to be closer to the market clearing number of jobs.

The ones not getting hired aren't the ones with the lowest grades. It's the third that don't know how to sell themselves and spent their entire college career in a library. Grades are a small part of college.