Posted on 06/14/2014 4:17:48 PM PDT by Kaslin
Despite five years of economic recovery, college graduates continue to face a tough job market. Certainly, young people should take responsibility for their lives, but parents, educators and politicians all share some blame for their troubles.
College graduates earn much higher wages and are less likely to be unemployed than high school graduates—and those gaps are increasing. Still many recent graduates cannot earn enough to live independently, and often end up in jobs that don’t require a college education.
Those with training in specialized fields generally find a good paying position quickly. For example, 75 percent of engineering and education majors find employment requiring a degree, but among those in liberal arts or communications, the figure is only 40 percent.
Essentially, many students paid and borrowed upwards of $100,000 or more to major in French or anthropology and end up working at Starbucks or a Verizon outlet.
The most fundamental problem is that high school students too often see four years at college as “an experience” and not “an investment.” And they get a lot of bad advice from adults who should know better.
Since first entering the classroom in 1970, hundreds of neighbors and friends have asked me about colleges and told me of their children’s plans.
So often mothers tell me they want their son or daughter to study what they love, pursue their passion, and everything will work out. The world may be glutted with international relations majors who also minored in history, but “Jimmy is bright and will find a good job.”
Fathers are worse. “Lacrosse is a big success factor for Sally, and her college really supports female athletes.”
High school teachers, coaches and counselors too often echo those sentiments.
As for politicians, I can’t remember a president or governor telling ordinary high school students “the country needs engineers and entrepreneurs.” Instead, they wax eloquently about public service, when government agencies are overwhelmed with applicants.
Legally, 18 year olds may be adults, but they are hardly qualified to borrow and invest 50 or 100 thousand dollars wisely, but that is exactly what we require them to do—burdened with too much bad advice.
President Obama courted the youth vote by making inexpensive loans for college more accessible and that makes matters worse.
Easy access credit has pushed up college tuition far faster than inflation generally and even health care costs. University presidents are happy to pad bureaucracies, and indulge faculty who would rather undertake research than teach, if students can borrow money to pay for it all.
Teenagers need to be told a college education is mostly about preparing to earn a living. You don’t need to read Socrates or solve differential equations to be a good citizen. Until the mid-20th Century, the vast majority of Americans led responsible and satisfying lives without a sheep skin.
In a technologically advanced economy, where even sophisticated white collar workers are replaced by machines and software—look at what computers did to travel agents—college is about acquiring skills that have value in the marketplace. That means picking a course of study that makes tuition and all that time in the library a good investment.
Before that can happen, parents, educators and politicians have to stop indulging adolescent inclinations, and start talking sense to youngsters—when they start looking for colleges at ages 15 or 16, and not when they leave at 22.
Until that happens, we will continue to have too many frustrated and overly indebted young adults.
Someone needs to check their premise.
Around here, welders and oilfield truck drivers out earn the college grads. Kids right out of high school are making $150k/yr. Most degrees are worthless. Liberal arts? I’m not hiring.
It all comes back to what you major in. In general, people who get job and careers skills do well. Examples are those who major in accounting, nursing, engineering.
People who major in fields such as women’s studies are not getting job or career credentials in the process. There is simply no demand in the job markets for women’s studies majors.
It’s also the result of a government subsidized education system, By subsidizing the education system, it has made on-the-job training more expensive by comparison and, consequently, the business community will not train most of it’s workers. Most jobs don’t really need two or four year degrees to do their jobs, if employees can get their training while working.
I cannot argue that this is what college has turned into, i.e., job training. Once upon a time the purpose of college was to educate people.
Short and sweet, they’re are too many college graduates out there with degrees in non-marketable skills who, by all rights, have the mental ability to do only those jobs we are bringing in illegal aliens to do. Higher education IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY. Someone with a degree in Angry French, Lesbian Women Studies/Basketweaving isn’t something employers are really looking for. Colleges and Universities should be prohibited from offering these types of degrees. If it isn’t a marketable skill, these schools shouldn’t be allowed to waste money teaching this garbage. It’s time for “comprehensive college and university reform”. Tuition rates are “skyrocketing” to teach this useless garbage and no one is doing anything about it.
If someone can’t get an education without college, they won’t get one with college either.
That's where the blame lies.
Yeah, but if they pair that Women’s Studies degree with a minor in Sub-Saharan Homoerotic Literature and Dance, they’ve got a very powerful combination. :=)
The best education for the money is from the School of Hard Knocks.
The one time I have agreed with Obama. Of course, he had to apologize because the liberals went nuts. LOL
“Here’s what he said: “[A] lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree. Now, nothing wrong with an art history degree — I love art history. So I don’t want to get a bunch of emails from everybody. I’m just saying you can make a really good living and have a great career without getting a four-year college education as long as you get the skills and the training that you need.”
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/31/obama-becomes-latest-politician-criticize-liberal-arts-discipline#ixzz34f2MLlGb
Inside Higher Ed
Colleges Soak Poor Students to Funnel Aid to Rich
U.S. colleges such as Boston University are using financial aid to lure rich students while shortchanging the poor, forcing those most in need to take on heavy debt, a report found.
Almost two-thirds of private institutions require students from families making $30,000 or less annually to pay more than $15,000 a year, according to the report released today by the Washington-based New America Foundation.
The research analyzing U.S. Education Department data for the 2010-2011 school year undercuts the claims of many wealthy colleges that financial-aid practices make their institutions affordable, said Stephen Burd, the report’s author. He singled out schools — including Boston University and George Washington University — that appear especially pricey for poor families.
“Colleges are always saying how committed they are to admitting low-income students — that they are all about equality,” Burd said in a phone interview. “This data shows there’s been a dramatic shift. The pursuit of prestige and revenue has led them to focus more on high-income students.”
At the end of 5, 6 or more of fun filled years at party central, a significant number of students are awarded a bachelors degree of entitlement which employers are failing to honor.
Wish I still had the picture of the OW student lamenting the fact that she had $90,000 student debt and no employer would “give” her a job in her course of study .... Hispanic gay, lesbian, and transgender studies.
The new victim class, expecting employers to bow to their masters: the bureaucrat parents of those victims.
That's an understatement.
In fact if someone came to me looking for a job and had THAT on their resume, it would be a huge red flag to keep this person far, FAR away from my business.
I wouldn't even hire them as a janitor.
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