[Paved Paradise]

I love it!

[FoxPro]

pingaling....

[freespirited]

[A college degree] may provide a credential that employers want, not because it represents actual skills, but because it's a weeding tool that doesn't produce civil-rights suits as, say, IQ tests might. A four-year college degree, even if its holder acquired no actual skills, at least indicates some ability to show up on time and perform as instructed

All true, but I submit this matters primarily for your first job. Having a degree from a fancy business school might get you in the door in the business world. But if you dont and you get in some other way, once you show that you can produce, an employer would be very foolish to stay hung up about your educational credentials.

[raybbr]

Just like every other bubble it's a result of marketing. The general public have been told that a degree makes you worth more. Just like housing was supposed to increase in value forever.

The education industry, subsidized by tax dollars, is mostly vastly over rated.

[Anti-Bubba182]

"...A New York Times profile last week described Courtney Munna, a 26-year-old graduate of New York University with nearly $100,000 in student loan debt -- debt that her degree in Religious and Women's Studies did not equip her to repay..."

Pffft!

[centurion316]

A New York Times profile last week described Courtney Munna, a 26-year-old graduate of New York University with nearly $100,000 in student loan debt -- debt that her degree in Religious and Women's Studies did not equip her to repay.

My dog Bert does not have a $100,000 student loan debt, but he knows as much as your average Women's and Religious Studies Major, and he has some real world skills that guarantee him job security: He can catch a rabbit and he diligently stands guard against marauding UPS drivers. I'd say that Bert made the better career choice.

[Comparative Advantage]

Higher education has become a racket, even at most state universities. Unless you plan to acquire a marketable skill, you are wasting your money in most cases. College is way over priced and has doubled healthcare costs over the last 30 years.

[SERE_DOC]

Yea! I paid $30,000 for a piece of paper that hangs on the wall.

And it says MASTER in Information Technology.

And now I can work in any third world country that I can find a job in, because unless I want to become a government whore there ain't no freakin jobs in the states. And quite honestly it ain't the pResident it is those idiots in both houses and both parties that have rat f&^$ked the country into a 2010 version of 1930's economic toxic waste dump.

And the some of the blame can go back to you and me who didn't hold these idiots to task as they were pimping their butts and our future

Sure the crooks in big business helped but if the SEC was doing their job instead of surfing porn sites, gee I don't know, Bernie Madoff may have only gotten away with 25 billion dollars.

How about this for a new law:

You become an elected official, if by the time you leave your elected position and your a millionaire you go to jail and all your assets are seized. this of course applies to past, present and future elected officials.

Don't try to hide it by putting it into a trust or transferring it to you dead gopher Bob, or your family, or any shady business dealings. You draw a salary from taxes you don't get to draw a salary from anywhere else. Say that ain't fair, neither is forcing a free people to buy healthcare.

[yetidog]

A college education is the most oversold product in American society. For most college students, learning is incidental; social life is all and universities foster this inclination with endless student parking lots, gourmet dining, luxury dorms, and social opportunities out the gazoo. Take out the frills, bogus curricula, the fine and performing arts, and the unserious students and we may have some semblance of what higher education should be about.

[upchuck]

This is interesting.

When I was in business I purposefully did not insist on a college degree from applicants. I was much more interested in their drive, how much common sense they had and whether or not they played well with others.

This lead to some unusual combinations. Our very best programmer was a woman with a degree in Early Childhood Education. We had an excellent user interface designer who didn’t finish high school. Unfortunately he died in a car accident (drunk driver). Our best system designer had a two year associates degree in History. Interesting mix of people.

On another note, if Mr. Reynolds is correct it will be interesting to see what colleges do to maintain their employee’s high salaries. I have a feeling the tenure system will break some colleges.

[avenir]

GET A DEGREE is like BUY A HOME, both can lead to financial hardship in spite of promises of ever-increasing wealth. That poor girl in the story, Courtney Munna, now has $100k in debt but by golly she went to NYU! The fact that she and others like her do not stop to question the risk/benefit of a $100k degree in Religious and Women’s studies seems more like an argument AGAINST hiring such persons.

[LS]

Coulda fooled me. Our enrollments are higher than ever.

[RayChuang88]

In my opinion, a college education is overkill if you're into the blue-collar trades. You can get really good training in technical schools instead.

[tophat9000]

This is dead on... Junk Science meet Junk Education

[Kevmo]

Here’s my modest proposal for education reform.

We have been discussing ways to fast track kids through high school to avoid the liberal agenda and other idiocies:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315730/posts?page=84#84

Proposal for the Free Republic High School Diploma.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1316882/posts