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The Great College-Degree Scam (the current problem of employability is not a new problem)
Pajamas Media ^ | 12/10/2010 | Pajamas Media

Posted on 12/20/2010 8:56:04 AM PST by SeekAndFind

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To: John.Galt2012
True, but then again, a rap star or actor can pull down a lot more $$$ than a research scientist. So you would have to quantify that some how with statistics vs. merely earning potential.

Correct. There are several publications of the median income figures for different disciplines.

61 posted on 12/20/2010 10:44:19 AM PST by SeeSac
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To: SeeSac

My son is a new doc. He is 170K in debt with nothing special in outlays other than room board and books. And I paid for his undergrad.


62 posted on 12/20/2010 10:46:00 AM PST by 70th Division (I love my country but fear my government!)
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To: SeeSac

“Don’t expect anyone on FR to give you a job. Perhaps you should get off your butt and get one.”

You offering one?

Put up or shut up. Big in words, small in deeds.


63 posted on 12/20/2010 10:48:35 AM PST by BenKenobi (Rush speaks! I hear, I obey)
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To: 70th Division
My son is a new doc. He is 170K in debt with nothing special in outlays other than room board and books. And I paid for his undergrad.

What is your point?

64 posted on 12/20/2010 10:50:14 AM PST by SeeSac
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To: BenKenobi
“Don’t expect anyone on FR to give you a job. Perhaps you should get off your butt and get one.”

You offering one? Put up or shut up. Big in words, small in deeds.

Are you asking me if I am offering to give you a kick in the butt?

65 posted on 12/20/2010 10:52:15 AM PST by SeeSac
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To: SeeSac

Insurance is paid up through until next year. I paid around 300 for basic minimum coverage. No frills.

As I’ve relocated, insurance for me came down from about 900 to 300.

“Health insurance?”

Don’t I wish.

“Car maintenance?”

June I did the 50k mile maintenance checkup prior to relocating.

“Health maintenance? Job searc costs? Clothing?”

I have plenty of clothing. No worries there. Health? I’m a young man who’s fit enough. No health concerns. Job search costs? Gas.

You seem awfully intent to prove it cannot be done. Why do you care so much?


66 posted on 12/20/2010 10:54:30 AM PST by BenKenobi (Rush speaks! I hear, I obey)
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To: BenKenobi

4.3 weeks in a month.

52/12

Just sayin’


67 posted on 12/20/2010 10:56:46 AM PST by Vermont Lt (Don't taze my junk bro.)
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To: SeeSac

If you’re *offering* to help me, great.

Otherwise, I don’t see why it’s your concern.

I’m glad to hear that you are rich and wealthy because of your degree. Great to hear. Not everyone has had your experience.

I lived in an economically depressed area, that was depressed long before Obama entered power. They’ve been down for the last 10 years. Most, if not all of my schoolmates have relocated. I had to stay and look after my mom and brothers.

I finally had an opportunity this summer to relocate to a much more economically vibrant area. I’ve been supporting myself through savings and odd jobs, but I’d rather have steady employment.


68 posted on 12/20/2010 10:58:33 AM PST by BenKenobi (Rush speaks! I hear, I obey)
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To: BenKenobi

Are you not able to find ANY work? I see signs for positions all over the place. At the amount you NEED to earn being so low, I would think you would look for anything that would get your heat benefits covered.

I am not judging...I remember being in that place. The problem is that I did not stay there. Don’t chase the money. It is a horrible existence. Really.


69 posted on 12/20/2010 10:59:28 AM PST by Vermont Lt (Don't taze my junk bro.)
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To: Vermont Lt

I understand. However, it works out pretty close to 48 weeks a year after taxes at that level. Course I could assume pre taxes, but that’s not really germane.


70 posted on 12/20/2010 11:00:19 AM PST by BenKenobi (Rush speaks! I hear, I obey)
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To: napscoordinator

Yep. Stepped right in it....


71 posted on 12/20/2010 11:01:00 AM PST by moehoward
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To: BenKenobi
Job search costs? Gas.

Less than $5 a week job searching. Enough said.

72 posted on 12/20/2010 11:01:49 AM PST by SeeSac
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To: SeeSac

The point is you are NOT going to pay off that kind of debt in 5 years


73 posted on 12/20/2010 11:03:38 AM PST by 70th Division (I love my country but fear my government!)
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To: napscoordinator

A lot of Freepers are anti-college, especially those who haven’t a college degree and are suspicious of those they think are over-educated.

The truth is that half a century ago a high school diploma indicated that someone had the knowledge and skills people only have today after they have earned a bachelor’s degree or perhaps even a master’s degree. Only the best and the brightest went on to college and/or grad school. If we could get our high schools back, all of our kids wouldn’t have to go to college. But the way things are, kids graduate from high school with such overwhelming ignorance that they need some college just to learn some rudiments.

If you’re treating college like a trade school, to be able to get a well-paying job, you might be wasting your money. You might do better to go to a real trade schoo. But if you’re going to college to learn about Western civilization and the life of the mind, to learn how to use your mind, to write and think in ways you haven’t before, to get exposed to the greatest brains of human history, then going to college or university is a good option.


74 posted on 12/20/2010 11:04:33 AM PST by ottbmare (off-the-track Thoroughbred mare)
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To: Vermont Lt

I’m not picky about the money, however disability combined with relocation is difficult. I don’t know many people here besides my friends, and building a client base from scratch has been a challenge.

I worked as a tutor for years after I got laid off thanks to the Obama depression. I used to work as an inventory manager for a small retail shop. Programmed the system, and created an online product database. When the economy tanked again, the project, and my position was shelved.

Part of the problem is that my disability, in the minds of employers, makes me unsuitable for most positions. It’s a bit of a challenge for them to work around, and when you’ve got a sea of qualified applicants, why bother to go the extra mile.


75 posted on 12/20/2010 11:04:54 AM PST by BenKenobi (Rush speaks! I hear, I obey)
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To: BenKenobi
I finally had an opportunity this summer to relocate to a much more economically vibrant area. I’ve been supporting myself through savings and odd jobs, but I’d rather have steady employment.

Which city are you in and what is your degree?

76 posted on 12/20/2010 11:05:55 AM PST by SeeSac
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To: SeeSac

“Less than $5 a week job searching. Enough said.”

Dunno bout you, but I don’t live way out in the sticks. I live quite close to everything. Bikes + walking get me most places.

I don’t have to drive for errands, so pretty much the only reason for me to drive is to get out to somewhere that’s not in the city.

This is *why* I relocated in the first place to cut my costs considerably.


77 posted on 12/20/2010 11:10:04 AM PST by BenKenobi (Rush speaks! I hear, I obey)
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To: SeeSac

Austin TX, and I have a history degree.


78 posted on 12/20/2010 11:10:46 AM PST by BenKenobi (Rush speaks! I hear, I obey)
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To: ottbmare

I live in an affluent community in MA. This is the kind of MA town you see on Christmas cards and in Yankee magazine. Money everywhere (except in our house!)

My daughter graduated with kids that went to Fordam, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, etc. Lots of kids went to small, New England private schools that most here would recognize.

My daughter had the grades to go anywhere, but knew she would pick up the tab through loans and work study. She had no idea of what she wanted to study or be “when she grew up.”

So she spent 2 1/2 years at a community college. Changed focus once she started to figure out what she wanted to do—hence the extra semester. Now she is ready to transfer to a school where she can focus on the major that interests her. She has worked and saved money for the past 2 years.

Now, she will get out of school with about 1/4 the debt of her peers. She has two years of near full time work experience. And she is about ten times a mature as her peers.

I think she has already “grown up.”

As a corporate type for 25 years I came to see that the college education was used as a pruning mechanism. You needed to the degree to get through the door. But it did not really matter what the degree was in—just that we had to have an arbitrary cut off tool to cull the herd.

It really meant little else.


79 posted on 12/20/2010 11:11:16 AM PST by Vermont Lt (Don't taze my junk bro.)
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To: SeeSac
Really? In my field, starting salaries average about 80k a year. Hard to get that without a degree.

Look, I am sure that most nuclear scientists with degrees make a pretty good penny; however, how many nuclear scientists do we need to produce EVERY dang year?

The problem is that academia and the MSM have been trying to tell and push EVERYONE to go to college. Heck, most school districts (even mine way out here in farm land) now REQUIRE two years of the same foreign language to get a high school diploma. Why? Because most colleges require this for admission. They say, "Get a four year college degree because it will get you more money and a better life! Life in general is better with a four year degree!" My school district requires it even though less than 40% of each graduating class goes to college. Most of the kids in this area work with their parents and on the parents farms or they get jobs with OJT!

The problem is that a SPECIFIC, TASK/JOB oriented degree MAY get you these things, but just going to college and getting a four year degree majoring in underwater basket weaving with a minor in hermaphrodite life studies is a WASTE OF YOUR MONEY! I have friends who went to college to get mechanical degrees; they make really good money working on diesel truck engines. I have other friends who learned how to do this exact same thing while serving in the Marine Corps and they make even BETTER money, because they have the experience to go WITH the knowledge!

So, as a general rule, yes, really!
80 posted on 12/20/2010 11:35:41 AM PST by ExTxMarine ("Convictions are more dangerous to truth than lies." ~ F. Nietzsche)
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