Posted on 05/01/2011 9:43:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
the boomer generation faculty increased their salaries greatly.
tenure was installed in the 1950’s to protect faculty from mccarthyism,
but did just the opposite: tenure kept conservatives out of the academy,
and afforded faculty salaries beyond their worth.
also, in the 90s faculty reduced their teaching by 1/3.
It’s all about debt creation.
A college education was worthwhile when it costs less and helped you land a decent job; nowadays it costs a lot more and gets you a lot less. The main problem is that the global economy has spread from manufacturing to white-collar professions, so American college grads are competing with those of India & China (and those countries have 1 billion + people apiece). Nowadays Americans in the trades (especially plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics) are probably the best off - their work can’t be sent to Asia OR easily done by an illegal alien here.
Once again, government is the source of the problem. If government did not artificially inflate the demand for a college education by guaranteeing student loans, a college education would cost a fraction of what it does today.
bump for later
Depends on what field of study, too. And a State school will be cheaper. Avoid living on Campus. In State tuition, etc.
Still, it IS expensive.
“A college education was worthwhile when it costs less and helped you land a decent job; nowadays it costs a lot more and gets you a lot less. The main problem is that the global economy has spread from manufacturing to white-collar professions, so American college grads are competing with those of India & China (and those countries have 1 billion + people apiece). Nowadays Americans in the trades (especially plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics) are probably the best off - their work can’t be sent to Asia OR easily done by an illegal alien here.”
Recent American college grads with a degree in petroleum engineering are being paid $90k per year and the supply is not keeping pace with the demand.
‘College Education’ has been a racket. I’ve known that since 30 years ago, when I entered the workforce with a “College Degree” from a well-known university. Almost all HR department heads want to see that you have that “BA/BS” of a’ticket’ before they even consider you for a meaningful position.
This also comes at a time when getting the actual knowledge in a college degree is as cheap as it has ever been. Technology makes it possible to have access to the best teachers in the world 24 hours a day. Even MIT hosts free online courses. The future of education should be home schooling with local schools and public libraries changing into art, music, and science labs for hands on education and sports, specializing in the social aspects of education.
My son is a junior in high school. I think he should read this article.
I think he should get a degree in engineering like his dad and I got. He doesn’t know what he wants to do.
We’re in California, and the college scene here is awful. I know he likes UC Davis. It’s too liberal for me, and I don’t know if he’ll get in there. We are also looking at some out of state colleges.
I’ve told him he can go to a private college with a scholarship.
I just want him finding a major that will actually get him a decent job.
My son is a junior in high school. I think he should read this article.
I think he should get a degree in engineering like his dad and I got. He doesn’t know what he wants to do.
We’re in California, and the college scene here is awful. I know he likes UC Davis. It’s too liberal for me, and I don’t know if he’ll get in there. We are also looking at some out of state colleges.
I’ve told him he can go to a private college with a scholarship.
I just want him finding a major that will actually get him a decent job.
RE: ve told him he can go to a private college with a scholarship.
Can you afford $25,000/year that includes EVERYTHING (tuition and Dorm)?
The comical thing is that you can walk into a car rental office at the airport...and half the folks there have a degree...mostly because they can’t find a real job for their advanced education. You can go to half the fancy upscale clothing shops in the DC area, and find almost everyone working for the store has at least two years of college. This is to the point of being silly and a total waste of tax-payer’s money to sponsor some state university.
That’s what we’ve been planning on. We sold a bunch of stock before the crash, and that’s how much of it will go to tuition.
Plus, I should be able to go back to work some time in the next few years. We are savers, and we’ve been lucky.
I got my degree at a state school. I KNEW I could not afford anything else. And I worked my way through school tending bar. Paid cash for every class and every book. It still can be done. The problem seems to be that the students don’t think they should have to do that anymore.
Yes. Unfortunately, that is the game. It has paid off 100 fold for me. I graduated almost 30 years ago, myself.
It is ironic too that I have used little of what I learned. But, the biggest thing I learned from College is how to organize and logical thinking and multitasking. Sort of like a boot camp for business. Four years of boot camp, that is. Not bragging. Just that I was a bit disorganized before College.
My wife and I discussed this topic last night. In her frustration with where the US is headed, she said that it won’t make a difference in a Socialist economy. Hard work and personal investment won’t make a difference.
It was difficult to argue with her. It helped when I reminded her that a degree is something that most people value and that can’t be taken away from you once you have earned it... even if it is just a piece of paper.
BTW, she has a technical degree, too but chose to put her career on hold while my son works his way through school. And the local State college extension worked out very well for us. She graduated without us having any debt.
The “extracurriculars” of College can be very expensive and unnecessary, IMO. And it adds up.
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