Posted on 03/19/2019 7:16:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
BS. Post some data on that.
Great article. I’ve been railing about the uselessness of higher education, in particular LIBERAL ARTS, for years! What is the point of all of these mushy degrees where the only job you are really qualified for is to teach others the same mushy crap?
I wish I had known back then what I know now, and without a doubt I would have gotten a computer science degree instead of “political science”. Instead, I ended up teaching myself programming, a trade that I love, and has been really useful for my family. My MA in Latin American Studies from a “prestigious” school (didn’t seem so prestigious while going there, although seeing a professor on CNN seemed cool at the time) is only good for being able to understand just what a disaster the border and Venezuela are. That’s about it.
In Alaska, these supposed “blue collar” jobs have pretty awesome pay rates - whereas the guy with his libbo degree from wherever has few real options when he comes back from school.
There are incredible online opportunities right now - programs with certification in all kinds of areas, many of them FREE! And via places like Coursera you can take classes from schools like Stanford, MTI, Columbia - I audited one on algorithms that was really helpful for my programming. For free. But they have ways to earn actual college credit, or certification tracks as well - that many tech companies recognize.
I’ve told my kids that I want them to begin looking at online college courses, even just to audit - by the midway point in high school, if not earlier. There is no way I’m paying for a kid to wander around figuring out what seems “cool” at some liberal puke university, where 90% of the kids are drunk 50% of the time.
When my first was due to start preschool I had a great talk with our doctor about “socialization” of children, and whether to homeschool my son for preschool. He pointed out that at least 1/2 of the “socialization” taking place is NEGATIVE, and to keep that in mind. When you think about the kind of socialization occurring on most college campuses, it’s scary.
If one of my kids ends up really interested in some cool field that really demands big level mentors, and they have the chops to get into some big name school - we’ll undoubtedly support it - but no kid of mine will meander into college thinking that it is a cool place to “go to parties and experience game days”.
my lawyer hub will love that. Too true too!
The ship pilots in the San Francisco bay are the tightest union I’ve ever seen. All the sons are automatically enrolled, when eligible, and all make $2ook annually. I have never known a non-family member to be admitted.
Except what is called education these days is mostly leftist indoctrination and largely useless degrees, especially anything ending in "studies"...Black, Womyn's, Gender (all 57)...
All of these 100K pipe fitter apprenticeships for example are for legacy and the well connected.
That’s a good idea about auditing online college courses mid-way through high school.
Also it sounds like you have a good pediatrician. The ones I’ve encountered would probably be virulently anti-homeschool. I get scowls when I say my kids are at home with mom not in preschool
I attended college in the 90s... not in any particularly prestigious university (Pitt).
Unlike most there, I knew before I got there what I wanted to do and study, and had known for years.
Within weeks of arriving there, I knew a good 50-70% of my peers attending had no real business being there. Some were not academically gifted at all, and truly could only not end up failing out if they took courses that were pretty much give mes. Many others, truly had no direction, which is fine, I know at 18 years old, not everyone knows what they want to do with their life, but of this set, many could not articulate, when asked, why they were even in college.... It was just “what you did”.
The University was happy to take their money... but sadly they were a distraction in many ways to folks who were truly their for academic reasons. When you only have 3 50 minute classes a week, and 15 minutes of each class is being taken up by folks who really should not be there, for various reasons, that harms everyone else.
I am sure its even worse now... College is NOT for everyone, and that’s OKAY! I really wish America would wake up to this reality.
Luckily, he and his wife homeschooled for a long time, then put their kids into a Catholic school. His advice has been pretty great over the years!
The awful influence of the media and “pop culture” on family values just can’t be overstated. Many people hold views on abortion, homeschooling, college, etc that have no basis in reality - but are just regurgitations from pop culture.
- just a clump of cells
- homeschooled kids are weird
- kids need to be socialized
- college is a “rite of passage”
Noone challenges most of these concepts, other than places like FR!
Much of this issue/problem (or “crisis” as media likes to describe it) can be laid at the feet of dearest michael and barry obama...
They constantly were yipping about how everyone should go to college...and changed the student loan program making it super easy for anyone/everyone to get loans....
Fast forward to 2019—Now we have trades jobs going unfilled while unskilled millennials have racked up thousands of dollars in debt.
Thanks to WORST PRESIDENT/RESIDENT EVER :(
If I may ask, what do you do?
I am an engineer and now a manager, I don’t know anyone making that kind of money with an engineering degree in manufacturing.
Over my career, I have trained a great many young college grads who will never break that kind of money. Never. Many with advanced degrees. Granted, living is cheap in the midwest.
If I had to do it again, I might have gone into plumbing. One summer I almost did, but wanted to full fill my scholarship. Now I work swing shift managing a crew of about 70, but if I was a plumber I’d have my own shop by now and deal with less poop.
Where I live, it is the truth.
However, I know they are not making that money also.
Not to mention that under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program the remaining debt of qualifying student loans are forgiven after 10 years of full time employment in government organizations at any level (federal, state, local, or tribal) or secular work in 501(c)(3) non-profits and some that are not 501(c)(3), all of which includes workers in teaching, non-partisan social work and public defenders, state-regulated child care, pre-kindergarten, Head Start. nurse practitioners, and who make their 120 on-time monthly payments in their repayment plan.
And "The congressional spending bill signed by President Donald Trump last month contained a nice surprise – relief for student loan borrowers who work in public service. "
Project management. PMP and other certs.
Chem E. But that is a good idea for coders.
I have been in manufacturing for all of my career. Never will be rich, but has been a good ride. Now I am in general management.
20 years as an engineer is a VERY good ride. At some point, they realized my team leading ability could be used better at a higher level, so the days of wine and song came to an end.
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