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A Degree of Insignificance (College Degrees getting to be useless nowadays)
WorldnetDaily ^ | 12/29/2007 | Phyllis Schlafly

Posted on 12/29/2007 4:25:58 PM PST by SeekAndFind

.S. News & World Report, which has made a name for itself by ranking and announcing the best colleges every year, is now ranking and listing the best careers for young people. A comparison of the latest lists shows a shocking disconnect and makes for dispiriting holiday reading.

While the price of a college education has skyrocketed far faster than inflation, many careers for which colleges prepare their graduates are disappearing. U.S. News' Best Careers guide concludes, "college grads might want to consider blue-collar careers" because bachelor's degree holders "are having trouble finding jobs that require college-graduate skills."

Incredibly, U.S. News is telling college graduates to look for jobs that do not require a college diploma. Among the 31 best opportunities for 2008 are the careers of firefighter, hairstylist, cosmetologist, locksmith and security-system technician.

Where did the higher-skill jobs go? Both large and small companies are "quietly increasing off-shoring efforts."

Ten years ago, we were told we really didn't need manufacturing because it can be done more cheaply elsewhere, that auto workers and others should move to information-age jobs. But now the information jobs are moving offshore, too, as well as marketing research and even many varieties of innovation.

The flight overseas includes professional as well as low-wage jobs, with engineering jobs offshored to India and China. Thousands of bright Asian engineers are willing to work for a fraction of U.S. wages, which is why Boeing just signed a 10-year, $1 billion-a-year deal with a government-run company in India.

Society has been telling high school students that college is the ticket to get a life, and politicians are pandering to parents' desire for their children to be better educated and so have a higher standard of living.

(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ba; bs; careers; college; degree; highereducation; insignificant; jobs; ma; ms; outsourcing
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To: dsc

What a coincidence. NASA has started a new program for going to the moon.


241 posted on 12/30/2007 11:11:11 AM PST by petitfour
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma

I don’t knw, I suggest soliciting some replies from their graduates.


242 posted on 12/30/2007 11:11:13 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: rwfromkansas
The kids insult you, make fun of you, and are nasty as all get out......and I am at a “good” school. ... snip ... I really felt called to teach, and the money wasn’t an issue...we get by just fine. But, some days are just pure hell.

My wife is a skilled teacher who teaches upper level math and science classes, also in a good school. I hear some of the same stories. I personally think that the fundamental issues is the flawed, dominant view that our compulsory education is an entitlement, not dependent upon the performance of the student. A better view would be that an education is a benefit provided by society to all who will apply themselves and treat staff and fellow students with courtesy and respect. Those who provide the benefit deserve a return on investment and the ability to cut our losses, expelling those who won't do the work or treat others with courtesy and respect. I personally believe that the latter deserve the consequences of their failure.

243 posted on 12/30/2007 11:14:43 AM PST by RochesterFan
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To: dsc

I’m not familiar with the current hiring practices of graduates, I do know from experience, that if someone has a degree and worked in the companies I worked for, they would receive more pay over their employment period. Most non-degreed pay scales flatten off after over time, while those positions for degreed personnel, tend to get promotions, especially to management positions.


244 posted on 12/30/2007 11:16:30 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I don’t know about demand for grduates, but I do know thqt degreed people earn more, even if doing the same job as a non-degreed person.


245 posted on 12/30/2007 11:18:22 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: AndyTheBear

Yes, as in just about everything, it depends.


246 posted on 12/30/2007 11:21:24 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: bert

Not true for where I work. If I went to work tomorrow with a BS, I would get more money, different title, and continue with what I am doing.


247 posted on 12/30/2007 11:23:59 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: Barnacle

Yes, of course it’s what I think, based on my experience. Obviously, I do not have the same situation as your cousin.


248 posted on 12/30/2007 11:25:27 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: RochesterFan; SALChamps03

My education “degree” is not a degree at all, but an EMPHASIS.

My degree is in history, what I intended to teach. I had to do a thesis and learn how to analyze arguments, research etc. It was not a pud program.

The education classes were just in addition.

Unless you are elementary, I don’t know anybody with an education “degree.” The degree is in the subject you are teaching.


249 posted on 12/30/2007 11:28:21 AM PST by rwfromkansas
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To: petitfour

My niece, who is going to school for aeronautical engineering and dreams of becoming an astronaut has just been given approval to go to California for a NASA COOP. She may get to work on the lunar lander IIRC.


250 posted on 12/30/2007 11:31:21 AM PST by rwfromkansas
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To: rwfromkansas

Good for you. That is exactly the right course of study. Now if the kiddos don’t drive you batty...

I have seen too many science ed and math ed degrees that did not have a BS in either math or science. These are a disservice to everyone.


251 posted on 12/30/2007 11:55:31 AM PST by RochesterFan
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To: OCCASparky
"Former Navy Nuke",

Well, right there, that tells me that your ability/attitude is going to be superior to many in the industry.

252 posted on 12/30/2007 12:08:56 PM PST by M. Dodge Thomas (Opinion based on research by an eyewear firm, which surveyed 100 members of a speed dating club.)
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To: billorites
since he's happy, has found fulfilling work and has sold out to "the man"...

I call these jobs 'Sherwin-Williams jobs.' When I'd go to the job fairs,' poor old Sherwin-Williams reps would be sitting at their table as lonely as the Maytag repair man. Everybody was lined up for Anderson and Deloitte, etc.

However, I bet a gig at Sherwin-Williams pays the bills, puts you on the track to a nice management position and you can do worse things in your life than supply folks with paint.

I told my son not to overlook companies like this; there may not be a lot of glitz to them, but they're not bad jobs at all.

253 posted on 12/30/2007 12:32:44 PM PST by radiohead ("Dissolution of the IRS as we know it." Fred Thompson. Stop...You had me at "dissolution.")
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To: GinaLolaB

My brother is an accountant and there’s a plenty of entry level accounting jobs in metro DC. If you can’t find one where you are, I suggest you to “move” and actually go out and get yourself an interview with an accounting firm and be willing to start at the bottom.


254 posted on 12/30/2007 12:36:31 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: Chickensoup
I’m a lapsed lawyer, enjoying a 2nd career in academe.

When asked, I do not advise anyone to go to law school these days unless their life’s desire is to be a litigator, for which you need to be a member of the bar. You come out with less debt, more opportunity with an MBA (even an MBA/JD is better than the JD alone) or a specialized masters which often includes an internship or summer job in the field.

The days of ‘I have a law degree, I can do anything’ are long gone and the debt for most grads (who don’t make the mega money, as you mentioned) lasts a life time.

When I went to undergrad, most people didn’t have student loans, so some debt from law school was manageable. But nowadays, with undergrad and law school debt, I think students are fooling themselves if they think some million dollar job is just waiting for them when they pass the bar.

255 posted on 12/30/2007 12:39:55 PM PST by radiohead ("Dissolution of the IRS as we know it." Fred Thompson. Stop...You had me at "dissolution.")
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To: radiohead
More important to have congenial relationships at home at at work than glitz and glamour.

A friend from college went on to an Ivy League law school, specialized in securities law and landed a primo job as an associate with a white shoe law firm in NYC. He was on the fast track.

Then he lost the job during an economic downturn in the 80's and couldn't get a similar position. All the young eager lawyers were out of work.

He ended up taking a job with a company that makes toilets and plumbing hardware in East Overshoe. He was mortified about it, didn't want to tell people, but he had a new bride and had to take a job. He used to joke about how his law career had gone down the toilet."

Nearly twenty years later he's still with the company, still living in Bugtussle, but now he is the chief in-house counsel for one of the largest firms in the industry.

He still jokes about his career going into the toilet. I don't think he's embarrassed anymore.

256 posted on 12/30/2007 12:57:36 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: stuartcr
Obviously, I do not have the same situation as your cousin.

Are you an EE?

In either case, my point here is that kids are told by blow-hard politicians to do good in school and then go to college. It angers me that the same politicians will then approve trade deals to pull the carpet from under Americans that make the sacrifice to better themselves and help America to be an industrial leader.

Where's the loyalty? There is none. That goes to the lobbyists.

I am all for capitalism. But, capitalism, just like anything can be misapplied.

One of the obvious answers to me is to reimpose real tariffs just as we did before income tax. Yes, did you know that the entire federal budget was funded by tariffs until about 1905?

Now, there are plenty of "free-traders" (I call then RINOs) who will scream "protectionism!" at the mere mention of it. But, what's wrong with protecting our nation? We do it militarily, why not economically? Do you think other countries don't protect themselves? Germany? Japan? China? Of course they do. They are not stupid. And we're not stupid either. - We're just being sold out by our "leaders". Do they give a rats' ass? No! They "got theirs". They have secured their positions in the elite ruling class.

I beleive that under the current conditions, we will move away from a primarily middle class society toward one where elites will increasingly consolidate power and money.

If we keep going as we have, there will be nothing of significance innovated or made in America. Am I one of those people who say its Bush's fault? I think he's a small part of it. If we keep going as we have, you will be competing with a 100 who live in India and are willing to do your job for $8,000 a year.

But, that's OK. We can all get jobs in the service sector as beauticians or working in hotels that cater to rich foreign tourists.

257 posted on 12/30/2007 1:02:24 PM PST by Barnacle (Happy New Year!)
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To: GinaLolaB

Accounting degrees never did pay much. Write your CPA with a Certified Information Systems Auditor or Certified Financial Systems Auditor.


258 posted on 12/30/2007 1:03:12 PM PST by Snoopers-868th
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To: SeekAndFind

As Blutto from Animal House said...”six years of collage down the drain!”

;-)


259 posted on 12/30/2007 1:06:22 PM PST by rbosque ("A goverment big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away"----B. Goldwater)
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To: familyop
And to the pollyannas here who like to weld someone else’s hook to the bottom, I hope that oil goes to $200 per barrel during the coming year! ...hope that the dollar goes down to equal the yuan! And may you all find future jobs in t-shirt factories!

Is that pettiness, envy, or just spite?

260 posted on 12/30/2007 1:11:32 PM PST by TN4Liberty (Fred Thompson - the candidate for grownups.)
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