I thought I had child proofed my house, but they kept getting back in.....
Here’s the scoop. Back in 1993 the a federal civil rights law made it illegal for an employer to give basic intelligence tests to potential employees. No more basic math tests, etc.
So, to get around this, employers started requiring “some college” or a college degree for even entry level jobs, saying that they wanted a promotable job candidate.
Now, the government says that it is racist to require a college degree for a job that could be learned through on the job training. I’m not kidding you, the city of Seattle has this statement in one of their minority jobs programs.
Isn't that an oxymoron?
As long as we have Guaranteed Student Loans, available to any person who wants to borrow money today, and is unaware of his inability to re-pay it tomorrow; the colleges will continue to raise tuition. No matter what the cost of tuition, students will rally to borrow money from the GSL program - without a thought to their career or future earnings.
I know of “Theater” students, working on their “Masters” and with over $240,000 in school loans; that are now volunteering (as in ‘free’) at local theaters, and making minimum wage who are just now begining to realize that they will be forever poor. They spent this money on a degree of “Let’s pretend”, and now are realizing that this degree costs ‘real money’ - money that could have bought and furnished a nice home. Now, they can’t afford to marry and start a family - they have the equivalent of a large house payment, for a degree that is utterly worthless.
And meanwhile, these taxpayer funded schools of eduation are raising tutition yet again, and getting fresh crops of suckers.
Cut GSL, and you will cut 90% of the problem. If a student has to earn and justify his education; and has to present a business case to further his career - you will wind up with students getting a degree that actually means something.
A FAR better question for CHRISTmas morn would be:
Are you seeking and following God’s plan for your life?
Because employers have drunk the kool aid that a Bachelors Degree means you pop out fully trained and prepared to take the job and be productive day one, with no employer investment of time or money towards training required.
Yeah, I don’t buy it either. But they do.
Let's be fair, back when "mom and dad" were starting out, they has something called "Job Security". Do your job, keep your nose clean; and it was reasonable to expect to retire at that job. It was reasonable that if you did your job well, you would be promoted because of your skills - not because of education - but because of your skills. We had folk become VP's and Presidents of companies, who had never set foot in a university. These were good folk, smart folk, who earned and worked their way to the top.
Today, what do we have? Well, we have a workplace where your job is utterly disposable, where your career can be sidetracked because some CEO 'thinks' that the profit the company earned wasn't "good enough", so he will cut entire divisions to "streamline" the next fiscal year. Short sighted business decisions and personal gain will trump a hard work by dedicated workers 100% of the time. We see entire divisions closed down and sent overseas; leaving the people who created the company broke, forced to sell their homes and hoping to get another job that paid something close to the job that they lost.
Then, we look disparagingly upon the kids who are reaping the rewards of policies that were started in motion back in the 1980's.
Why is my child in college? Because she wants to be a doctor and having college classes and the subsequent degree is about the only game in town. (Yes, she COULD take 60 hours and go to a Caribbean medical school, but since those are non-US schools there will be problems and complications down the road when she tries to comes back for residency.)
Here’s a better question — Are you learning skills and knowledge that you can only get in college and how will you use this information to support yourself in the future. If the look is a blank stare, then maybe, just maybe, the college is a very expensive babysitter.
bttt
We’re going to be having a difficult conversation with my daughter in a few days. She’s out of money and we don’t want her taking out more student loans. She’s only got a few thousand dollars in loans now but it can get quickly unmanageable. We’re going to encourage her to get a full time job and attend college part time as the money is available. She’s not wasting it by any means. She’s working hard, earning money at a decent part time job, living off campus rent free with her grandmother but when there’s no money, there’s no money.
I told mine starting at age 5 to get scholarships, which for the most part, they did, save number one, who disregarded my advice, and who has his own debt to show for it. Otherwise, three will get through with no debt. It is possible.
I came home from college and my graduation present was six months rent free. That went by fast....