Posted on 05/06/2017 11:52:35 AM PDT by Kaslin
As the deadline for college applications and scholarships for this coming fall near, let us pause and take a deep breath.
Well, being a veteran of universities, having been an undergraduate, a graduate student, and a (now retired) professor, let me make the assertion that college is a racket.
It did not always use to be like this. One of the most intelligent things that the United States Congress ever did (and, yes, sometimes it does something intelligent; not lately, though) was to provide returning veterans of World War II with the opportunity to go to college in order to go to a university in order to get a career instead of giving veterans the traditional “war bonus.” Thus began the rise of universities and community colleges. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over a third of the population has a bachelor’s degree or higher, whereas in 1940 it was 4%.
But, whereas back then the purpose of a university degree was to prepare a person for a career in a specific, specialized, field, nowadays colleges fervently discourage such concerns, instead emphasizing vague, fuzzy, mediocre concepts like “broadening the mind,” and, “diversity” and such-like crap, so that college students about to graduate often voice the praiseworthy---actually, inane---ambition of “just wanting to work with people.”
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
This man’s writing is Exhibit A, as to what is wrong with universities. The punctuation is atrocious (for example, nobody uses three dashes in a row, outside of comic books from decades ago). Furthermore, no educated person would write a sentence such as, “It did not always use to be like this.” The phrase is “used to”—not “use to”—and it would not be used in this way. One would simply write, “It was not always like this.”
While I agree with the writer’s ideas about the need for university reform, it’s painfully obvious that he struggled to master the concepts of eighth-grade grammar. A man can’t educate others, when he is uneducated. The fact that he was ever hired as a professor is appalling.
Nice try.
Try again, clown.
He may not be the best of writers, but he makes some important points.
Pretty much nails it, actually.
How did we evolve, so that everybody, at least everybody in middle or upper classes, have decided that their children must go to college??
So many college majors do not translate into jobs and career paths in our economy. Yet so many don’t seem to care what they major in, as long as they are in college.
Some career fields will require the education and training people receive in college. Majors such as accounting, or various fields in the hard sciences are good examples.
But many other majors, for whatever other benefits they may convey, simply don’t get you anywhere in our job market.
People should really think through what they want in a career, and then back track and see what is required to have a career in that field.
For example, if you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or accountant, then college is absolutely required. And in some cases, education is required beyond college, such as for those who go to law school or medical school.
Does it really make sense to borrow tens of thousands of dollars, to get a degree in women’s studies? While the study of women may be fascinating, how many jobs are there for women studiers, or black studiers????
Philosophy may be interesting and stimulate the mind, but how many jobs are there for Philosophy majors? How many job ads have you seen for Philosophers???
And, I’ve heard from so many people, that it doesn’t matter after a few years which college you have gone to. The people who have angst about getting into Harvard or Yale, will find that after college, nobody cares where you went to college . As you become established in your career, your experience and skills will drive how far you go, not where you went to school.
How many of you know or care, where your co-workers or employees went to school?? How many of you really care, as long as they are productive on the job???
To me, the key discussions people should have, with their young adult children, or if they are young adults themselves, should be :
Do you really need college for what you want to do in life?
If college is a prerequisite, how does it get paid for??
If you do need college, do you really need to go to Harvard or a similar prestigious private university, vs. your state university??
It seems too many young people come out with degrees of limited value, for which they have borrowed money that won’t be easily paid back.
It’s one thing to borrow money for college, if at the other end, you have qualifications for a high paying job/career with which to repay the loans. It’s quite another to borrow for a degree which won’t help you get that good paying job.
Fantastic post, as usual.
Bookmark
The College loans cannot be dispatched via bankrupty, the risk of “horizon broadening” is ZERO for Universities, INFINITE for students.
For most it is a sentence of POVERTY, a hindrance to success.
They think SOCIOLOGY a good life gamble?
Kay, then let them ACT that way:
In case of student default make the Uni’s EAT the bad debt or discontinue such loans.
The programs to provide college to Veterans after WWII were not provided as a benefit to the Veterans. These programs were to protect the politicians.
WWII pulled a tremendous number of young men out of the workforce. Many of their jobs were taken by women.
When WWII was over and the Veterans started coming home, they found that there were few jobs available. There were also few homes available for newly married Veterans.
Our government had to keep the young male Veterans out of the job market and away from looking for houses for a few years.
Remember, these were young, fit and no BS men fresh from war. Tick them off enough, and they would go to Washington, D.C.. and start hanging politicians.
So the government sent them to college for a few years to gain some breathing space until the job and housing markets could catch up.
While I agree with the writer’s ideas about the need for university reform, it’s painfully obvious that he struggled to master the concepts of eighth-grade grammar. A man can’t educate others, when he is uneducated. The fact that he was ever hired as a professor is appalling.
So that’s your argument? Not a discussion about his ideas, not his perspective or a rebuttal but a grammar lesson. We get it. You’re really, really, really smart. We are all standing giving you a slow clap about your expertise in grammar.
“A man can’t educate others, when he is uneducated.” So you can learn nothing from someone who isn’t educated? My drill instructor wasn’t an English professor but he educated me on weapons and discipline. My biochemistry, math and English professors didn’t know very much about each others discipline but I learned a great deal about hunting, fishing, playing guitar and some great authors.
Grammar Nazis... such a -——boor.
yeah.... I know boor is misspelled. hahahahahaha or is it boar, bore or borea?
You get training to learn how to do a job.
You get an education to learn how to be a good citizen.
Some of the classes are BS.
A lot of the instructors are poor at their job.
Should a young person be taught about history and art and foreign languages?
Yes.
But they have to be taught so that they have meaning and use for the student.
Forcing a young person to learn about Van Gogh because I like Van Gogh or because the student needs an art course to graduate is foolish.
Teaching young people that Van Gogh suffered from the same questions and doubts that they have shows them the relevance of the subject. It helps to make them better citizens.
The complaints you see on Free Republic about young people aren’t about how poorly trained the young people are for a specific job. The complaints are about what poor citizens the young people are.
And that falls on the teachers.
Make the subject relevant to the students.
Colleges have made the courses easier and easier simply to get more students “qualified” and in the door. The entire system is corrupted. Anyone who might rock this boat is simply not allowed into a position where the scam might be opposed or exposed. Anyone who tries to sound the alarm is attacked as “antiteacher” by the running dog press and the educrats. Parents are afraid to learn the truth and won’t listen either. The “free” babysitting is too convenient for most.
He's right on the above...with the exception that Education Factory lowlifes are 'just fine' with money IF IT COMES OFF THE BACKS OF HARD WORKING AMERICAN TAXPAYERS... College Administrators like government money more than the money they steal from America's Middle Class Parents... and that's saying a lot.
First I've heard of this theory. One question: Considering that there was no EEOC to breathe down anyone's neck, what would have been the problem in letting the ladies go?
I read it as written, thought you meant "boor". You did know that is a real word?
Unlike these.
Put a $5,000 per semester Federally mandated cap on tuition. No exceptions.
Agree.
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