Posted on 08/08/2017 5:34:19 AM PDT by SJackson
A STEM college program is still a fine path to a good paying middle class job. Science, technology, engineering and math are still good majors. Anything from the college of sciences has potential to lead to a good middle class job.
Don’t condemn the college of sciences just because the college of Arts and Letters is nearly useless on the career path unless you become a teacher.
There are few jobs where a college degree is absolutely necessary. Doctors, lawyers, aerospace engineers, biomedical engineers are a few (I’m selfish because my two oldest just graduated with aerospace and biomedical engineering degrees).
Most other jobs should not require degrees, and I’m case-in-point: I have a high school diploma, four years of technical military training, and a couple of community college credits. I am currently a business executive at a VERY well-known high-tech company, and have held sales and marketing positions in several other well-known tech companies.
We are creating an entire generation of young people who will never realize the payment of their student loans, and are immediately saddled with a mortgage payment as soon as they graduate (and that’s BEFORE they go get their real mortgage payment). Most of the available jobs out there come nowhere near the salary necessary to live and pay off their debt.
It is extremely sad what we’ve setup for our future.
I've always been guided by chose a field you want to work in and you will probably never “work” a day in your life. If that field is working with your hands or if you are mechanically inclined, try a trade: A/C; Carpentry, Plumbing etc. If you see a future in another area, assess the opportunities at the other end of your path before starting.
In my case I loved photography (circa 1960). A mentor told me it was a difficult field. I considered Rochester Institute as I figured there would be a job at Kodak at the end. Fortunately for me, I could not afford it so I got a starter job at a bank and began an entry job in tada: Electronic Data Processing. I found I did not like it. Local College for Accounting, Army as a CI Agent, loved the work, and 35 years later left the investigative field feeling like I never worked a day in my life.
I recommend having a good mentor, a practical outlook, and experience (like a job or the military) to get a feel for what you will end up doing. Unfortunately, most “guidance” counselors today and part time parents, don't have the experiences or skills to guide anyone except into the “get a degree” choice.
I managed my career by first joining the Army, completing 60 hrs in business and then started the IT certification route. By the time I was 32, I had a six figure income and still no degree.
At 45, I was told by HR that I could no longer be promoted unless I had at least an associates. So I went and obtained that. At 50 I was told again, that unless I had a BS or BA, I could not be promoted. Working on that now, will be finished Aug 2018.
The degrees have not helped me improve my income as I still make 6 figures. They have helped the HR folks feel better about hiring me.
My son is leaving for college soon to pursue an engineering degree. One of his roommates is pursuing a music degree. I can’t imagine what kind of job awaits the music major after graduation.
“At 50 I was told again, that unless I had a BS or BA, I could not be promoted. Working on that now, will be finished Aug 2018.”
My wife had same experience as you.
College has become a scam wherein the current ponytailed Baby Boomer professors, and administrators, con the youth to hand over a sizeable portion of their future life earnings in exchange for nothing more than a promise of access to higher earnings.
I have two kids in college. The pressure from their high school to attend the best college possible was enormous. And parents got bragging rights if their kid got into a good college.
Stop the tape!
Kids at 17 or 18 rarely know what they want to do, or what their gifts are. Rather than spend and potentially waste tens of thousands of dollars, my kids are both taking their general studies at the local community college while living at home. Two years done with the general courses out of the way and they are debt free, own their own car, and have a much better idea of what they want to do when they transfer to a 4-year school to finish their last two years.
Saying your going to community college sounds pretty low-brow to most, but why should I pay $15k to $20k per year for general studies not related to a major that can easily be taken far cheaper and then transfer out to a 4-year school?
I do not want to burden my kids with mountains of school loan debt for the rest of their lives. And, IMO, outside of a hard science degree, college is of very marginal value anymore.
30-40 years ago, a college degree meant something. Now, the majority of graduates can’t even speak proper English. They sound like babbling fools. But it’s diversity, right?
College degrees are like sex: It’s only important when you DON’T have it.
Unfortunately, in most cases that is exactly what a college degree gets you.
I was very concerned for a while about my daughter's boyfriend. She had been pursuing her biomedical engineering degree and had been seriously hitched with a boy who was pursuing a history degree. When talking to him, he couldn't articulate what he was going to do when he graduated -- even though at the time he was a junior.
THANKFULLY, he has decided now to pursue a law degree, which puts him in my good graces now (even though I'd prefer my daughter not date until she's 40).
There are so many worthless pieces of paper out there. It really grates on me when I'm looking for employment that this is the first thing employers ask for. It's like my 30 years of experience at some of the top companies in my field doesn't matter -- just that stupid piece of paper. I've been far into the hiring process -- in the final decision stage -- and have a hiring department notice at the 11th hour that I didn't have a degree, then call me and tell me I wasn't qualified for the position.
The ironic thing is, it doesn't matter what that piece of paper is in. It could have been that history degree and I would have passed through the golden door.
This is a great recommendation. If you graduate high school and you don't have a clue what you want to be doing to earn a living at the age of 25, then the last thing you should be doing is enrolling in an undergraduate program -- especially an expensive one.
-PJ
I recall that back in the 60's I went to school with many "students" who were majoring in staying out of the draft.
They took the easiest courses and had no intention of learning anything. I think this may have been a precursor to the soft soap studies courses of today.
Many current students are majoring in not growing up.
Colleges are a win-win for the political left.
They get to indoctrinate their social justice warrior army at someone else’s expense, AND since the overwhelming number of faculty and staff are leftists, they personally benefit, sometimes from extortionate salaries.
Engineering will probably be almost completely immune from SJW-type influence in this country for one simple reason: LIABILITY. Nobody is going to hire a civil engineer to design a bridge, or an electrical engineer to design a hand-held phone, when they are exposed to billions of dollars in civil liability if the design is flawed.
One of the things that makes certain fields immune from "PC" and "SJW" idiocy is that the subject matter is transferable across national borders. Medicine and engineering, for example, that can be practiced anywhere in the world because the laws of nature are universal. There's also a downside to that for people who work in those fields ... in that those are fields where it is very easy for foreigners to come here and fill jobs in the U.S.
I was middleclass while my kids grew up so we selected catholic school for Primary School and High school and Boy Scouts for leadership training.
My two boys then went to State University (low tuition) for Engineering Degrees. Both boys got jobs right out of the box and the feed back is that their supervisors love them.
Its obvious that I am proud of them, but the point is that I kept them out of the public school system as I felt Catholic school was more conservative at that time, and with Boyscouts they underwent Junior Leadership training.
And based on their accomplishments these were the best decisions I ever made.(Did I mention they are both Eagles?):D
That's a good point to remember, because I suspect a lot of the problems we face with higher education today can be traced to the same fundamental issue that drove colleges to admit all of those students 50+ years ago: a prospective student's capabilities became less important than their willingness to pay anything to get in the door.
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