[k2blader]

I still think most of the kids in college these days shouldn't be there. Last week I was on a thread where people were saying partying and finding spouses were valid reasons for going to college. Pathetic.

[RFEngineer]

""I can make, like, twice what I'd make as a social worker waiting tables,""

Well, at least she mastered basic economics in her 6-years of college.

[biblewonk]

This just in.

[kittymyrib]

If you want your children to be rich, get them into a trade school for air condition/heating, diesel repair, plumbing, electrical work or auto repair. Lawyers are a dime a dozen and getting cheaper as the unemployed go home to live with their parents.

[Maceman]

This article is just one further piece of evidence that the quaint old 19th-century Progressive-era college education distribution structure we all presume to be eternal is headed for the ash heap of history.

Ward Churchill is even more evidence.

My long-held prediction: "College" as that term is understood today, will not exist as a dominant education modality after 2015.

[ContemptofCourt]

The title of this article is so misleading....it should say: "Spending $150K on a social worker degree is not cost-effective."

I was in a similar situation...I graduated with a degree in psychology. Now, if you have any brains, you know that the BS degree is worthless...if you intend to make any money at all, you need a MS at the very least, or a Ph.D more likely.

My first few years out of college, I made $15K as a social worker. However, I went to law school and now make much more than $15K. Moreover, my earning potential is limitless.

Some people are just clueless...and they deserve what they get.

[eastforker]

Agreed, pipe-fitters, plumbers, boilermakers, carpenters, cabinet makers, satellite techs, home theater techs and a variety of other vocations pay very well.

[An Old Marine]

It comes as a shock to many kids that all that time and money spent on college only allows them to start at the bottom somewhere.

And I question whether college is really worth the investment these days. First I question that college prepares many people in many disciplines to actually do something that pays. Secondly I have come to see that many jobs requiring huge educational benefits really do not pay. Perhaps the colleges should review their "product" is not defective.

My youngest son passed up a college education to start his own business (making reproduction antique autos) and hasn't looked back. I think he is right.

[Conservatrix]

Wow. How a propos.
I am 43 and finishing grad school with 6 kids. IT has been very tough. I went back to school (and even finished my undergrad) late in life because financially my husband is not well enough to work much of the time.

Anyway, what is dspressing is that in my field I can barely break the 40K mark-- with a MASTERS. WHat is even more pathetic is that a person with a doctorate in my field is barely making 43K... with all of THAT!

I probably would have done something in computers if I had realized... I really did not realize how tough the market was when I went back to school. I though things were going to be relatively easy for me, but they are NOT!!!
If you guys are the praying kind, pray that the right position will open for me so that I can provide for my children. I will be graduating in May. THANKS.

[Iron Eagle]

This woman is an idiot! She is making cash, having her salary undoubtedly underreported. Not having SS withheld at the proper rate -- ripping herself off if she lives long enough. Besides, what's the salary ceiling for a waitress in Pittsburgh. Not much, and it won't go up with age.

Of course one starts at an entry level job with a low salary -- Surprise!!!! 14 years ago my wife started from college with a communications/marketing degree. Her first job paid her 21K. When she left the market place two years ago to stay home with the kids, she was making close to 90K.

When I went back t school at night at age 24, I had a full-time job making 26K after 7 years! I earned my degree, got an advanced degree (law) and in 10 short years increased my 6 fold. (If I had decided to stay with my pre-college job, I would be at about 34K right now. Hmm -- what a dummy I must be.

Then, let's also consider some other factors. Mr. Waitress -- unless she is hitting on the customers -- has not really increased her prospects for meeting a high income earner. (not that income is everything, but professional tend to meet people where they work, fall in love in and among the same circles, and the rest is history. Who is she dating, the busboy?

One thing seems painfully obvious, this woman's family wasted its money on her! And, one more thing seems obvious, I will wind-up supporting this woman if we both live to old age.

Next time I am in the Steel City, I will leave her a tip. "think long term"

BTW -- my brother spent 7 years going to school. He started at age 32 -- with three kids. He made pizzas and cut lawns. He graduated three years ago, finally. He took a pay cut that first year too. He just passed his CPA license and he now makes 15K more than he did before, and he has benefits, 401k etc.

Every single analysis shows that projected over time, getting a college degree dramatically separates one from those with a high school degree as time goes by. The parties often start near parity -- depending on the degree of course -- with degree holds doubling the salaries within 15-20 years.

[JustRight]

I see people with all kinds of degrees that seem to believe that simply having a degree means they are good at what they do. A business degree gives you the fundamentals of business, an engineering degree gives you the fundamentals of engineering. What you do with that fundamental knowledge is what makes you a good businessman or engineer.

The problem with Liberal Arts degrees is they don't give you a foundation for doing any job. When someone hires a LA grad, they know they have to teach them the very basics of any job.

[keats5]

My 16 year old son wants to be a cop. Any advice, FReepers?

[hgro]

Nothing is an excuse for not going after a good education. The bell shaped curve takes care of who succeeds and who fails. This thinking that we shouldn't compete in life is as loony as Clinton having a BJ in the oval office.

[RexBeach]

Well, I majored in history and am now on my third career. I graduated from college more than 30 years ago, so I have achieved a modicum of success in each field.

The waitress in the story proves, I guess, that not everyone needs or should go to college. On the other hand, it may be just as simple as this: She's got rocks in her head.

Fiat Lux et Veritas!

Viva Bush!

[Protagoras]

Darn food service jobs. If we didn't allow all that freedom this girl could be sewing T shirts together for $6 bucks and hour like the isolations want her to do!

[socal_parrot]

My wife started as a customer service clerk in electronic component distribution 25 years ago and is now the COO of a company with 150 million in annual sales. She has no college degree.

That being said, we are extremists when it comes to our daughters getting their college diplomas.

[StoneColdGOP]

Amen. Two BA's and I can't do a thing with 'em.

A masters degree MIGHT be worth the time and trouble now for me, except I can't afford to pay for it and have no time to earn it.

[DM1]

If one wants to make a decent salary either take business, accounting or programming. everything else is either extremely low paying or the field is saturated ie lawyers

[pabianice]

Let us not overlook these shining majors of future unemployability:

Women's Studies

Victims' Studies

Black Studies

"All evil white European straight males must die!"

[MplsSteve]

I can kinda identify with where this woman is coming from.

My degree is in Political Science. Most Pol Sci jobs paid terribly and I wasn't willing to wait for something really nice to open...so I looked elsewhere and work for a stock brokerage firm.

Yeah, Washington DC is probably more fun than sitting in a cubicle but the pay is much better right now.