On OAN today, a couple who won’t have paid-off their school loans until he is 72.
When we were told to work 8 hrs extra per week for no additional money all of my BS peers saluted and did so. I didn't. I was eventually "let go" and that was such a happy day.
There’s a quick way to fix this “problem.” Tie student loan interest rates (and Pell Grant awards)to the demand for the particular job or career associated with a specific degree or technical training program.
Using that approach, someone majoring in accounting, engineering or IT (and maintaining at least a C average) would get a low-or-no interest loan, and immediate forgiveness upon graduation (with at least a 3.7 GPA), or a few years down the road if they maintain employment in their field and attain professional certifications. The same rules would apply to students in high demand technical programs ranging from mechatronics to welding.
At the other end of the spectrum, someone wanting to major in a discipline with minimal employment prospects (gender studies, African-American studies, art history, psychology, etc) would pay double-digit interest on their loans, with no possibility of forgiveness unless they join the military and qualify for one of the armed forces repayment programs.
The taxpayer should not be subsidizing worthless degrees or vocational programs. Any student who took the same econ course twice (and supposedly didn’t realize it) is not worthy of the title “college graduate.” No wonder it took him six years to earn a bachelor’s in poly sci.
The title doesn’t match the article perfectly.
The article is interesting and worth a read. Batchelor’s degrees as per the stats in the article still make a huge difference salary-wise eventually. The article is more about changing the bachelor’s degree format, allowing trades and specializations (interests) to be learned first so the student can start work, and then finishing up with two years of general Ed that by that time the student may actually be interested in learning.
Not sure I agree with that.
We may need something more radical. Certainly, university degrees are expensive and don’t always pay off. The professors are nearly all of a kind outside of the science and tech courses. Maybe we do need internship scholars for the four years after high school. Pick a profession and learn it on the job half days while learning the appropriate book stuff the other half. It just seems wiser, and would be cheaper. Let the successful earn a bit from the government for following along with the curriculum with their apprenticeships, let the apprentice earn a low wage, and pay much less for the part time studies.
As with cancer, as with any moneymaking industry, the convention is to NEVER CHANGE lest the gravy stops flowing. But as with cancer, we can do better.
The very bottom line, IMHO, for the American education system is it no longer meets the needs of the students; it does, however, meet very well the needs of the teachers at all levels.
In 2010 there was a critically acclaimed movie “Waiting for Superman” that took a real hard look at what the American education system has become - it wasn’t a very pretty picture. One of the many things that caught my attention was the changes to the American society that our education system ignores.
The education system is based on America immediately following World War II. Since then how many industrial jobs, heavy and light, have gone overseas? That was where a bulk of our high school graduates were headed. Those in the middle were headed for mid-level management jobs. Guess where they went when the manufacturing jobs moved overseas? The upper 10-15% were college bound destined to be upper management and inventors developing new industries and the jobs to go with them. We have all heard politicians of various strips talk about the loss of jobs overseas but no one understood the impact.
So, what was the education system’s solution? Well, since al of the educators graduated college and got reasonable jobs the obvious solution was everyone goes to college. I will not address the impact that has had because there isn’t enough room to list even the basic impacts.
Where are we going with this? I can easily foresee menial jobs requiring a Masters Degree because the educators say so.
Potential employer: “What BS degree do you have?”
Me: “I am pretty good in all forms of BS”
Potential employer: “You are management material”
The guy who spent 6 years pursing a degree in political science was playing professional student to avoid having to earn a living. He was avoiding work by hiding in school. When graduation day arrived, his hiding place was gone. His attitude didn't change. He's still hiding from work and doesn't have skills that anyone really wants.
I would urge any young person to go to a trade school or even earn a two year degree in something that is in demand rather than go four years and not be able to get a job.
Besides, the trades pay pretty well. Better than alot of people get with 4 year degrees.
Thoughtful article. But what she is really writing about and doesn’t know it is the death and offshoring of the American manufacturing economy, and the greed and overregulation of the corporate business world, where all kinds of non-nerds could once have found gainful employment.
this is my alma matter...
York Road U. Two Cent University.
I graduated from TSU in the spring of 1984 after 3.5 years. with a BA in Mass Communications. been in the Bidness since then with a happy career, though only as lucrative as i meant it to be... freelancing for the first 24 years...
something tells me, if you take 6 years to graduate, then college might not be for you...
I know there are many times a college grad can’t get a job,but I also know that many times the opportunities in a skilled trade are not real good either. It just depends on the skilled trade you get into & what the opportunities are where you live. Training for a skilled trade could leave you owing for a school loan,plus tools needed for your trade & starting out in a situation that pays less than a living. You may have to work for years to get anywhere,but in the meantime are starving to death. Or,you might do well if you have the skills & find the right situation.
I know there are many times a college grad can’t get a job,but I also know that many times the opportunities in a skilled trade are not real good either. It just depends on the skilled trade you get into & what the opportunities are where you live. Training for a skilled trade could leave you owing for a school loan,plus tools needed for your trade & starting out in a situation that pays less than a living. You may have to work for years to get anywhere,but in the meantime are starving to death. Or,you might do well if you have the skills & find the right situation.