More damaging news for "For-Profits".

Interesting article: Kaplan U. among schools under fire - Education - MiamiHerald.com :bigeyes:

I specially like the way Kaplan University defines success, a few for your enjoyment:
Bittel wrote that her school routinely stretched the truth when classifying graduates as having found work in their respective fields. Examples included:

• A Game Art and Design student -- trained to create video games -- who after completing a bachelor's degree program took a job working at Toys R Us, in the video game department. The student had amassed $100,000 in debt, was earning $8.90 an hour, and Bittel said she was pressured to classify him as successfully employed because his knowledge would ``help customers decide which games to purchase.''

• A Graphic Design student working at Starbucks could be categorized as successfully placed because their creative skills were used when ``making signs for daily specials and menus.''

• A Residential Planning Graduate, working in a gas station convenience store, could be deemed successfully placed because those same planning skills were being used to arrange displays of candy bars.

These are classic. :yikes:

 

There's a storm brewing...

 

Classic, perhaps, but representative? I know graduates with degrees from state universities with similar lowly jobs. I knew a janitor at Wal Mart with a bachelor of social work degree from Cal State L.A. Would it be fair to denigrate the entire California State University system based on that?

I know a number of local people in my city with degrees from a for-profit university who are making six figure salaries. Why do the newspapers and Senator Harkin never mention people like that?

 

Where did you get from reading any of the above that them being able (or not to) to find work had anything do with the topic? I think the meat of the above was their lack of standards when creating their own data about their graduates. Do you think any of the examples above actually got their jobs because of their degree? The fact is when data like the above comes out in its true form it is damaging and they are putting a spin in their favor.

"Yes, they did rack up a six figure student loan debt with us but they got a job that high school students usually take making $6.00 an hour. We call that success."

 

There was a related story in yesterday's Los Angeles Times
Personal Finance: Scrutinize for-profit colleges before enrollingSome experts say the graduates of such campuses are often ill-prepared for work, deeply in debt and unable to transfer their units to other schools. Here are some areas to look into. -

 

I agree with Anthony here, this cannot be representative of the whole. I have to believe there will be a standard distribution of some kind based on aptitude and ability to sell. I represent the polar opposite of the spectrum for this article. I graduated back in '08 with $16K investment into my BS, and now I make $46/hour in a related field. I broke "even" 1.5 years ago.

For the kid that wound up at "Toys 'R Us", that was not a career-enhancing move. Personally, I would have shopped around nation-wide until something in the field of study popped up (even if it's slave labor), then built off of that. The position he's in now at Toys 'R Us leaves with little no chance to maneuver, and the more dust that settles on his degree the more pigeon-holed he will be.

Perhaps the solution is a career-planning class on top of the curriculum? Emphasize timing, opportunity, etc?

 

Bingo. That stated, most people working in game design do not have degrees in game design, and the whole game design degree phenomena is pretty much what the true game gods laugh at over lunch. Far more carry CS or Psych degrees.

 

Yes it sounds like dead end job but these kind of jobs can turn out to be very rewarding - learn what goes on, be a good and reliable worker, keep your eye on internal job postings, keep up to date on the company (wall st journal, annual reports, etc), and who knows what opportunities will turn up. I've met quite a few people who started out a hamburger joints, supermarkets, and minor aerospace industry jobs that have grown into great paying jobs. In these times I say land a job anywhere and work on promotions.