Is it even worth it to go to college for many students?

The Associated Press: 1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed

Now I'm not opposed to college per se but it seems to me if half the students either don't have a job or are getting jobs that at most one could get with an associates degree at most then is college now a good option?

I will note this is not due to a degree not having benefits to the person just earning one but when you add in the debt, lost years one could be working or go to a less intensive option (an associates degree, trade school diploma or certification) and then work it might not be the best choice. And this doesn't include those that quit before earning a degree if I recall the actual graduates are a minority percentage from those who enter colleges.

I just think for the majority of young people its not a good option anymore.

 

Plus there is that elephant in the room statistic that most colleges do not acknowledge: Number of students who start as Freshmen vs. how many actually complete the degree. I bet it is not above 70%. So it seems, that at least for those 30% who go and never graduate, that college would not be worth it. And if you add in the ones who get worthless degrees and are unable to find gainful employment there a lot of students who indeed should not be in college. Try telling parents that their kid should not go to college. Good luck with that one.

 

A college degree is only worth if it has ROI. A college degree does not guarantee employment. Those unemployed students try to sue New York Law School are pathetic, if they are not smart enough to do a simple research and calculation; then they are not smart enough to go to college.

To be honest, I really want to have a Ph.D over a DSc or DCS; however, if I attend Capella University for a Ph.D I have to pay lot of money out of my pocket. The reason I am doing DCS at ColoradoTech because I want to stay in technical side; besides, I am entitle to 1 1/2 years of post 9/11 GI Bill. Colorado Technical University is the only school that I know giving full VA Housing allowance. Therefore, I want to save that housing allowance for the remaining of the program tuition. At that point I walk out with a Doctorate degree without owning any student loan. Even though I don't get a job at that point, I have nothing to lose.

 

These days, young folks without connections have 4 options:
A) Gain specialized IN DEMAND skills
B) Gain a college degree
C) A & B (ideal choice)
4) Enjoy your career at Walmart or McDonald's

In the short-term, option A is the best choice. In the long term, option C is the best choice. These new graduates are facing the problem that although they have a degree, they really don't know how to DO anything. In the old days, these kids would be picked up by a corporation and trained for a certain position. Now, many companies are not willing to invest in educating/training these kids. As a result, these kids are excerting a HUGE downward pressure on folks without degrees by competing for the few premium jobs that were available to non-degree holders (fireman, police, administrative assistants, office workers,etc).

20 years ago, if you were reasonably well spoken, a high school graduate, and could type, you could find a job with the the municipal, state, or federal government in my state, or you could get some other type of office job. Today, you are now competing with people who have bachelors degrees. Check out how many bank tellers have degrees now, as an example. What I am interested in seeing is how these kids fare in 10 years.

Going the specialized skill route is a great initial choice. However, in many cases, these folks will eventually hit a wall in their career because they do not have a degree. Most of my buddies who got into IT without a degree, but with specialized skills eventually went back to school (or are in school now) because they need a degree to advance. You can still get an entry level IT helpdesk job with no degree and a few certs (A+ Network+, etc), but eventually you are going to need a degree for advancement.

 

For at least 25 years people have been writing on the financial benefits (or lack of them) of a degree. For instance in The Case Against College, Caroline Bird compared the cost of going to Princeton for four years with putting the equivalent amount of money in a CD, vis a vis the increased earnings the degree might produce. Her conclusion was that the non-student would earn much more over the 50 years doing nothing than the Princeton grad would doing fourr years of college and 46 years of work. Of course there are flaws and nuances, but the general philosophy of the approach has merit for some people.

And then there is the matter of degrees being necessary for jobs. The research for the book The Great Training Robbery suggests that in many jobs where some employers rquire degrees and some don't -- lab technicians, air traffic contollers etc. -- the ones without degrees do just as well, often better..

 

But, but, but……for 40+ years kids have been told to go get a university degree to live the dream! I guess we will have more bachelor’s level grads doing what high-schoolers used to do.

Must be time to really start pushing the technical associate degree after a bachelors degree so we can have (potentially well) educated technicians, mechanics, plumbers and etc., I guess. :arms:

Actually I’ve been pushing technical associate degrees for many years. Getting a bachelors or higher after gaining skills is a good route for many! hone:

 

"To get an MBA or NOT"
[video=youtube;4PSR09ZSfTY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PSR09ZSfTY[/video]

 

Just do it.

 

While I think that most people would benefit from some sort of post-high school training I also think that college is not for everyone. I would also add that I think there is some sub-set of people who will not make good use of a college experience directly after high school but could be excellent college students at some point later in their lives. I think that going to college just because you can't think of anything else to do is generally a waste of time and money.

 

Totally agree!

 

If I had known when I was in high school about CLEP testing and the Big 3 schools I would have graduated college at 18 or 19 while I worked and picked up my certs along the way. This would have saved me a lot of wasted time sitting in US History I and II in college. Its the same argument for taking AP classes in high school. Why not get college credit and skip those classes? I had a live in girlfriend and an apartment, a job, and some cats while in college so the college experience as a commuter student was really not a big part of my life.

 

I found out about CLEP test my freshman year. Unfortunately, the school I transfered to my sophomore year did not accept CLEP. Even if I knew about TESC, I probably would have made the same college choices, since my parents were paying for it. Had I been required to pay for it myself, I might have gone the TESC route, or at least stayed at Western Illinois University and done a bunch of CLEP tests.

The only advantage the state school I originally went to had over schools like TESC and COSC was the abundant supply of friendly girls as a result of living in the dorms. Then again, that is a pretty big advantage. I agree with ryoder in that if I had to be a commuter student I would not have wasted my money paying for a "butt in seat" college education. I would have absolutely gone the TESC, COSC route.

 

I hear ya mcjon about the dorms. Thats why I stated that I had a girlfriend the entire time Those bennies were denied to me

 

I completely agree... People should study in areas that will produce a marketable degree. I'm choosing to study in Psychology because I want to go into the education field and later pursue a Masters in either Counseling or Psychology to facilitate classes online. This is my personal goal. However, people who choose to pursue a degree in fields that are not as marketable may suffer a difficult climb up Corporate America. My original major was in Music, but I realized that wasn't the smartest field to major in. That's why I changed, plus I also didn't have much time to focus on music and work full time. (For those of you interested in what field of music, I was a voice major. I even performed at Carnegie Hall in NY in 2005. Those were great times).

However, I still believe a student doesn't have to stop pursing something they love, but it would be wiser to go in a field that produces a larger ROI. For example, I can always sing and if I wanted to; I can sing at my local community college to fulfill my love for music. It's inexpensive way to still do what you like while completing my Bachelors in a more marketable field. *Just my $0.02*

 

Higher Education Costs - C-SPAN Video Library

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