Plan B - Skip College
nytimes.com
Plan B - Skip College
1–10 of 70 posts
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#2from: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7636561&page=1
"According to a survey from National Association of Colleges and Employers, the class of 2009 is leaving campus with fewer jobs in hand than their 2008 counterparts. The group's 2009 Student Survey found that just 19.7 percent of 2009 graduates who applied for a job actually have one."
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#3I've always wondered what the employment / income benefits for a degree are once you account for intelligence. It seems to be that there is a lot of schooling that goes unused.
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#4I've always wondered what the employment / income benefits for a degree are once you account for intelligence. It seems to be that there is a lot of schooling that goes unused.
I think you've pointed out the elephant in the room. In America it is politically incorrect to believe that some people might not have the cognitive capacity to excel in college and in jobs requiring college degrees. Every American is above average. If each citizen is not Bill Gates, it is because they are the victim of circumstance. Other people held them down, the system failed them. The successful must be condemned for prospering at their expense and another reform must be tried.
We would rather the vast cognitive middle class take out thousands of dollars in debt and drop out than "admit defeat" by encouraging them to pursue skilled careers in nursing, maintenance and repair, and etc. I am skeptical that the billions of dollars of tax money and individual money spent on the pipe dream of sending every person to college has been worth the expenditure.
Plans that ignore reality are doomed to failure, no matter how well-intentioned. And the reality is that not everyone is cut out for Harvard.
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#5I think what bothers me most when I read this sort of article is that it treats all college degrees as equivalent. They talk about average earnings potential and average unemployment rates, but they never break it down. If you get a B.Sc. instead of a B.A., how does that effect your chances?
Almost all my friends without some sort of technical degree (Chem, CompSci, Physics, Math, etc.) aren't working anywhere near their field of study. They paid tens of thousands of dollars so that they can be secretaries, waitresses, and ice cream parlour cashiers.
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#6I've always wondered what the employment / income benefits for a degree are once you account for intelligence. It seems to be that there is a lot of schooling that goes unused.
Shouldn't the degree reflect intelligence? If not, wtf is the point?
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#7I've always wondered what the employment / income benefits for a degree are once you account for intelligence. It seems to be that there is a lot of schooling that goes unused.
Shouldn't the degree reflect intelligence? If not, wtf is the point?
Rephrased:
Do people smart enough to get accepted to college earn the same amount whether they attend or not?
Or is actually attending college necessary to earn more because of knowledge imparted in classes?
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#8I've always wondered what the employment / income benefits for a degree are once you account for intelligence. It seems to be that there is a lot of schooling that goes unused.
I think you've pointed out the elephant in the room. In America it is politically incorrect to believe that some people might not have the cognitive capacity to excel in college and in jobs requiring college degrees. Every American is above average. If each citizen is not Bill Gates, it is because they are the victim of circumstance. Other people held them down, the system failed them. The successful must be condemne…
Exactly. The whole "anyone can do anything" culture in America has its benefits, but also its costs.
I personally think a good middle ground is to be sending far more students to community colleges. This doesnt immediately comdemn lower-level jobs to the truly determined (as they can transfer out), but it is far more affordable than a 4-year degree without much in the way of a loss of benefits for the students.
On the other hand, It seems like far too many jobs in the US require bachelors degrees these days. If a job doesnt require a specific major/set of majors in the posting, the work probably doesnt require a bacheolars at all.
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#9the income stats are a lie anyway
Re: Plan B - Skip College
#10the income stats are a lie anyway
Explain? Without more information this comment is useless.