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USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
51–60 of 261 posts
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty sure that an MSW is required to be a social worker in my county; not sure if it's a statewide requirement in CA.
What’s the reasoning behind this? Like librarians, firefighters and cops often serve as de-facto social workers… And sure they can’t handle the most complex cases. But a lot of times someone’s problem might boil down to something simple, like they just need shoes or a meal.
My guess is it's liability. 99% of the policies that the department of social services has is to cover their asses when they get sued. The remaining 1% sometimes manages to help people as well.
I should note that a lot of the work for open cases goes to (lower paid) case-aids, and certain things can be delegated to volunteers (e.g. I've provided transportation to school for kids who were placed in a foster house outside their school district).
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
OTOH, you have schools like (the actual) Georgia Tech offering an online MS in CS for an affordable price: https://omscs.gatech.edu/
I wish they had something like this for undergrad.
University of London offers a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Computer Science degree - https://www.coursera.org/degrees/bachelor-of-science-compute....
Full disclosure: I work at Coursera.
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#54not to be too cold about the real people hurt by the mischaracterization, but... My local ferrari dealership basically implies my life will be perfect (all the pretty women will fawn over me!!) if I just buy one of their cars. America made these institutions into for profit companies. We have to stop giving them the goodwill we'd afford to altruistic/idealistic academic institutions. Yes USC has a "not for profit" la…
Exactly. I used to consider academia as a separate entity from the private sector, thinking it was full of altruistic individuals wanting to further the knowledge of humanity. Then I started seeing that most colleges operate as tax-exempt businesses with different marketing strategies, products and target consumers. They're just layers of bureaucracy while those delivering the most value (professors) regularly get tr…
In my experience its split within the university itself, with most of the actual academics being lower paid and about furthering knowledge and teaching. The other administrative departments are the ones with questionable utility and motives, its like they're being taken over by MBAs
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#55I think the biggest reason why the price is so high (beyond the brand, and the fact that the government policy results in everyone getting whatever loan amount they want) is because they're contractually required to share a huge chunk of that money with 2U (the same company that bought EDx's assets).
The article mentions that the old contract stated that about 60% of revenue gets shared with 2U but then there was a revision to the contract so it's not clear what the current figure is but even if they lowered it to 40-55%, that's still a huge chunk of change for basically running ads to target students into the funnel. It's actually sickening that the contract extends to 2030.
So USC is only getting $115,000 * .4 = $46,000 which while still high is substantially lower and sounds like a reasonable amount to offer the degree at. I'm not sure why they haven't built out an internal function since and tried to get out of the contract.
For the peak year of graduation mentioned (2017, 1500 students), 2U's take at the 60% figure is ginormous. $115k * 1500 students * 0.6. = $103.5 million.
Anyway there's so much wrong with what's happening here.
EDIT: I just re-read the article, it seems like the 1500 figure is a combination of in-person and online graduates for the year 2017. Still the premise holds true: a 60% take rate is excessive.
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#56That's a great way to tarnish all USC alumni. I hope they give the school an earful for this disgusting practice.
I don't know that USC was that prestigious outside of the sports/marching band arenas. But charging the same price for online is horrible. Honestly, though, it says a lot about CSUs that you can go there, borrow two thirds less, and still make more money than a USC grad.
USC is just as prestigious as UCLA. They've easily got the most prestigious film program in the world.
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#57Low-ranking but expensive private colleges are such a racket, overall. Paying $100k for Brown has a way higher ROI than paying $100k for No-name U.
I think the biggest difference in college since I went to school is that the gap between the cost of an elite school and a random state-school has narrowed significantly. I had a friend who paid his way through college with summer construction jobs and graduated with about $10k in debt. People who were willing to work part-time during the school year could graduate debt free. Tuition at an exclusive liberal arts scho…
UIUC instate total cost is 30k a year, including room/board. If you're working full time and living a poverty lifestyle you can graduate debt free easily enough, especially if you get prestigious internships.
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#58Seems like people have been warned about this stuff for over a decade now and we keep hearing about it. When will students stop taking the bait?
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#59USC's Computer Science Master's is also a degree mill, particularly targeting foreign students who must pay full tuition in cash.
Almost all computer science masters programs exist to take money from foreign students who are looking to gain residency.
Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts
#60not to be too cold about the real people hurt by the mischaracterization, but... My local ferrari dealership basically implies my life will be perfect (all the pretty women will fawn over me!!) if I just buy one of their cars. America made these institutions into for profit companies. We have to stop giving them the goodwill we'd afford to altruistic/idealistic academic institutions. Yes USC has a "not for profit" la…
Your Ferrari dealer at least has a point though. You also can get most of your money back if you decide to sell later.