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USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

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Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#101

Post by lazerpants »

bluedevil2k wrote: post #68
cobookman wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US Government gets paid back also through tax revenues on the salaries of the school, salaries of studends, expenditures of the schools to US based companies, etc. It might still be favorable for the US Tax Payer even if these loans end up un-paid.

I don't know what colleges you're looking at, but you're misguided if you think colleges spend 100% of the tuition they receive. Schools like Harvard, Yale, Duke, etc. have multi-billion dollar endowments that just keep growing. Many colleges have so much money coming in and are forced to spend to keep their non-profit status that they build opulent dorm rooms, buildings they don't need, and have more Vice Provosts t…

Most universities I'm familiar with spend 100% of their tuition on operations and some amount over that from endowment income. While they do have endowments, those are restricted and cannot be used for anything except their contractually agreed to purpose (scholarships, faculty lines, research for xyz thing, etc.).

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#102

Post by kenchan »

ilamont wrote: post #94
varispeed wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What job can you get after liberal arts degree? I am guessing politics?

Depends on the degree and the person. I completed a history degree. For my thesis I carried out a computer content analysis of Xinhua (新華社), China’s official news agency, to gauge Beijing’s foreign policy priorities in Southeast Asia during the Deng Xiaoping era. My faculty advisor said that I could get a job as an analyst if I were willing to move to Washington (I was not interested in doing this).

> Depends on the degree and the person.

I graduated with a Psychology degree. I worked at a lot of BS jobs after college from recruiting and customer service which lead me to pursue sales for more money. Did sales for about seven years for various industries, left sales about two years ago, and now I work in totally different field that funny enough isn't customer facing. Being under 40, I'm proud to say that I am very close to what I feel is financial freedom.

Anecdotally, one of my friend circles consists of some engineers, doctors, lawyers, CEOs - you get it, the book smart people. Very well educated, went to prestigious universities, earned their highly respected degrees, etc. Most of them today are solidly traffic jammed in the rat race like the majority of society.

I have another friend circle, not nearly as educated as the friends highlighted above, who some are sitting on multi-million stock portfolios/assets/whatever. One of them who really stands out paid one of our other friend to write all his papers in college. Think he barely squeezed out a C average.

It really depends on the person. I work for an Elon Musk company if anyone cares.

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#103

Post by bklyn11201 »

vgeek wrote: post #99
bklyn11201 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vast majority of elite institutions are completely unwilling to take the risks to capture 100% of the online revenue pie: a) They are unwilling to spend lots of money on upfront content development costs without knowing future revenue. b) They are unwilling to hire a bunch of temporary workers to help spin up new content and then re-allocate them. c) They are unwilling to adopt (aggressive) modern marketing techn…

All of these are true except for d and e. I get multiple calls per week some weeks asking for donations from various deparments, having never donated to my college and demonstrated no willingness to do so. If they can panhandle from alumni, why not call prospective students? Too low of an ROI or are they just playing hard to get?

I believe the difference is that institutions are using scholarship students to warm call alumni for donations vs. online program managers using large, paid call centers. I think it's just a different magnitude of marketing.

Non-profits in general are using more and more professional calling services. Maybe they keep the easy (warm) calls in-house and then outsource all the more difficult calls to an outside service.

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#104

Post by klipklop »

varispeed wrote: post #85
ilamont wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Harvard Extension grad here. Even though most people taking Extension School classes are casual class-takers, the liberal arts degree programs for undergraduates and graduate students are well established ( https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/10/7/extension-schoo... ). While the Extension School does offer certificate programs, it's the Harvard Business School that has really benefited IMHO. They are really pushi…

What job can you get after liberal arts degree? I am guessing politics?

Or any other tech company that you can pass the interview bar for. I know plenty of people working at FAANG with a liberal arts degree or no degree at all.

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#105

Post by 908B64B197 »

vgeek wrote: post #5

Colleges have been quietly expanding the last 10-15 years with programs like these. They do it discreetly, sometimes with different campuses across town or simply online. From what I've seen, they may be an entirely separate school so as to not be reported on the same way (a 7% acceptance rate and high job placement rates at blue chip firms makes a difference when the major currency of universities is prestige), sinc…

> On LinkedIn I frequently see Harvard listed on profiles, but upon digging in, it is Harvard Extension School which mostly seems to offer certificates.

This becomes awkward when interviewing if there's a real Harvard grad in the room. Invariably the first question they'll ask is which house the candidate was in.

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#106

Post by 999900000999 »

Ehh eh.

I went to a CSU for like 6k a year.

If you want to be elitist and attend the most expensive school possible, you have to eventually pay for it.

> Ms. Fowler, a 2018 graduate, enjoyed the program but owes $307,000 in total student-loan debt, including about $200,000 from the master’s degree. She said she earns $48,000 as a community mental-health therapist in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

This translates into paying 300k to feel prestigious. At dinner parties she gets to tell everyone about how she's a USC grad.

Adults have a right to make poor choices.

That said, having a hard cap of 100k unless enrolling in a high paid field ( Dr , Lawyer, anything that requires a state sanctioned license) would be a good idea.

The problem with Student Loan forgiveness is it would typically help the highest paid Americans. Most people with 100k plus in loans also make very good money.

Why in God's name would you go 300k in debt to make 50k ?

I see the same problem with boot camps, instead of accepting that building a six-figure career just takes a while, people want a shortcut. I got to six-figure figures without even having a BA, but it took a long time in a lot of very hard work.

Actually it only took me about 3 years from dropping out of college to my first six-figure job, but I was programming at least 40 hours a week back then. This was after work of course. Even now I'm off and happiest when I'm building my side projects.

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#107

Post by strix_varius »

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #62
nsxwolf wrote: post #58

Seems 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?

When people can make middle class livings again without being shut out of a job for lack of a college degree. My previous job I worked at required a Bachelors in business of any kind. I got it because I worked at the company and basically beat out external candidates even though I didn't have a degree. Know what it paid? $15/hr. This is why people are duped into college degrees.

I don't have a degree, but I have an excellent job, and I used to consider myself lucky to be a tech-based outlier. But given how much I've paid this year for refinishing hardwood floors, installing gas lines, plumbing, and electrical work, I now wonder if tech is really that unique.

The contractors I talk to are booked out for weeks, and I need their expertise much more than they need my business. I'm not convinced that lacking a degree shuts people out of good jobs. My cynical take is that there's a mismatch between what people are willing and able to do, and what activities are valuable.

Most people aren't willing to work inside peoples' mouths all day. Dentists make bank. The HN crowd notwithstanding, most people would hate carefully crafting digital products all day. Software devs make bank. Most people aren't willing to crawl underneath houses to hook up potentially-dangerous electric/gas lines. etc.

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#108

Post by heisenbit »

vondur wrote: post #31

Just a casual looks shows that salaries in the Social Work field don't pay that well. I'm not sure how getting a Masters Degree will help someone. I see this in some other fields here at the University I work at. Students will get a degree that has a limited job outlook, and in order to actually get a job in that field, they believe getting a Masters will help them out in the long run, but often times does not. If I…

I can imagine some degrees making sort of sense done online but social which needs so much human context?

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#109

Post by dgritsko »

echelon wrote: post #23
m0lecules wrote: post #12

Earlier 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/

This is the university that started it all. They've had the program for about a decade now, and they do a ridiculously good job. [1] It's a rigorous degree, they only admit a limited number of students (so your application has to be reasonable), and it's completely affordable. It's also indistinguishable from their on-campus MS in CS. It doesn't say you took it "online" after you graduate. Georgia Tech is a pretty ou…

I was lucky enough to be part of the first cohort admitted to the OMSCS program, and completed it while working full time. It was a fantastic experience that I'm very thankful for, but it was one of the most challenging things I've ever done.

Re: USC pushed a $115k online degree – graduates got low salaries, huge debts

#110

Post by zeropoint46 »

fifthofhisname wrote: post #78
zeropoint46 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish they had something like this for undergrad.

Oregon State University offers an online B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering. [0] They also offer an accelerated course if you already have an undergrad degree (e.g. for those looking for a career change). [1] [1] https://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/online-degrees/undergraduate... [0] https://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/online-degrees/undergraduate...

thank you for this. I looked at this a while ago and forgot about it, I think I'll have a look again.
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