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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

#171

Post by rripken »

echelon wrote: post #34
namelessoracle wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The failure rate is very high from what I hear. Which i guess is the best way to tell if a program is legit.

It is. It's a legitimate degree and they won't let you slack off. Some of the classes have a metric ton of homework and projects, and the deadlines can be pretty rough. I know my coworker was sweating after work a few times (this was pre-pandemic) and told me they'd be spending a few evenings implementing project work.

Just a few evenings? I spent entire weekends, sometimes all-nighters and even taking days off from work to finish big assignments. But I was working full-time with a significant commute and family responsibilities. Btw, I enjoyed every minute of it.

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

#172

Post by romwell »

david38 wrote: post #151
999900000999 wrote: post #106

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 3…

Yes, adults can make poor choices. Agreed. Said choices should be constrained though. She wouldn't be allowed to buy a 300k car with no possibility of bankruptcy. The lender is made of adults as well. They also made poor choices. Why is a group of adults hiding behind a piece of paper allowed to be saved from their poor choices while an individual not?

>Why is a group of adults hiding behind a piece of paper allowed to be saved from their poor choices while an individual not?

Because rich people lending money to poor people needs to be a risk-free endeavor backed up by the state. This way, it's easier for the banks to make money.

And at the same time, it's easy to spin predatory lending as "helping out" when it shouldn't exist to begin with, and victim-blame people who are taken advantage of (which, in the case of student loans, is children: college applications are sent out well before a typical freshman turns 18).

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

#173

Post by notJim »

psyc wrote: post #167
zsmi wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. I thought everyone knew they drive trains.

And I thought everyone here knew they make React apps.

Im pretty sure they evaluate the structural soundness of buildings.

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

#174

Post by notJim »

jdavis703 wrote: post #48
aidenn0 wrote: post #43

Earlier 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 dad was an lcsw and it’s nothing like what you’re describing. A lot of what he did was counseling people with very serious mental health issues and trauma, often with criminal histories. He was specifically involved in helping people find careers and housing that would allow them to build a stable life. These people had such difficult backgrounds that it took counseling just to get them to that point.

I would also add that if you follow the news in the us, it certainly seems like cops need far more training for dealing with these issues.

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

#175

Post by ttcbj »

999900000999 wrote: post #106

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 3…

My favorite idea for this issue is that the gov't should pay for college, except it should pay a multiple of the student's increase in earned taxable income averaged over the 5 years preceding and following the degree. High school students would have near zero income, so it would mostly be a multiple of their 5 year average income after graduation.

This pays directly for what the gov't wants (increase in the student's productive utility in the economy), it correlates increasing expenditures with increasing long term tax income, and I think in the long term it would create structural incentives guiding students towards more practical degrees.

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

#176

Post by notJim »

colinmhayes wrote: post #57
aidenn0 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I worked 20 hrs a week steadily while getting my degree and it was pretty difficult. Working full time would be super hard. You would also miss a lot of the other benefits of the school because you’d be at work all the time. If someone could work part time and graduate with a minor amount of debt, that would be far better IMO.

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

#177

Post by BizarroLand »

NateEag wrote: post #79
InitialLastName wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The fields are worthless. You realize we're talking about social work here, right? God forbid someone help people with their work rather than find ways to lubricate an advertising delivery system at a FAANG.

Not OP, but I suspect they call the field "useless" based on the belief that social work doesn't achieve its aims, not on the grounds that the aims are bad.

Either that or they're judging the career based on its lifetime potential remuneration and not the internal passion of the pursuer or the external social value it provides. Social workers, like teachers and janitors are vastly undervalued for what they provide (in optimal circumstances).

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

#178

Post by dillondoyle »

999900000999 wrote: post #106

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 3…

I agree with poor choices with a big caveat on regulating super shady behavior and marketing.

We should make students sign a single page summary (or warning in many cases) just like when getting a mortgage.

Our company makes __ profit, future graduate income average/mean, % of graduates who get a coding job within 1, 5 years. Etc

And I think restrictions on marketing bs for-profit 'trade schools' and 'coding bootcamps' to ensure a minimum curriculum and education. Make bait and switching more difficult.

Especially with for profit schools. Plus it seems many Universities will contract out a 'bootcamp' using the schools built up brand and it's not even connected to he actual school.

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

#179

Post by abeyer »

notJim wrote: post #173
psyc wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I thought everyone here knew they make React apps.

Im pretty sure they evaluate the structural soundness of buildings.

I thought they were supposed to disrupt the whole industry of evaluating building structures while developing a react app to drive trains remotely as a side hustle?

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

#180

Post by rahimnathwani »

jeffy90 wrote: post #142
ndesaulniers wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Adults have a right to make poor choices. Perhaps, but I do think we should defend the stupid from predators and predatory behaviors. > Why in God's name would you go 300k in debt to make 50k ? Takes money to make money. What's the break-even point? That 300k is a one time cost; that 50k is recurring yearly.

I guess the question should be why would you spend 300k at USC to make 50k, when you could spend 50k somewhere else to make the same 50k.

Or spend $0 to make 50k.
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