Is College a Scam?

My Son, after graduation told me that a degree shows your prospective employer that you have the ability to learn.

This is where your degree comes into play......!!!!!!

 

Would there be no possible exceptions to this rule, daniel? Every winter, I take a ski trip with a bunch of friends from college. We rent a nice big house, a couple of vans/SUV's (which are fully packed with people and ski gear when we go most places), and have a good time. That first day in town, however, someone ends up going (with maybe 1 other passenger) to the grocery to load up for the week. Keep in mind we're feeding 20 hungry, physically active people for a full week here... the van or SUV comes back completely packed full (we're talking 5-7 over flowing shopping carts) with food. Would this not be an acceptable use, as transporting so much from the grocery would otherwise take multiple vehicles or multiple trips?

 

We're not very well educated if nobody has put up a nice flashy chart on this topic yet. They're so easy to find too:




Gah.. can't link to the pictures at this location: Job Salary Earnings Comparison - College Degrees and High School Diploma

In my profession, everyone under 55 has a bachelors in engineering, but I don't think there's a big benefit for going past a bachelors. OTOH, we're making way more than the average for a B.S. according to these charts, so maybe that's why.

 

No exceptions necessary. You've clearly demonstrated a need for a large vehicle for that trip. Of course, you'd probably be renting that vehicle since if you can't demonstrate a need for it the rest of the year it would be sitting idle.

 

In the technology field, please don't expect an AaS to get you much more than a "want fries with that?" job. Too much of it is outsourced/off-shored, and the salaries are dropping fast.

If you are good at technology, consider going all out for a BS (at least) in IT Management.

 

I'm very curious.......what does a 5-10 year experienced IT guy make in Minn. Are there plans for you to move into IT management ????

 

A formal education provides a number of things that very few people can get any other way.

A university/college/school is firstly a resource. Its entire purpose is the identification and distribution of knowledge. People who do well at identifying, memorizing, and regurgitating facts that instructors like will do well. Other people who are less obedient to authority won't get as good grades, but may well learn things that will prove useful as the business market changes.

The next thing is that it is an obstacle course. There are many documented rules that have to be followed in order complete a program. In addition to the documented rules, there are far more unwritten rules that govern success. Your ability to navigate all the obstacles and get a degree is regarded very highly by people who choose new employees.

The different schools carry different status when it comes to getting different jobs. This is where these new "for profit" schools really fall down. If a recruiter sells their school based on job opportunities, be extremely wary. High status schools restrict entry, not promote it. Harvard doesn't send out recruiters who extoll the job opportunities of their graduates.

So what good is an education? Your first priority seems to be the job opportunities, balanced by the cost of getting to those opportunities. There are a lot of other benefits to an education. The most important one I see is learning to learn. The specific facts that you learn about any technical field will be obsolete, or even just plain wrong only a few years after you leave the school. Knowing how to pick up new information is the the most basic skill required for survival in a changing world.

 

Remember that your major does not mean that is what you have to do either. I am a nuclear power trained former military guy with organizational management and educational degrees that works in IT.

Like someone said above, the piece of paper proves you can learn. The more technical the piece of paper the more technical you can learn.

We had engineers at the nuclear power plant that were english majors.

 

Stop that! We are trying to *improve* the image of nuclear power.



Tom

 

Interesting. 10% of people watch CSI and think there's a career there for all of them. I would bet at least 90% of those in criminal justice/forensics will end up working in something they didn't first consider, possibly quite a few in family services/foster care situations or assistants at personal injury law firms.

Other than that, it looks like people are choosing employable degrees. What happened to liberal arts & business? Is that not offered at the college you're going to?

 

While you're there you might want to sign up for a math/statistics class. 9 guys out of 80 to 100 = 5%??

 

Education IS the best long term investment you can make so the "expensive" thing is all relative. like any investment, it takes work, diligence and goal setting to achieve the desired dividend.

not all are fit for college, not all will see their goals thru and not all are prepared to determine what they will do with the rest of their lives at 20 when they are expected to select a major.

scam is is most definitely not. good for everyone it is most definitely not. but neither is anything else in this world.

should we reform the system. yes we should.

 

And, of course, now demonstrate that the ski trip itself is a 'need'.

 

If you decide to college-educate the whole country, then who's going to fix your plumbing or pick up your car when it dies on the freeway?

Have some respect for those who work hard for a living and make society function. My master's degree doesn't make me any better than the guy who picked up my trash this morning.

 

The US seriously needs a branch of the educational system that is oriented towards preparing people for the crafts. It should start with some exposure to doing useful things involving tools in middle school. Some exposure to the crafts with an emphasis on how things work and problem solving would actually benefit everyone.

There would need to be a balance of courses so that those who decided to later change from the crafts to professions could make the change without starting over, which is something the Community Colleges are good at helping people with today.

A bright but slacker high school student that develops the maturity to take advantage of getting an education later in life can make up for a largely wasted high school experience in about a year of Community College in many states. A sharp trades track individual that decided to go into a profession that required a Bachelors Degree could also make up the academic difference in a year of CC.

 

If the government wants to fix anything with regards to education and the economy, they should send more people to trade schools instead of law schools.

We need mechanics, plumbers, electricians, A/C techs, and truck drivers more than yet another ambulance-chaser.

 

The government shouldn't be deciding who goes to which schools, other than having entrance criteria to government operated schools.

 

And yet so many of our youth don't see any need at all to be in a 9-5er job at all... I hear kids all day say how little they are interested in doing physical labor to get ahead... yet they don't really try to expand their mind much farther than some comment that was made in WOW or FB...