Tell me again why a college degree is worth any &*$%?????

If all you wanted out of college was an eventual job, then I have no sympathy for you.

 

You can get a very high quality college education for far less than $20,000 a year.

If you or someone you know chose to pay that much or more, that was your/his choice.

 

Unless a tuition of $20-40k a year buys you a sure thing high paying job through an extensive alumni network, it is absolutlely nuts to go that route. But people do all the time. I am often befuddled when someone trying to decide between my $4632 annual tuition and a private school's $25000 tuition tell me that unless we increase out offer of a $1000 scholarship, they'll take the $12500 in scholarships offered by the private school. I understand it sounds flattering to get a $12500 scholarship, but even my math skills show that as a poor financial decision - assuming they don't get that alumni network I mentioned before. Such networks are relatively uncommon.

 

Two six figure incomes and they couldn't pay down more of that debt. They need to look at their own finances first.

 

They also went to a McLaw School.

I'm sorry, but during economic downturns, in white collar jobs ppl from vastly inferior schools get cut first.


I teach at a private uni, and I can't help but think that all that extra money that parents and kids are paying could be saved for a down payment on a house when they graduate.

 

they married in 1995 and had six figure incomes at that time, so they've had ten years and didn't really put a dent in it. irresponible.

 

Without knowing anything about you besides this rant, what did you study? Where were your internships? What does your resume look like? What are your soft skills?

A college degree IS worth something. The problem is, there's an oversaturation of "educated" people but a limitation on the number of available jobs. Also, people without experience are often left in the dark about how to get a job after graduating. Overall, colleges should do a better job about setting expectations and how to succeed.

This market is competitive. Think about all the laid off people WITH experience. Hiring managers are in a great situation, if they can actually hire someone, as there is a surplus of talent that they could probably get cheaper than they would have a few years ago.

I look forward to your reply.

 

Unless they're from a state that's not blessed with a particularly strong state school system (or at least one that measures up to the standards of its high schools). It's not coincidence that at most universities, two of the top 5 out-of-state populations are invariably New York and New Jersey. Sure, if you live in California or Michigan or Virginia, it's a no-brainer, but not everyone has that option.

 

Cal Western for Law School? I have a very hard time imagining that they got $100K a year jobs right out of graduation. I suspect at one point one of them made six figures, but certainly not the entire time. Cal Western to BigLaw is hardly a route well traveled.

 

I am going to go out on a limb and guess you got a degree in Business (or some related field). I am finishing my undergrad degree in Secondary Education this semester and it amazes me how many of my peers go to school for a Business degree because they think it will reward them with high-paying positions only to get stuck in a low-wage paper pushing position.

BTW, all of the research I have read has shown that there is no correlation between a prestigious undergrad school and a high paying job. Don't waste your money. I paid under $25K for four years of college and have to beat off the education recruiters with a stick.

 

i know where ur coming from.....

i'm in engineering......and quiet honestly I can go to a technical library and learn the trade on my own

BUT to get a job in this sector....u need that piece of paper

that's how this society functions.......college/university is highschool now a days

 

That depends on the school. Going to Harvard provides far more opportunities than going to a state school. However, that being said, going to a middle of the road private college has always seemed quite strange to me.

 

And how exactly would you prove to people recruiting you that you HAVE spent that time in a library to learn the trade? In theory, you can self-teach yourself anything, to a certain degree.

 

Self-teaching breeds ignorance.

 

Here's a guy who has an answer to your question:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121858688764535107.html?mod=rss_Today%2

The BA acquired its current inflated status by accident. Advanced skills for people with brains really did get more valuable over the course of the 20th century, but the acquisition of those skills got conflated with the existing system of colleges, which had evolved the BA for completely different purposes.

Outside a handful of majors -- engineering and some of the sciences -- a bachelor's degree tells an employer nothing except that the applicant has a certain amount of intellectual ability and perseverance. Even a degree in a vocational major like business administration can mean anything from a solid base of knowledge to four years of barely remembered gut courses.

The solution is not better degrees, but no degrees. Young people entering the job market should have a known, trusted measure of their qualifications they can carry into job interviews. That measure should express what they know, not where they learned it or how long it took them. They need a certification, not a degree.

The model is the CPA exam that qualifies certified public accountants. The same test is used nationwide. It is thorough -- four sections, timed, totaling 14 hours. A passing score indicates authentic competence (the pass rate is below 50%). Actual scores are reported in addition to pass/fail, so that employers can assess where the applicant falls in the distribution of accounting competence. You may have learned accounting at an anonymous online university, but your CPA score gives you a way to show employers you're a stronger applicant than someone from an Ivy League school.

I buy his argument about as much as I bought his argument in The Bell Curve about 15 years ago, but here it is anyway.

 

Isn't this already the norm for a lot of professions. I know I had to take multiple national standardized tests to prove that I can be a teacher. I believe doctors and lawyers have a similar test, no? Maybe other professions should go the same route.

 

First, he's talking about a BA. Second, while doctors have boards, lawyers have a fairly straightforward bar exam, which is a pass/fail exam. It tells employers absolutely nothing about one's ability. (Legal employment itself is quite unique too, and has, in an odd way, almost more to do with one's undergrad performance than law school.)
Its a terrible idea, anway. How do you compare someone graduating with a degree in Chinese history vs. American history, let alone different subjects? Its nuts.

 

This is true. Outside of maybe the top ten universities in the country, you are overpaying. The only exceptions are specific technical degrees from schools strong in that field. Otherwise, you're wasting your money on a private education.

Why anyone would send their child to NYU is beyond me - it is quite possibly the worst value for the money in the entire country.

 

I thoroughly disagree. In a lot of disciplines, NYU is stellar and can set you up for life.

disclosure: I got an MA at NYU. In my field, that degree carries a lot of weight.

 

Children, Carlos. I'm talking about a BA. Graduate school is a whole different beast.

But if you're paying out $45k in tuition (again, as an undergrad), plus the costs of living near Union Square in Manhattan - that degree better get you far, damn far.

 

No kidding. I'd have loved to go there for law school, but at the end, couldn't justify the cost over an almost equally ranked public school. For undergrad, it wasn't an issue. I've always compared NYU undergrad to a liberal arts day camp for grown overprivileged children. I mean that largely in jest, but I do know quite a few people who went there to "experience New York, man".

 

A hefty % of schools in Boston and New York are ranked in the top 10 for undergrad "experience". Let's face it: big cities are very appealing for profs and students alike. As mentioned here (or elsewhere?), NY state and NJ lack elite public u's, thereby making the privates even more appealing.

[/drunk post in which I refuse to try and think about how to deepen the connection w/ the thread]

Time to go drunk dial somebody....