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Old 06-22-2011, 10:00 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
944 posts, read 2,041,987 times
Reputation: 761

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluedevilz View Post
In what country are "higher and higher proportions of the population getting a college degree"?

It isn't the US...

The proportion of the population getting a degree hasn't changed by more than a few percentage points for decades and it is still less than a 1/3 of the population...
I don't know where your numbers are coming from, but they're not correct.

See here: Educational attainment in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's not less than a third of the population according to the article (which seems to be based primarily on Census Bureau data), it's 38.54%, with over half having at least some college. And that's for age 25 and over. If you count numbers from 20 and over it'll be a bit higher, maybe as much as 40% of the populating having a bachelor's degree.

Also, more and more people are getting a college degree according to the graph at the right, the trend of the graph is going upwards and to the right (from 5 or 6% before the 1950s to over 20% post 2000's).

You're right that it hasn't changed more than a few percentage points over the last couple decades (looks like 5% or so, maybe), but so what? I didn't say it was increasing exponentially or anything, things like educational attainment usually increase or decrease slowly over time.
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Old 06-22-2011, 10:13 PM
 
Location: Middle America
37,409 posts, read 53,606,010 times
Reputation: 53074
Having "at least some college" is definitely not synonymous with completing a four-year degree program.
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Old 06-22-2011, 10:17 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
944 posts, read 2,041,987 times
Reputation: 761
Quote:
Originally Posted by TabulaRasa View Post
Having "at least some college" is definitely not synonymous with completing a four-year degree program.
I mis-spoke, sorry, I'll fix the other post. 38.54% have an associates or bachelor's degree. 55.60% have some college.

Edit: After going back and reading I didn't write it up wrong...I don't know what you're trying to point out, as I never said that some college is equivalent to having a four-year degree. I just pointing out that more than a third of the population do indeed have a degree (we can split hairs about whether an associates degree should be considered a degree or only just a four-year degree...but bluedevilz wasn't specific on that point).
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Old 06-23-2011, 04:40 AM
 
5,500 posts, read 10,525,281 times
Reputation: 2303
Quote:
Originally Posted by Backliteyes View Post
It's not harder to get a job with a degree; it's easier. As far as I know the unemployment rate is lower for those with a college degree than those with just a high school degree. It's easier because it's more expected that you should have a degree now (not for all jobs, but more entry level jobs require a degree now than used to).
I meant more difficult to get a job with a degree today than it was to get one with a degree ten years ago.
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Old 06-23-2011, 04:46 AM
 
5,500 posts, read 10,525,281 times
Reputation: 2303
Quote:
Originally Posted by Backliteyes View Post
I mis-spoke, sorry, I'll fix the other post. 38.54% have an associates or bachelor's degree. 55.60% have some college.

Edit: After going back and reading I didn't write it up wrong...I don't know what you're trying to point out, as I never said that some college is equivalent to having a four-year degree. I just pointing out that more than a third of the population do indeed have a degree (we can split hairs about whether an associates degree should be considered a degree or only just a four-year degree...but bluedevilz wasn't specific on that point).
No one thinks of an associates as a "college degree". Anytime education is mentioned people are talking about a four year degree. Sounds like you read the data wrong and are now trying to act like they are often combined together as one statistic.

I'd say it's really increasing even less than the graph as they are probably including for-profit degrees which are skewing the numbers.
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Old 06-23-2011, 05:06 AM
 
3,393 posts, read 5,281,767 times
Reputation: 3031
Quote:
Originally Posted by tweetybird11208 View Post
If so that's messed up!
That's kind of true. I think employers want specialized or cookie cutter candidates nowadays. People don'treally need degrees to do most jobs but the market is flooded.
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Old 06-23-2011, 04:03 PM
 
5,644 posts, read 13,234,079 times
Reputation: 14170
Quote:
Originally Posted by Backliteyes View Post
I don't know where your numbers are coming from, but they're not correct.

See here: Educational attainment in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's not less than a third of the population according to the article (which seems to be based primarily on Census Bureau data), it's 38.54%, with over half having at least some college. And that's for age 25 and over. If you count numbers from 20 and over it'll be a bit higher, maybe as much as 40% of the populating having a bachelor's degree.

Also, more and more people are getting a college degree according to the graph at the right, the trend of the graph is going upwards and to the right (from 5 or 6% before the 1950s to over 20% post 2000's).

You're right that it hasn't changed more than a few percentage points over the last couple decades (looks like 5% or so, maybe), but so what? I didn't say it was increasing exponentially or anything, things like educational attainment usually increase or decrease slowly over time.
Learn to read data...

And wikipedia is not a reputable source....

According to recent US Census Data, in the Adult Population, 25 years and older ONLY 27.5% OF THE US POPULATION HOLDS A BACHELOR'S OR HIGHER

NOT EVEN CLOSE TO 40% and very similar to numbers for past few decades

In common usage of the term, having a degree equals Bachelor's or higher...NOT Associates.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p20-560.pdf
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Old 09-11-2011, 02:24 PM
 
Location: Brooklyn, New York
10 posts, read 19,695 times
Reputation: 12
This is a good topic, but I'll put it this way...I'd rather have the college education (degree) versus not having one. Years ago when I was job hunting, a friend of mine called me up stating that he could get me a job through his friend, however all that I needed was a Bachelor's Degree. Unfortunately, at that time I did not have one, so the job went to someone who did. The moral of this story is sure, there are times you may not get hired even though you have the education to back it up, but at least you will not be denied (as I have in the past) for not having a degree.
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Old 09-12-2011, 06:27 PM
 
684 posts, read 1,122,849 times
Reputation: 286
Yes. I am half way through a PhD programme. I would never higher anyone with less then a Masters.
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Old 09-12-2011, 06:57 PM
 
Location: Pittsford, NY
233 posts, read 686,047 times
Reputation: 151
Quote:
Originally Posted by mintgum84 View Post
Yes. I am half way through a PhD programme. I would never higher anyone with less then a Masters.
How is it possible to higher someone?
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