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Specific examples are pretty useless in a debate like this. For the person who is wondering if they should go to college or not it's irrelevant if you know a HS graduate that makes
100k because that is far from the norm.
The statistics speak for themselves in earnings and employment. Even if you assume those stats in the current day are less the stats for someone with a HS diploma certainly aren't getting any better either.
I think the US population for holding a bachelor's degree was 29%.
I'm more interested in the people who hold a degree, regardless of major, who aren't successful compared to other people with a college degree who are successful job wise and how successful people with high school diplomas are compared to those who have a degree.
I don't really understand the need to push people into college when we're seeing a depression in which many college graduates are unemployed/underemployed in a lot of fields or taking on a few part time jobs that equal out the same pay what a high school dropout is earning.
Well college could be an AA and going into a specific program. EMT/Dental Hygienist, etc.
Even if college graduates are unemployed and underemployed it's not like things haven't got worse for your average HS graduate.
That goes for everything in the job market today. It's not like being a HS graduate is becoming more appealing.
Oh, I agree with you. Let me back track and say that I'm not against ALL types of college (I'm ALL for junior colleges/trades), just the generic BA/BS and above.
The fact of the matter is that the educational system has become so bad during the past 50 years that people who graduate high school often do not have the most perfunctory of educational skills. Many are functionally illiterate. Even so, I have been to college myself, and frankly, having a 4 year degree does not guarantee that the person's intellectual level is much better. It does show, however that they have the tenacity to stick to something, which is a good quality in a potential employee.
So, I believe that many people equate the level of education contained in a 4-year degree approximately equal to that which a person received in highschool, say, a generation ago. But it is really so much more than that.
That goes for everything in the job market today. It's not like being a HS graduate is becoming more appealing.
Seriously. There may be a lack of jobs available to the numerous people out there with college degrees, but it's not as if the options open to those who only have high school credentials have exploded or anything, either.
I know a few people with a high school diploma who do pretty well for themselves, and they never went to college.
However, from my experience a college degree doesn't mean anything. I graduated in 2005, 6 years ago for you math heads out there, and I've never used it once. I have concluded the bachelor's in history is very useless. I've been shot down by employers telling me I'm overqualified for a 9 dollar an hour job and they go and hire someone with a high school diploma. They get the job and I get nothing.
I don't know if the college degree is the same as a high school diploma, but I have read there are more college graduates unemployed compared to the number of high school dropouts who are unemployed.
This is true. This is the college graduate's recession. This recession has basically made every high school guidance counselor my generation had growing up into big fat liars. The smartest thing to do right now is go to trade school and learn a trade. Trades cannot be offshored and they are in high demand right now so finding a job is fairly easy. Yes, its hard work and its messy, far different from the posh office job you were promised growing up, but its the best way to have a secure financial future in America.
I graduated in December 2007 with an IT degree that I am not using and more than likely will never use again. If I had known about the recession back in 2005, I would have skipped college entirely. Wasn't worth the time, money, and effort.
I'm actually pretty glad I was never promised a "posh office job," and never aspired to obtaining one. But that's neither here nor there.
I do feel for those who graduated from college during this recession. I graduated at a fairly good time, economy-wise (1999). My sister, on the other hand, got her degree in 2005, worked an entry level job in her actual field for a couple of years, and then, when she was ready to move up, all jobs in her field dried up. She would really love to not have had to resign herself to managing a Starbucks for the past four years, given that her area of expertise and interest is in no way related to retail management/food service. But at least she's got that, and at least it has benefits.
This is true. This is the college graduate's recession. This recession has basically made every high school guidance counselor my generation had growing up into big fat liars. The smartest thing to do right now is go to trade school and learn a trade. Trades cannot be offshored and they are in high demand right now so finding a job is fairly easy. Yes, its hard work and its messy, far different from the posh office job you were promised growing up, but its the best way to have a secure financial future in America.
+1 to that. Absolutely. Why I'm glad I went into the military after high school. A military background/honorable discharge impresses employers more in the blue collar/trade route than a college degree.
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