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When you look at the saturated of degree-holding college-educated people in the job market, you have to wonder if all of those people really needed to go to college. My generation was pushed to go to college as the golden ticket safe route for a better life, and those who didn't go were looked down on and were relegated as losers. For a lot of us, we felt we had no other choice but to go, even though we had no idea what we wanted to do for a living, let alone study.
It is obvious to me the current economic market-- and possibly future-- will need a workforce full of people who aren't just educated but are talented, have new ideas, and are innovative. How many people in the current workforce can honestly say they have all of those traits? I doubt it's even half.
This leads me to believe a lot of people are going to college who are just your average Joe or Jane. There's nothing wrong with being an average Joe/Jane, just as there's nothing wrong with not going to college. The point I'm making here is should college be left to people who actually have talent to bring to the market so the workforce is full with competent people?
If people who are very talented, smart, and introduce novel ideas in college I would think this would improve the educational quality of most schools. I want to go so far as to say this would also trickle into the job market and what employers want out of prospective candidates.
Do not get me wrong-- I think a college education is very valuable. Coming from an immigrant family who came to the US over 30 years ago, not going to college wouldn't have been an option for me or most of my family members. The current market demands a college degree just for jobs which don't require a degree to perform the duties. I know these things. However, I can't help but wonder if a lot of people would be better suited to going to trade school and having a trade job, or just staying at home raising the kids. A lot of people lament how they have a degree that can't even get them a below entry-level job in their field, so I wonder if it's the lack of talent rather than the abundance of degrees.
Without question. The standards should be heightened to weed out people that are just trying to "enjoy college / find themselves". Self discovery should be done in high school (lower drinking age).
I'd say 25% of Freshman are going to College just because they don't want to look like a loser/lazy to their friends/family.
While I really enjoyed my first two years taking electives and to an extent it definitely broadened my outlook.......2 years. 10+ Thousand debt. Much time spent not perfectly my craft.
Universities were traditionally open for:
1. Those who worked hardest in school (landed funding).
2. Those who are naturally talented (landed funding).
3. Those who missed the first two by a small margin but could afford to pay out of pocket (the wealthy).
Universities always provide the opportunity for those who want to contribute. But they would only fund those who they feel will most likely contribute to their purpose (further academia, innovation, and research). They would also not waste their time on underachievers.
Today, there are many newer universities that have popped up to take the role of providing education to those who traditionally not accepted into college. More people are given degrees than ever. Many of them have made great contributions while others have just passed classes. How do we differentiate these two? That's one problem.
The other problem is that an underachiever with a college degree thinks they are above certain jobs just because they have a college degree. Sorry, different people are cut out for different jobs. If you have the intellect of Beavis and went to college, you're still destined to sell shoes or whatever. If you have the intellect of Einstein and dropped out of high school, you're still going to make a damn good scientist and that is where you belong.
I, like you, went to college because it was what was expected of me. I actually dropped out initially, started my career and then started a business... only to go back to the same college I started at. I wish I had just finished it all at once. I wouldn't give up my college opportunity for anything. But it took me a while to realize what I wanted out of it. I think that's where society goes wrong. We go to college without knowing what to get out of it. Maybe it's not for some of us.
I didn't do too well in High School; I was a solidly avg-below avg student. Then I went to Community College and eventually got serious! I graduated w/a very good GPA and then went onto a fairly good University and am graduating this semester with a near 4.0 GPA. I have learned so much that I never though I would learn and been so many places. I will soon be in the field of my dreams and I never would've discovered that unless I went to college.
Due on the circumstances/environment that we are born into/around, some of us just go to less competitive schools were it takes longer to be driven to do well. That's why i'm so thankful for the Community College model since that is the ultimate equilizer. Those who don't do well will eventually just stop and those who are interested will move on. Without CC, I would be in a really crappy situation.
HOWEVER, I am definitely against giving college degrees to people who are clearly not prepared for them. There are some low-end 4 year colleges as well as online schools that have a very low criteria for getting a degree. That's just not fair for anybody. Colleges should raise their standards.
I think that college should be an option for all but I do think that some people should think twice about what they choose to major in prior to taking on all of that debt as some college degrees don't lend themselves to a person graduating and having the ability to make enough money to pay back those loans. I think college is great but just advocating for people to be realistic from the get go.
As for careers that do not require a college degree and that can lend themselves to a middle class income for a talented individual, I think of Plumbers, Electricians, Machinists, Carpenters, Pipe Fitters, Hair Stylists, etc. College is an excellent option but it's not the only option for success.
I think that college should be an option for all but I do think that some people should think twice about what they choose to major in prior to taking on all of that debt as some college degrees don't lend themselves to a person graduating and having the ability to make enough money to pay back those loans. I think college is great but just advocating for people to be realistic from the get go.
As for careers that do not require a college degree and that can lend themselves to a middle class income for a talented individual, I think of Plumbers, Electricians, Machinists, Carpenters, Pipe Fitters, Hair Stylists, etc. College is an excellent option but it's not the only option for success.
None of those careers can be had on a high school diploma. They all require some kind of post-secondary education....
None of those careers can be had on a high school diploma. They all require some kind of post-secondary education....
I never said that they only required a high school diploma but none of them require the typical, 4 years of college. In regards to tradesman, some get an associates while doing their apprenticeships, others just find someone to work for and start working as an apprentice.
When you look at the saturated of degree-holding college-educated people in the job market, you have to wonder if all of those people really needed to go to college. My generation was pushed to go to college as the golden ticket safe route for a better life, and those who didn't go were looked down on and were relegated as losers. For a lot of us, we felt we had no other choice but to go, even though we had no idea what we wanted to do for a living, let alone study.
It is obvious to me the current economic market-- and possibly future-- will need a workforce full of people who aren't just educated but are talented, have new ideas, and are innovative. How many people in the current workforce can honestly say they have all of those traits? I doubt it's even half.
This leads me to believe a lot of people are going to college who are just your average Joe or Jane. There's nothing wrong with being an average Joe/Jane, just as there's nothing wrong with not going to college. The point I'm making here is should college be left to people who actually have talent to bring to the market so the workforce is full with competent people?
If people who are very talented, smart, and introduce novel ideas in college I would think this would improve the educational quality of most schools. I want to go so far as to say this would also trickle into the job market and what employers want out of prospective candidates.
Do not get me wrong-- I think a college education is very valuable. Coming from an immigrant family who came to the US over 30 years ago, not going to college wouldn't have been an option for me or most of my family members. The current market demands a college degree just for jobs which don't require a degree to perform the duties. I know these things. However, I can't help but wonder if a lot of people would be better suited to going to trade school and having a trade job, or just staying at home raising the kids. A lot of people lament how they have a degree that can't even get them a below entry-level job in their field, so I wonder if it's the lack of talent rather than the abundance of degrees.
Basically, you want to increase the value of a bachelors degree. I think you start by increasing the value of Masters and pHd degrees. Those have little value as is, let alone BA/BS.
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