Declining higher ed enrollment, start of a long term trend? (Boston: fit in, daycare)

[massnative71]

According to the article, companies are far less concerned with where the degree was obtained than their actual knowledge in the field. You are much better off with a useful degree from a 2nd or 3rd tier university than a low demand degree from a "Top 100".

"A 2013 Gallup poll of business leaders saw only 9 percent say it’s “very important” where a job candidate got his or her degree. The amount of knowledge a candidate has in the relevant field was the top factor, with 84 percent saying it’s very important, and the next most important was a candidate’s applied skills in the field."

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The same is true for the former teacher's colleges that now claim to be universities. If you see North Adams State paper, you're going to have to interview carefully. I'm sure there are students who go there because they live nearby and that's what they can afford who are quite capable but you have to drill very deeply to try to filter out the good ones. Most hiring managers simply don't bother. They pick graduates from schools that are "selective" so they know the candidate at least had to have OK SAT scores and an OK high school transcript to get admitted. If they show some rigorous courses on their academic transcript, they're probably OK. You're screening for the intangables rather than whether they have the intelligence, academic background, and basic work ethic to do the job.

Typical elitism. MCLA is a well respected school in the real world; with lower acceptance rates than the likes of Elms, American International, and Springfield College. The only schools in Western Mass. with higher standards are the UMASS Amherst, Williams, Mt. Holyoke, etc. You cannot beat the opportunities and bang for the buck offered by the state universities.

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Inflation-adjusted, college profs don't make much more than they did 40 years ago

Not only that, but the ratio of FT and tenured profs has been on a steady decline.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

It's all the high paid non-teaching and administrative jobs that have caused education prices to spike.

This is pure nonsense but it sounds good so people keep repeating it. The average "non-teaching administrative job" in higher education pays $50k/year or less. Even upper managers rarely break 6 figures unless they're at a top top school and the few "high paid" employees do jobs that would pay even more in the for profit sector. Most people would make more working outside of higher education.

The cost of college spiked for 2 reasons:

1) A huge emphasis was placed on having sparkling brand new infrastructure and keeping up with the joneses with regard to technology. Buildings and land are not cheap, and colleges invested heavily in them.

and 2) Student loans are cheap and plentiful.

The demand for college education at the better colleges is so inelastic that there is no real motivation to control costs. That's different for 3rd tier schools. If you attend a top-100 college and get a meaningful degree, you'll make back those college costs many times over during your working career.

This is true. Unfortunately many of the lower tier schools got sucked into the trap that they were competing with top tier schools so they invested heavily in things like buildings and student support services or just felt they had to have a sticker price that matched the top schools. There will be more schools closing or merging with larger institutions in the coming years.

[Whatsnext75]

Hah funny that North Adams state was mentioned above as a crappy school. I know 3 people who went there and they all do very well. One is a vp of finance easily making 150k, another runs his own marketing company and another is in medical sales and is partial owner of a hot new spot in the south end.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by 10Evergreen22

Interesting article- thanks for the link. Nowadays it is nearly impossible to graduate debt free. I paid off my PhD as I went semester by semester but even then it was tough to do. If I were to do it now, it would be triple the cost (at least) and I would be in extreme debt!

Yet about 1 in 3 undergrads do graduate debt free.

[xo_kizzy_xo]

Why Wheelock College Wants Too Merge with B.U.

My undergrad college closed because of declining enrollment, lack of a solid financial base, and because of that, couldn't offer much financial aid. A lot of faculty came and went. I daresay Wheelock is facing a similar fate if this merger doesn't go through.

[masshawk]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

I do distinctly remember being "looked" down upon when I was younger working the trades. I always heard "work with your mind, not with your back" and it made me feel bad. But, as I got a bit older, I realized what nonsense that was.

I mean, the point of a skilled trade is that you're working with your back AND your mind. You can't be a good electrician without knowing your sh** and being able to problem solve. I think (hope) more people are starting to get that. I'm really encouraged by the direction Waltham High School is taking with their new educational plan, where the vocational and academic parts of the school will be more integrated and kids will be able to take classes and interact with each other across disciplines.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Typical elitism. MCLA is a well respected school in the real world; with lower acceptance rates than the likes of Elms, American International, and Springfield College. The only schools in Western Mass. with higher standards are the UMASS Amherst, Williams, Mt. Holyoke, etc. You cannot beat the opportunities and bang for the buck offered by the state universities.

I mostly hire people who had at least a 650 MATH SAT score. They're not attending "certificate of attendance" state schools that used to be state teacher's colleges. They're not attending "you're admitted if you can fog a mirror and pay the tuition" private colleges. It's not elitist to need to hire people with the 90th+ percentile intellectual capability to do the work.

Pretty much half the country attends college. That means you have a ton of 100 IQ average people sitting in classrooms. The profs have to teach to that level. The curriculum for a math or science course in a community college is very different from a top-100 university.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

I mostly hire people who had at least a 650 MATH SAT score.

Better up that. I had a 650 Math SAT and I stink at math!

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Better up that. I had a 650 Math SAT and I stink at math!

Also, a 650 isn't even what it used to be with score inflation. Not that I would ever use it as criteria for hiring an employee.