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The college diploma has become the new high school diploma. Only it isn't free like high school was. Far too many young people walk out of college with not just a college degree but massive debt and no better job than their Dad did with just his high school diploma. Worse, far too many end up with that debt and no college degree because they flunk out but they still have to pay back that money. We have also gotten rid of our 6 month to one year long vocational ed programs that used to train skilled laborers. For heaven's sake, beauty school now costs between $6,500 - 20,000 these days. When I graduated high school my neighbor paid $125 for that pleasure. What happened? The government started offering financial aid to attend. But I digress.... we need to stop pushing everyone into college and bring back high school vocational ed programs. One of my brothers learned heating and air conditioning repair while in high school and has supported his family quite well from that career. My cousin who became a plumber's apprentice right out of high school has done extremely well. There is nothing wrong with being a skilled laborer.
You are so right.
Around here, a person can get a CDL in a few weeks, a HazMat certificate in a couple more, and start off in the oil and gas industry making 65K the first year - and it goes up with experience from there.
No student loan debt either.
Hmmmmm...
I worked in the staffing industry for about 15 years. If I had a dollar for everytime a company HR manager called me crying, "A welder, a welder - my kingdom for a welder!" I could go on a pretty nice European vacation!
All those $50,000 Business degrees and not a welder for miles....
A theme in every Obama speech is sending more young people to college. While in and of itself, that sounds like a good idea, we have millions of young people coming out of college now that aren't able to find a job other than Wal-Mart or waiting tables at Chili's. The value of the four-year college degree has gone from nearly guaranteeing prosperity 15 years ago to what the high school diploma once was. It college becomes an entitlement, it will even further devalue it. So why is it so necessary that more people go to college?
Just rewatched the speech, He also talked about Jobs and how German kids graduate high school with Technical knowledge equal to a Associates/technical degree from a community college here.
and yes, every person in this nation is entitled to a decent education.
if all americans have a PhD then people with a doctorate will clean your toilets and mow your lawn and cook your food, just like france.
still, it's a trap since if you decide to go at it without a degree, unless you have business smarts, you're pretty much screwed. all of a sudden BAs get the secretary jobs, not the high school grads. The ceiling stayed the same but the floor was raised, causing stress in the middle. Either raise the roof, or watch the floor fall out from beneath us.
my family has traditionally been middle class...we're quickly falling to lower class levels. Doubt we're the only one's feeling it.
Whatever value the holder of that degree assigns it. Ask an anthropologist. That wasn't my major.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
You are so right.
Around here, a person can get a CDL in a few weeks, a HazMat certificate in a couple more, and start off in the oil and gas industry making 65K the first year - and it goes up with experience from there.
No student loan debt either.
Hmmmmm...
I worked in the staffing industry for about 15 years. If I had a dollar for everytime a company HR manager called me crying, "A welder, a welder - my kingdom for a welder!" I could go on a pretty nice European vacation!
All those $50,000 Business degrees and not a welder for miles....
They'll work you to death for that 65k in the oilfields. I looked into that already. Oilfield pay isn't very good when you do an hourly breakdown. Benefits are good though.
if i go back to school it would be for petroleum engineering, so would prolly have to be a texas school. but the oil jobs where they work you to death and you dont need a degree ... what type of work does that entail? is it the 28 days on 28 days off type work or year round?
Any school under pressure to increase graduation rates will dumb down.
Even the good ones.
More people going to college is not going to have an effect on graduation rates at these universities. These schools admit the top 1% (in academic performance) and wealthiest of students. We're not going to see a change in the top 1%.
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