Guy who spent $37,000 on a 'computer-science' degree can't get a job at Best Buy's Geek Squad (profit, paralegal)

[Nickchick]

Assuming this article is true, it makes me feel better and worse all at the same time.

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Why do people even go to those schools?
You can go to the local State College and get an Associate's or Bachelor's in a tech field, pay MUCH less, and get real advising and job placement in time for graduation.

High school never teaches you anything about the real world so you don't get a warning about for profit schools ahead of time.

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

Why would anyone go to a for-profit school vs a community college? Do they not read the internet and know those colleges are a ridiculously over-priced sham and their degrees are actually a turnoff for most employers. It is like a degree certifying you make bad decisions.

The internet also tells you that if you have a headache you have a brain tumor and that Amazon has turned into a bad company.

Originally Posted by LexusNexus

With an AS degree, it's going to be harder for him no matter which school he attended.

The title of this thread is misleading. A "computer science degree" implies that he got a BS degree in Computer Science, not an AS degree in Network Administration. Huge difference.

Except a bachelor's requires a bigger loan and will mean nothing if you got no work experience.

Originally Posted by revelated

No, he wants a handout. This guy should not go anywhere near the school system until he learns how to do his own research and read the copious materials out there about student loans. Stop blaming others for your failure to do due diligence and stop trying to hinge that on the taxpayers.

If a school makes you take out a loan and you do not get a job out of it, they should pay you back.

[vision33r]

Computer Science degree would not help you with real world tech. There is no course that teaches you how to fix a PC.

[bighusker]

Honestly, the dude needs to get experience in his field before anyone will hire him. Nobody is going to hire a "fresh out of college" kid to be a network administrator. Start by doing helpdesk (even if it's tech support in a call center) and then start studying for certifications in your own time. Eventually, you'll get a break and someone will hire you. This isn't a field where you stop learning once you're out of college.

For that matter, he should have been seeking out internships while he was still in college. I"ll never understand students who think a job will magically fall into their laps at the end of their senior year when they have zero experience and no real skills beyond what they learned in a classroom.

[smisk]

First of all, a 2 year degree in Network Administration is nothing close to Computer Science. Secondly I've heard that most employers avoid people with degrees from those for profit schools..

[Mr.Professional]

Originally Posted by Emigrations

I agree with this, but this AS degree should at least qualify him for the most rudimentary of IT positions. Something else is not right.

I probably would say either his work experience is holding him back, his interview skills are terrible , or hes very lazy.

There are jobs in IT that don't even require much studying or knowledge at first
Help Desk and Desktop Support come to mind thou but he should learn to sell him self to employers so he can start off.

[stanley-88888888]

Originally Posted by jaw62901

I thought that college sounded familiar and not in a good way. That's the college that had to shut down a bunch of their campuses due to deceptive practices.

College's Demise Leaves Illinois Students in Limbo | NBC Chicago

For-Profit Online University - Infomercials on Adult Swim Video

[Eeyore1954]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I feel for the guy. If you don't know people who went to college and don't come from a family of college-educated people, you really may not know any better, or may not understand the difference between these "colleges" and a public community or state college.

Without someone there to advise you, you may fall into this kind of trap. It happens all the time.

Unfortunately he was probably advised by the school. Many of those schools have "admission counselors " who are actually sales people. They probably gave him a best of false statistics about placement. Many of these schools are also like a mill for getting federal grant money and student loans.

[wall st kid]

College is a ripoff, if you don't "know someone" in 2015 you're not getting a job.

[Eeyore1954]

Originally Posted by Nickchick

Assuming this article is true, it makes me feel better and worse all at the same time.
High school never teaches you anything about the real world so you don't get a warning about for profit schools ahead of time.

I agree with this (except for the never part). Even college doesn't really teach much about the real world.

The internet also tells you that if you have a headache you have a brain tumor and that Amazon has turned into a bad company.

and that Walmarts are being turned into FEMA detention camps.

[L210]

Originally Posted by revelated

First of all the Gen Ed (which is a complaint of mine as well) is not the school's fault, it's the government for forcing such things. I would argue that Oral Communication is a critical skill, and given he didn't read any of the financial aid documentation, maybe Lit is a good idea for him.

The government does not set the curricula at colleges except for maybe the state governments at public colleges and universities. My state sets the core curriculum (gen ed) at state-funded institutions and that's it. State governments can indirectly affect curricula by requiring certain courses or programmatic accreditation for licenses. However, network administration is not a profession that is regulated by the government. The accrediting organizations control curricula. These organizations are independent of government agencies. The U.S. Department of Education only recognizes accrediting bodies mostly for financial aid purposes; they do no run them or directly accredit schools.

AS and AA programs usually have a significant amount of gen ed requirements. If you want to mostly avoid gen ed, then enroll in an AAS program. However, many of the students who attend for-profit colleges can barely read and write or do basic arithmetic. They can use all the help they can get.

Some Everest campuses have regional accreditation while others have national accreditation. Credits from nationally accredited schools are often difficult to transfer to regionally accredited schools even if the RA schools is for-profit. Colorado Technical University is regionally accredited. I do not know if they accept credits from NA schools. I also do not know if this student attended an Everest campus that is RA. Regardless, the student complained that not all of his credits would transfer. That happens regularly transferring from one college to another because colleges have different degree requirements. You could transfer from one state university to another and lose credits.

There are many reasons why so many people choose for-profit colleges over cheaper state and community colleges.

1. They know nothing about applying to college and for financial aid because they have no one in their family who attended college. For-profits practically do everything for you.

2. For-profits have aggressive recruiting practices. The largest ones spend almost a quarter of their budgets on marketing whereas public colleges spend about 1% of their budgets on marketing. Many will also call you over and over again. Unfortunately, some non-profits have been adopting this practice.

3. For-profits target the poor and the military. One for-profit tried to recruit veterans with brain damage. As Emigration mentioned, the for-profit career schools play their tacky commercials during tacky daytime shows to attract the unemployed and single mothers.

4. Probably most community colleges require the SAT, ACT, Accuplacer, COMPASS, or some other test for placement purposes. Some for-profits require entrance exams; but, from what I've seen, they aren't that difficult.

5. Many people mistakenly believe that for-profits are the only schools that offer weekend, night, and/or online courses.

6. Some for-profit career schools offer daycare and will take the fees out of your student loans.

7. For-profit colleges rarely require remedial courses. Some students become discouraged by the remedial courses community colleges might require them to take.

8. Some for-profits might offer a self-paced or one course per month format. Fortunately, there are many non-profits starting self-paced, competency-based programs.

9. They don't understand the difference between regional and national accreditation, but most of the largest for-profits are regionally accredited.

10. They don't even bother to check the tuition rates of public colleges in their state and assume that the tuition rates they are paying at a for-profit are in line with what they would pay elsewhere. Small liberal arts colleges tend to be the most expensive colleges, though; but, they are not likely to attract the same kinds of students who attend for-profits.