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There's been a lot of bashing regarding the value of a college education here with many posters giving anecdotes of college grads working at Starbucks for $12/hr with $50k of loans. They advise high schoolers to go into a trade instead.
Some students who are weak academically but good with hands-on work might benefit from such advice, but for the individuals who are capable of college-level work, I feel such advice are generally myopic and based on static comparisons.
While a college degree by itself might not be a huge jump over high school graduates, the college degree opens doors to further opportunities such as medical school, law school, professional masters (MBA, MEng, PSM, NP) and professional certifications (CPA, CFA, CISA). You can't get a professional degree without a college degree first.
Here's the average annual income by highest educational attainment in the US:
As an 18 year old, why would you purposely cut off those opportunities by not going to college when you are capable? Seems penny wise, pound foolish to me.
I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions, but as a whole, professional degree holders earn 4 times as much as high school grads. Furthermore, they are more likely to marry someone with similar education attainment as themselves and with similar earning power.
the stats provided no longer apply.
we have a new economy.
and its ugly.
see those 35 million on UIB? when UIB is gone they are going to be looking for a job.
the jobs they used to do no longer exist. americans think they need an advanced degree--- most just need a trade.
readily available at jr college my favorite pick is RN, sign up for LVN 1st (42 units) and dodge a mountain of useless prerequisities-- then do crossover program to RN (30 units)
no debt and low cost.
the stats provided no longer apply.
we have a new economy.
and its ugly.
see those 35 million on UIB? when UIB is gone they are going to be looking for a job.
the jobs they used to do no longer exist. americans think they need an advanced degree--- most just need a trade.
readily available at jr college my favorite pick is RN, sign up for LVN 1st (42 units) and dodge a mountain of useless prerequisities-- then do crossover program to RN (30 units)
no debt and low cost.
This is his answer to everything. He obviously doesn't understand economics. My guess: Huckleberry hound never went to college. Who do you think makes up the majority of unemployed? It's not degree holders, friend. It's high school educated people who worked in factories that were off shored. Yeah, some white collar folks were thrown into the mix. But when GM and Ford were laying off 30,000 people each month, they were laying off factory workers.
He sound like ancient samurai warrior though when he dish out advice. I guess that's why he has a rep of over 21,000.
the stats provided no longer apply.
we have a new economy.
and its ugly.
see those 35 million on UIB? when UIB is gone they are going to be looking for a job.
the jobs they used to do no longer exist. americans think they need an advanced degree--- most just need a trade.
What new economy? The ones who are hurting the most in this recession are still those without college degrees.
People with professional degrees have an unemployment rate of 2% even during the bottom of this recession.
Our skilled labor/certified blue collar workers make as much as the people on the chart with a bachelors degree. They also perform jobs that can't be outsourced and are recession proof, and are in high demand even in todays economy. We have to pay and treat them well, because there are six other companies within a few miles of here that would hire them before the ink was dry on the application.
I am not bashing a college education, but I have some serious beefs with the industry. Why has the cost of tuition gone up so much faster than inflation? Why are there so many university degree programs that will never get one a job? My advise to any kid is to be an informed consumer before going down any path. College is an investment. You are taking on a lot of debt all with the hopes that you will make more money in the long run.
A bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary religious studies is not going to get you anywhere. Neither is a bachelor's in philosophy or psychology. Yet, schools are pumping these kids out left and right. They know that they will never get jobs...and that is a crime. At least if you get a degree in business or hard science kind of stuff you have a chance.
Also, the economy has changed in a lot of ways. A lot of high skilled jobs are now being offshored (just like the low-skilled jobs were). Even engineering is becoming a crap-shoot nowadays.
College used to always be worth it. Now it is worth it maybe 50% of the time. Be careful and plan things out as an informed consumer. Higher education has become a bubble....just like tech in the late 90's and real estate of a few years ago.
It is tough on those just graduating and entering the job market now. No question about that. However, the economy will improve and as previous posters have indicated while the degree may not get the new graudate a dream job right out of the gate, it will definitely help down the road. I entered the job market at a not-so-great time as well (1992). For 4 years I worked in customer service, car sales and similar positions, never making more than about $21K/year (and that was in San Francisco, not exactly cheap). But as things got better, I believe I could have advanced into management, business planning or otehr aspects of the company where I was working since I had my degree. I ended up going to law school, another thing I could not have done without the BA. Many of my friends who graduated at the same time have similar stories....one worked making copies at a Kinko's, one worked in a factory, etc. They are all now in positions that they probably could never have attained without the college degree. The one who worked at Kinko's for example, is now an accountant and the one who worked in a factory is a graphic desogner, in each case without any post-bachelors training. While this downturn is particularly bad, it's not like there haven't been bad markets for new grads before.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,020,628 times
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The only job I could get prior to receiving my degree were minimum wage jobs. It wasn't until I received my bachelors that I was able to actually earn a living.
Our skilled labor/certified blue collar workers make as much as the people on the chart with a bachelors degree. They also perform jobs that can't be outsourced and are recession proof, and are in high demand even in todays economy. We have to pay and treat them well, because there are six other companies within a few miles of here that would hire them before the ink was dry on the application.
Your point? Surgeons at my hospital make $280,000 to $420,000, double to triple the number on the chart for professional degrees and 10x that of high school grads. Their jobs can't be outsourced either.
My point is that there are boundless opportunities for college grads that are simply not available to blue collar workers short of going the self-employed route. While exceptions are plenty for high school only grads, the upper-end exceptions for college grads are even greater.
I have a Master's and am between 25 and 34 and I would be happy with the income indicated for someone with a bachelor's $48,256.
I'm afraid Huckleberry is right and the vast majority of new grads will not be getting that 48k. Heck right now new grads are struggling for $12 an hour without benefits.
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