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In the real world the value of your college degree depends on what your employer is willing to pay.....
That's if you value your college education SOLELY by its potential earning power. I do think that those who look at college as only a means to a job are wasting their time, and quite possibly their money. For those students, there probably are better, cheaper alternatives. If one isn't looking for the full educational experience, why bother paying for it? Or waste four years seeking it? I don't think that's a bad thing, by the way. There's ample evidence out there to suggest that many students aren't getting much out of their college experience (check out Academically Adrift for example, with big differences between majors); many of those students don't really need or want the traditional four-year college degree, so it does make sense to have more alternatives available to fit their needs.
In the real world the value of your college degree depends on what your employer is willing to pay.
Yes, networking is important as is college experiences but at the end of the day it all revolves around what your employer is willing to pay.
Also I think there is one very big aspect of the documentary that is not getting enough attention. Its at the 56 minute mark. Basically its about online education being the future. Here is the fact: they're exactly right. I've seen technology that can completely replace going to college. You can learn faster. You can learn more conveniently. The content is more engaging. It has movies in it to explain material. The material is interactive. The course even adapts to the learner. To top it all off, its 100 times cheaper than traditional college. Higher value for the students. The learning system was like wikipedia and mit ocw combined.
In the real world it's up to you to build the skills and connections needed to either get employed, or start a business. The fact of the matter is I have a job that I am starting that I could not have without a college education. It is something I have wanted to do ever since I was in middle school and I will be able to because of my college education. That's right in the real world there are some professions that require college, and thus why I have no regrets about going. I don't care if you learned 1000x as much or it was 100x cheaper it would be literally impossible to get certain jobs, including all jobs in my field, without a college degree. There are jobs you need to go to college for its that simple in the real world you have to go to college to even have a shot at somethings.
I am sorry, but the fact of the matter is college does have the value you give it.
As to online education. There is way to much mistrust of it for it to go anywhere anytime soon, especially among employers. Try applying to anything that requires a college education, say you learned it better online and see what happens. On top of that perceptions of on-line 'colleges' are so bad, and not improving, that people graduate and find jobs from them at a much, much lower rate then people who attended traditional colleges. Face it, most people given the option of a traditional college and an online college would take the traditional college. As a result the traditional colleges will draw the best and brightest i.e. the people who are likely to become employers, and in hiring hold on to the biases they held when the first went to college. Online schools on the other hand will likely continue to have the stigma they do, and the associated recruiting problems, even if they could rid themselves of the for-profit vulchers that specifically target people they know probably shouldn't be in college. If you don't buy this just look at the similar feed back loop with Ivys vs. other colleges and you will see the same thing has been going on for over 100 years.
Last edited by Randomstudent; 05-20-2011 at 12:08 PM..
Braynwyn, what did you and your DH get a degree in?
We're both in chem and I'm working in R&D @ a big pharma. I'm doing physical chem and research in early discovery. MA is the place to be for scientists, so I'm hoping he can at least land a contract gig in the mid-$50s to start out.
Agriculture is a major part of my state's economy and farming has become a very technical scientific field over the past century. Most farmers need a minimum of a bachelor's degree if not master's degree.
The video does make a valid point about the real economy (those who actually produce things) vs. Wall Street/lawyers/politicians. However, most jobs in the real economy, such as oil drillers, mining, and engineering, require a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and often an apprenticeship/training period after schooling is finished. So their hypothesis doesn't seem to work.
Other than very low wage service sector jobs, a high school graduate has extremely limited options in this economy. They certainly will not become a farmer, oil driller, or miner as the video describes. They are likely to spend their lives working in McDonald's or Walmart.
Unless they choose a trade, such as electrician or carpentry, high school graduates have few job prospects that will allow them much of any standard of living. And the job market for skilled laborers such as electricians or carpenters is in the gutter because no one is building anything because of the housing bubble. So that's not really a solution either.
Speculators can just as easily buy gold as oil, so expect gold prices to get inflated and then collapse if enough people believe this stuff.
I agree with you concerning online schools. I had a job interview with Firestone Tire for their manager trainee program a couple of years ago. I went to school at a division 2 school in Missouri and they had not heard of it in Virginia, so they asked what kind of school it was. My explanation was that it was a school similar in size to a local university they were sure to know of. They looked relieved, then stated, "Oh, well, we were worried it was one of those online schools." I received a call inviting me to a 3rd interview within a couple of days.
Depending on the degree, I think grad school seems to be an exception. As long as you choose a reputable school and your degree is suitable for online learning, most employers seem to be fine with it. It's people that go to Phoenix or similar schools that are frowned upon. It's sad the way those schools take advantage of people. It irks me quite a bit, because many of the kids going there have parents that did not go to college, which negatively impacts the guidance they receive when choosing an online school.
Yes. It was sarcasm. I was pointing out how silly the original statement was.
In context of the original conversation it's not silly at all. It's just the truth and people do not realize it because there is little follow through from the up front numbers (entrance figures) to graduation numbers. With that said, the original premise is silly.
100% of middle school graduates go to high school. Therefore, high school degrees are worthless.
As others have explained you are not understanding the comment.
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