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1 in 4 working age adults in the USA today have a "degree." Only 1 in 24 in Germany have a college degree. The average German who just graduated from high school is twice as educated and work ready as the college graduate in the USA. A college degree in the USA today is not as valued as it once was. Why? Because colleges are teaching students to pass and padding everyone through........and employers know this and do not hold a degree alone very valuable. Experience, strong references, strong values and work ethics trump a degree in said field any day.
Now this does not include all professions! Some, you must get a formal education. But for a great percentage of professions, the guy with the degree is often passed over for the guy with experience!
Unfortunately, you are correct. The problem in the US is there are now so many people with bachelors (including a huge glut of immigrants from Asia) that it has become the new high school degree or equivalent. Many colleges are now incredibly over-priced diploma mills that churn out debt-ridden students on a yearly basis that still cannot compete in the current economy. Men and women who have done the same job all their lives suddenly find themselves without the "required qualifications", and then are let go in favor of younger, more desperate fresh college grads who the company can pay less. Increasingly then, Americans feel that they need to get a bachelors stat, not because it is technically necessary, but because employers and society demands it of them. This is where I have to disagree with you slightly: given a choice, employers will choose experience and competence over a degree, obviously, but this is a false choice because in the current recession, the vast majority of jobs are being fought over tooth and nail and employers can afford to hold out for someone who has both. The exceptions would be jobs in highly technical fields like engineering or IT, but even that market is getting saturated as more and more hopeful young people graduate with degrees in those subjects hoping to get a good job.
I believe the root problem has to do with quality public education, or rather, lack thereof. There are plenty of state schools and community colleges across the US but most are chronically underfunded and are forced to comply with certain quotas that further undermine academic rigor (including racial ones.) Meanwhile, the good private schools continue to drift further and further out of reach for the average American. Decades ago my father, a son of a Swiss immigrant and a farmboy, went to Stanford with little difficulty. Nowadays, not only would he not be able to afford it (if he was the same age), he wouldn't be able to compete with the twenty nine thousand other applicants, half of them probably from East Asia with perfect GPAs and tailored high school activities.
In Germany on the other hand, those 23 out of 24 fresh graduates you mentioned have jobs waiting for them that can actually pay enough to sustain them because they had good public education, and because the German economy is doing relatively well. The state invests in the new generation through education that is paid for by higher taxation, that is then returned with interest in the form of young people who can actually consume products and churn the economy. A college graduate who is laden with 200,000 dollars in debt and a piece of useless paper will be of no use to his country's economy, in fact, quite the opposite. Of course, convincing tax-averse Americans that slashing school budgets is sure fire way to shoot your own nation in the foot down the line is harder than nailing water to a tree. It's basically a plan to ensure your children will be dumber than you are...unless you can afford to send them to a good school of course, in which case, other people's children just need to pull up those bootstraps...
1 in 4 working age adults in the USA today have a "degree." Only 1 in 24 in Germany have a college degree. The average German who just graduated from high school is twice as educated and work ready as the college graduate in the USA. A college degree in the USA today is not as valued as it once was. Why? Because colleges are teaching students to pass and padding everyone through........and employers know this and do not hold a degree alone very valuable. Experience, strong references, strong values and work ethics trump a degree in said field any day.
Now this does not include all professions! Some, you must get a formal education. But for a great percentage of professions, the guy with the degree is often passed over for the guy with experience!
But the guy with experience AND a college degree, puts himself in the best position possible. There is more to getting a degree than future employment and earnings, you also experience personal growth, you learn about other subjects, expand your horizons and a long list of others. Is a college degree as valuable today as it was in the past, perhaps not, but it still is helpful to many. I put myself through college without anyone's help, while working 50 hours a week and taking out more than 100k of student loans. I was lucky enough to land a well paying job right out of school and was able to repay 70% of my loans within the first 3 years. Now, I can simply receive the benefits of having one, and I don't necessarily mean in a financial sense, even though as much has been proven as well. Or I can date a woman who required her dates to have a degree, even though that wouldn't be my first choice. Just because it isn't the path you chose, it doesn't mean its a bad deal, nor does it make you any less as a person.
On my way to work and back home I walk barefoot uphill battling bears AND dinosaurs.
That stupid Jurassic Park movie gave some jerk the idea to fuse fossilized dino dna with alligator DNA, and the darn lizards are running rampart in these parts.
Last week on my route, a pretty woman was walking alone, and She got into a jam. Thank goodness I had just sharpened my Samurai Sword the night before and I easily handled the Dino's trying to get her.
For my efforts, she gave me her number. I think she likes me.
Do I tell her I am considering going back to college, cause my 1 in 4 piece of paper isnt good enough ?
On my way to work and back home I walk barefoot uphill battling bears AND dinosaurs.
That stupid Jurassic Park movie gave some jerk the idea to fuse fossilized dino dna with alligator DNA, and the darn lizards are running rampart in these parts.
Last week on my route, a pretty woman was walking alone, and She got into a jam. Thank goodness I had just sharpened my Samurai Sword the night before and I easily handled the Dino's trying to get her.
For my efforts, she gave me her number. I think she likes me.
Do I tell her I am considering going back to college, cause my 1 in 4 piece of paper isnt good enough ?
Knocking people with degrees is petty. Did it make you feel better to put down others for something you haven't achieved?
Knocking people with degrees is petty. Did it make you feel better to put down others for something you haven't achieved?
Actually, I used my degree to forge my Samurai Sword.
I began by designing using parametric solid modeling a die in which I poured the molten steel alloy to form the raw blade.
Here, material selection is critical. I need something strong enough to take abuse, but not so brittle it shatters or breaks off easily.
I annealed the cast to help the Rc value.
Then, I designed and built a fixture and gage that could hold the cast and inspect it while the forces of grinding were applied to it.
I used tolerances of +/- 0.001" because I can.
Then I passivated the finish ground blade.
Then I double draw heat treated the blade.
Then I took a stone and put it in my back pack for when I've slayed enough dinos, the sword can be resharpened.
Saving the world from dinosaurs isnt easy.
What have you accomplished today ?
Let me guess, YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF WHAT I JUST SAID, do you.....
Knocking people with degrees is petty. Did it make you feel better to put down others for something you haven't achieved?
I dont have a degree and I do very very well, however I would never put down anyone who does. There are some degrees that would helo me out and I may eventually get.
I do find some degrees nearly pointless in regards to setting people up for future employment.
My only issue is the occasional people that seem to think success is practically impossible without a degree.
I dont have a degree and I do very very well, however I would never put down anyone who does. There are some degrees that would helo me out and I may eventually get.
I do find some degrees nearly pointless in regards to setting people up for future employment.
My only issue is the occasional people that seem to think success is practically impossible without a degree.
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The pursuit of higher education is not always about setting someone up for future employment. Many people are seeking to expand their knowledge on various subjects and desire to be well-rounded in general. College life exposes students to others from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, cultures and socioeconomic statuses in a way that is often unlikely many workplaces. Where else would a kid who attended prestigious Swiss boarding schools interact and become friends will the child of illegal immigrants from East LA?
The pursuit of higher education is not always about setting someone up for future employment. Many people are seeking to expand their knowledge on various subjects and desire to be well-rounded in general. College life exposes students to others from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, cultures and socioeconomic statuses in a way that is often unlikely many workplaces. Where else would a kid who attended prestigious Swiss boarding schools interact and become friends will the child of illegal immigrants from East LA?
I have spent several years in college, both community and a university. I didn't find it to be some life experiencing type of event. I have personally found more diversity in the workplace. Classes were interesting. Made lots of friends, partied a ton. Wasnt that much different that my few years adter college where I continued meeting a ton of people and learning, etc.
1 in 4 working age adults in the USA today have a "degree." Only 1 in 24 in Germany have a college degree. The average German who just graduated from high school is twice as educated and work ready as the college graduate in the USA. A college degree in the USA today is not as valued as it once was. Why? Because colleges are teaching students to pass and padding everyone through........and employers know this and do not hold a degree alone very valuable. Experience, strong references, strong values and work ethics trump a degree in said field any day.
So what?
I agree with calipoppy.
Getting a college education is not equivalent to attending a technical training or trade school because it is not solely about being able to get a job after graduation.
It is about developing the mind, critical thinking and reasoning skills, social skills, broadening one's horizon's by interacting with people one would otherwise never meet, interacting with people with fine minds, getting opportunities to study and live abroad, experiencing new things.
For some people, the intangible rewards of a good college education are priceless. They can change your life, and your way of thinking and viewing the world forever. Those who've had such a transformation usually want a kindred spirit with whom to continue their life journey.
Birds of a feather...
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