I don't see anyone saying LET'S INVESTIGATE or LET'S FIND ANOTHER WAY... more and more, to get a decent paying job, it about a degree and not just a 4 year degree anymore, it needs to be more... WHY? WHO'S in cahoots? (I admit I AM a conspiracy theorist )
Wily Fox aka Angela wrote: I don't see anyone saying LET'S INVESTIGATE or LET'S FIND ANOTHER WAY... more and more, to get a decent paying job, it about a degree and not just a 4 year degree anymore, it needs to be more... WHY? WHO'S in cahoots? (I admit I AM a conspiracy theorist )
There's no conspiracy, just a case of supply and demand. If everyone gets a degree because they think it will give them an "edge" in the job market, do they any longer have an edge? No, of course not. So now employers figure, well, if 100 college graduates apply for this job (which could easily be done by a reasonably intelligent high school graduate), now we can demand a master's degree.
That's not to say that the colleges themselves haven't taken full economic advantage of the surge in demand for a college degree. I think it's shameful to play games like admitting students they know don't have the ability to graduate. Or plain and simply dumbing down degree requirements to get the graduation rate artificially higher.
chickaree wrote: It's a product and it's being aggressively marketed.
Yes, it is. And I'm wondering if people are going to stop buying when they see it isn't offering value.
We put our two older kids through college (although they are paying for graduate school, one in psychology, the other in medicine) but I wonder about the two who are still at home. Sometimes I think it would make more sense to help them start a business or give them a down payment on house.
It'll be just like cars and houses and stocks, once people are used to taking out loans to finance them it's all about payments and not the actual value. Credit causes bubbles.
Plus they are all converting to goverment loans, and no payments until you drop out or graduate!
Sounds like one of those furniture scam sales. No payments until 2014!
Interesting thing to consider: maybe people need to price shop more on their colleges?
And another interesting side note: really prestigious schools like Harvard have massive endowments, so that 1/2 the price of tuition is paid for by former graduates, so that 50K tuition bill per student, is actually closer to 100K. Mind boggling.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
SS109 wrote: And another interesting side note: really prestigious schools like Harvard have massive endowments, so that 1/2 the price of tuition is paid for by former graduates, so that 50K tuition bill per student, is actually closer to 100K. Mind boggling.
I think even those "prestigious" schools must be hurting these days. My husband graduated from one and the fundraising calls we get from them are more relentless than any bill collector!
We recieved a resume recently from a kid with a bachelors, he was wanting to go to work for us building cars. I contacted him via email and he stated there were not many jobs in his field paying 25K so he figured he needed to change course.
It is definately a product for sale, where good salesmen pray on the young.
SS109 wrote: And another interesting side note: really prestigious schools like Harvard have massive endowments, so that 1/2 the price of tuition is paid for by former graduates, so that 50K tuition bill per student, is actually closer to 100K. Mind boggling.
I think even those "prestigious" schools must be hurting these days. My husband graduated from one and the fundraising calls we get from them are more relentless than any bill collector!
Correct, just like 401K's, many endowments have taken a hit.
My U? The CFO of Enron used to be a major contributor, not anymore! :faint:
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.