Smarter because of a College Degree??

Interesting you post all of this based on *that* video. What you are saying to me is that you do not believe in the philosophy. That is what university is. To get a degree you must take more than your core courses. It is supposed to TEACH you a little about other fields and a lot about your own field. I studied the philosophy of Math. My math courses did not only encompass numbers. I also learned theory. Advanced Calculus was the foundations of analysis. I also had to learn about other fields to get my degree. I also do not look down on another person's choice of study. Just because it is not what I enjoy, does not minimize others.

You appear to be saying to me that you are OK with a closed mind?

I did not see the video- my post was based on my experience in college and my life experience since then. My opinion is that college can tech you things worth knowing- and these days it's teaching lots of stuff we are all better off without. The typical faculty these days is left leaning, liberal educated- Politically correct, and on a mission to indoctrinate as many "minds full of mush" as possible. If you buy into it then yes- I'd classify you stupid.

And common sense is not so common anymore.

It'll be interesting to see how the economic downturn will twist the numbers in the next decade- how many political science and journalism majors will be able to hold onto a good job- or will conventional skills be worth more, like the skills of a carpenter or plumber. Will these liberal arts college degrees be the education of choice for those who's jobs repeat the words "would you like fries with that"?

I think the definition of stupid will change in the coming years- like the hords of unemployed sommelier's- the choices we make in life do make a difference.

And I don't take the word stupid lightly- or the conclusion that many college educated are stupid..... Keep in mind.....

I know a lot of hillbillies- and many of them are smarter!

BearMtnHIB wrote: And common sense is not so common anymore.

Every generation says that, yet every generation thinks they are the only ones with common sense.

BearMtnHIB wrote: It'll be interesting to see how the economic downturn will twist the numbers in the next decade- how many political science and journalism majors will be able to hold onto a good job- or will conventional skills be worth more, like the skills of a carpenter or plumber. Will these liberal arts college degrees be the education of choice for those who's jobs repeat the words "would you like fries with that"?

I know several carpenters and plumbers that have been without work for over two years. Seems the conventional skills aren't worth much right now.

I know several carpenters and plumbers that have been without work for over two years. Seems the conventional skills aren't worth much right now.

Yes- I do too. I also know a ton of BA educated people out of work right now. I'm talking about 5 years from now, who will be more valuable to the economy- the plumber or the journalist major?

Right now there are many highly skilled workers out of work- even scientists and engineers and architects. The economy after this recession will sort out the value of each skill set.

BearMtnHIB wrote: The economy after this recession will sort out the value of each skill set.

I'd put odds that "materials salvage expert" (otherwise known as "junk picking") is going to be a growth position.

Too many people are trying to spend their way out of this economy....they are taking on huge amounts of college debt (funded by the govenment). Many of the degrees have limited or no employment prospects but hey they are living off the student loans.

Agree RT. This has been getting worse for years, both the amount of debt and the actual value of the degree are going in the wrong directions.

Schools are a business, it's all about the bottom line education is secondary to them.

I calculated up. I paid about 10K for my degree. It has quadrupled. It used to be subsidized more to go to school. I think that is where the government makes bad choices by not investing in our youth.

As I said, college is not for everyone, but i think anyone that wants to go should be able to go.

BearMtnHIB wrote:

I know several carpenters and plumbers that have been without work for over two years. Seems the conventional skills aren't worth much right now.

Yes- I do too. I also know a ton of BA educated people out of work right now. I'm talking about 5 years from now, who will be more valuable to the economy- the plumber or the journalist major?

Right now there are many highly skilled workers out of work- even scientists and engineers and architects. The economy after this recession will sort out the value of each skill set.

You may know people with a BA who are out of work, and you can guess all you want about what it will be like 5 years from now, but the fact is that the unemployment rate for those with a BA is pretty low. I already showed the numbers for 2010, and here are the numbers for 2011.

For people with a BA or higher, unemployment has gone down from 4.6% in August 2010, to 4.3% in August 2011. Wouldn't it be great if the whole population had those numbers? For those with a high school diploma, it changed from 10.2% in August 2010 to 9.6% in August 2011. Without either diploma, it stayed fairly flat at over 14%.

Those with a BA may or may not be smarter IQ wise, but the statistics show they were smarter career wise in getting that college diploma.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm

MsMAM wrote: As I said, college is not for everyone, but i think anyone that wants to go should be able to go.

I think that anyone who is qualifed to go should be able to. And frankly? That means something along the lines of the top 10-20% of high school graduates. If we focused on making sure the top students could afford a college degree we wouldn't be slipping the way we are in the sciences and engineering.

The watered down degrees they are serving up today are simply the expensive equivalent of a high school diploma 30 or 40 years ago. And that's because so many more students are trying to get into college and are willing to pay for it (even if with borrowed money).

Although it's hard to blame them. There aren't many viable career paths these days for people without a college degree. Time was, high school graduates without the academic talent to pursue a college degree could find well paying, steady jobs practically for life at the local manufacturing plant or mill. That is gone. Now the same students borrow tens of thousands of dollars to obtain a dumbed down degree. It's gotten pretty ridiculous when retail worker and low level clerical jobs specify college graduates.