President Obama gets it right about the trades and skilled manufacturing!

“A lot of young people no longer seek the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you:  Folks can make a lot more potentially with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an Art History degree. I’m just saying you can make a really good living and have a great career without having a four year college education. “ President Obama

I would differ with the President on the most of his speech, but he is spot on with this point! 

Mike Rowe says "It's Nuts!"

Obama exploring ways to reduce the cost of college. NOT!

Obama is hosting educators to explore how to reduce the cost of college.  As my friend David Hickey so intelligently asks:  "What are the odds that they spend one second talking about how subsidizing college loans is increasing the cost of college, a trillion to one?" The answer of course is zero.

A high school junior discusses questions about college

This well-written piece by a high school junior speaks to the issue of college as the only alternative.  For most of society, few can envision any other choice than college.

Your friends and family do not even consider that a high school graduate might: 1) start a business; 2) join the military; 3) get a job; 4) get an unpaid apprenticeship at a startup company.

And importantly too many parents experience shame if little Johnny does not head off immediately to college. Parents and high school students are consistently asked one and only one question: “What college will you be attending?” When do you hear informal support for alternatives to college? Far too rarely and that is one major purpose of this blog.

Decline of College

“For the last 70 years, American higher education was assumed to be the pathway to upper-mobility and a rich shared-learning experience.”

Victor Davis Hanson challenges how most colleges operate in America.  Very well written.

Why hasn't the tech industry disrupted the textbook industry yet?

Excellent discussion about Why hasn't the tech industry disrupted the textbook industry yet?

Here are a few of the answers:

    * A big reason for the slowness is that textbook buying decision-making is done by government bodies -- state education agencies and departments that make these decisions. (a case of government slowing down innovation).

    * Moving books to digital was not the value proposition - the real value proposition was having a lighter, handheld library on the go! Until that was possible, nobody wanted to read digital books.

    * In a Los Angeles pilot program: “at three campuses more than 300 students deleted security filters, allowing them to freely browse the Internet and prompting officials to suspend the use of IPads at these high schools.  There was a recall, and supposedly 1/3 of the IPads haven't yet been returned; rumors are that between 5-10% have been dropped and broken, and another 5-10% are irretrievably lost.”

Most of these challenges would be easily overcome in a private business.  

The Value of an MBA

What is the value of an MBA?  This is a similar question to the value of a bachelor’s degree (especially in Sociology or Fine Arts). In general “value” might be considered as the ratio of benefits to cost.

 

My experience working for and managing the hiring process for big companies tells me that a year or two after graduation, managers and employers could care less what degree one has. Instead they care about: 1) how intelligent you are 2) how hard you work and 3) your common sense.

MBAs may get higher starting salaries but after a couple of years, dynamic companies care about what you are bringing to the party today rather than your “credentials”.

This is a fascinating part of the article: “She is even advising people to apply to a top school, get an acceptance and then decline to go. Put the fact (of your acceptance) on your resume and Zanetti thinks it will have nearly the same value as going to an MBA program for two years.” ‘It’s like being an Academy Award nominee instead of an Academy Award winner.” She writes. “But the difference between the two is mortgaging our future and accepting the risk of getting stuck with a monumental student loan.’”