CNN article about College degrees that do not pay

This CNN article goes out of its way to discuss people doing what they love even though the pay is lousy. It discusses 9 college majors and examples of each where the individual is satisfied with his/her job but is getting paid quite modestly.

This article has two major fallacies. First, most of the graduates in these majors don't end up with any job at all related to their college major. This article implies that you may end up poorly paid but at least you will get a job. Not the case. For most of these majors you will simply be out fighting it out with high schoold grads for a job at Home Depot having nothing to do with your college experience.

The second fallacy here is that for many of these jobs, no degree at all is required. In many of these cases these folks would have had close to the same chance of landing the job as a high school graduate.

Is College the only way to expand one's intellect?

Two very good days of articles on college in the Los Angeles Free Press. Here is the publisher’s wrap-up on the subject yesterday.

I of course never get tired of this subject so here are a few additional (but far from final) thoughts on college. First, I question the belief that college is the only or best way to build one’s intellect. It is one way to expand your horizons but there are alternatives to college that may do the job at a far lower cost. Today, it is reasonably easy to get an understanding of virtually any subject online (check out the Khan Academy which is free and where one can learn the basics of anything from molecular formulas to electron configuration). Compare the information available to those learning from Khan versus the limited number of books that Abe Lincoln had to work with. It is also fairly easy to engage in an online debate with those on the other side on most subjects as well. So college is not the only place to have a good argument or dig into and learn about a tough subject.

With some private colleges charging up to $220,000 (room and board) over four years and fewer students actually graduating in only four years, are these institutions providing enough intellectual stimulation and development for the dollar spent? You might remind me that there are scholarships and grants that may reduce the student’s cost - but this simply means that somebody else is paying the tab. A few might even suggest that college is worth it at any price.

Some are just not ready to take on certain subjects when they are 18-22 years old, so I suggest that college might be better after a year or two of another experience immediately after high school (like work, starting a business or living overseas and learning another language). If a student is not at all interested in learning about the basics of logic, the minimum sample size of a statistically significant set, or how best to put one’s hypothesis into words, then that individual is unlikely to retain much from simply hanging around the classroom as the discussion takes place around him.

The classroom model is an old and expensive model for learning. And this is still very much today’s college model. Not to mention that at many prestigious universities the instructor is an assistant and not the full professor. The full professor (who is advertised, sometimes misleadingly as the instructor) is not teaching on a daily basis because she is actively engaged in research or writing rather than daily classroom work.

I clearly accept the notion that college has value but its value depends on what one studies and what one pays for the experience. And like other investments that require resources and time, one should be searching for an excellent payback for a smaller outlay. Cost matters and as long as college costs and investment return go unquestioned (like buying a home was just a few years ago) then the cost will continue to inflate dramatically, and our politicians will fight back with more subsidies rather than questioning or changing the basic model.

Critical thinking matters. Logical thought matters. The ability to express oneself both in writing and in speech matter. But cost also matters. And setting up oneself so that you can earn a decent living in tomorrow’s world really matters.

College is one of many paths from adolescence to independence but today too many Americans blindly assume that college is a must, and an investment that will pay dividends at any price.

Accepting the college investment in all circumstances and at any cost especially when one goes deep into debt for an interesting but non job-producing major (Ethnomusicology, Sociology, Medieval History, French Poetry) needs far more questioning. And not just for your friends’ kids but your children as well. College is just one of many options that the young may consider and the choic needs to be questioned critically and compared to the alternatives on a student by student basis.

The questions they ask?

Just received from a friend....

The graduate with a science degree asks, "Why does it work?"
The graduate with an engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"
The graduate with an accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?"
The graduate with an arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

I do not think higher education should be protected in any budget cut.

I have been the source of consternation recently with some folks because I do not think higher education should be protected in any budget cut / balancing discussions. In fact, I suggest higher education might be one the first places governments should look to balance strained budgets and strip inefficiencies. My basic point is that formal higher education can, to a greater extent than other core government services, be postponed with fewer consequences. You postpone basic road repairs and the cost is often higher later than taking care of it now (e.g., pot holes, clearing drainage). The same goes for public safety and many health programs.

With higher education (I’m referring to the completion and awarding of diplomas) a delay in degrees will not stop jobs from being filled or people from making money. And I’m not saying people shouldn’t learn. Everyone should take every opportunity to learn whether it be from reading books, on-the=job training / apprenticeships, or participation in groups and volunteer endeavors. Heck, if they do it right they could re-enter college later a lot better prepared and focused (a la past discussions of European gap years). The library at my old college had a quote above one of the main entry doors that went something like “They know enough who know to learn.” There’s a big difference between learning and getting a piece of paper that says you went through a process. The latter can be delayed with relatively minimal impact.

Of the higher education that is publicly funded those funds should go toward highest public return and programs which benefit most from structured learning and hands-on resources (labs). Those typically are in the sciences.

The part I’m not sure about is what long term organizational impacts there might be. i.e., Retention of key instructors or replenishing staff later. In any event, cutting programs now and reinstating valued programs later will probably get you where you want to go sooner than continuing to work within the current system that protects itself well.

From MM (with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA).

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-7_jobs_to_skip_college_for-1374

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-7_jobs_to_skip_college_for-1374

Not all well-paying jobs require a college degree. They all require specialized training (either on-the-job or at technical school). But if you want to be a photographer or nuclear power operator, you may want to consider the specific requirements of that job rather than spending 6 years at an expensive college studying, Psychology or Medieval History. This is an interesting article on the subject.

The world has changed. When my grandfather graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1921 (I don’t know if the UC system had any other campuses at that time), having a college degree really distinguished the college grad from the high school grad (or the non-high school grad). I can’t find the stat, but my guess is that fewer than five percent of high school graduates subsequently graduated from college in the 1920’s.

Today close to 60% of high school grads go on to college. But then only 53% of them graduate within six years.

College makes sense if one desires certain jobs (science and engineering in particular). But an expensive Liberal Arts education is no longer much of an advantage. Many Liberal Arts graduates only have big student loan payments to show for their “investment”.

What college majors are in demand this year?

http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/22/pf/college/highest_paying_college_majors/index.htm

This article discusses how college grads are doing in the job market this year. At least there is some emphasis on what engineering majors are earning. Unfortunately the US is graduating far fewer engineers that we need.

But this article fails to report on the starting salaries for Ethnomusicology, Sociology, and Gender Studies majors. Could it be that there are no starting salaries for these interesting but not-in-demand majors because there are no job offers?

Let me ask you how many History major graduates you know that got a related job or even a job that pays more than their non-college graduates this year? I can’t find a single one – but I am still looking.

So the school you attend is not the important thing. What you study and learn is what counts. And if you are borrowing to attend an expensive school and graduating with a Bachelors degree in Psychology then you may be considering (ill advisedly I might add) going to grad school so you can postpone starting to pay off your student loans.

Study something that is in demand, pay for it as you go and pay attention to the cost. This is advice that will result in a solid payback for an investment in college. But borrowing big time to attend a prestigious college with a pretty campus in order to study Liberal Arts, will leave you with few choices and Law School as your only alternative.

Is College Education the next bubble to burst?

This chart is an interesting way to look at the cost of college.

During the height of the housing bubble, how many times did you hear "You can never lose with the purchase of a home?" - And today, too few families are questioning the cost of their college education.