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 User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS  I teach at a college so I am a little biased here. However,
I know myself that college opened up a lot of good paying career options that I would not have had if I did not go to college.  User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
I think you're absolutely correct: it makes sense for students who have identified a clear interest and have the discipline to prepare for that career at college. But I feel many students enter college unprepared -- not academically, but socially. As parents, we coddle our kids like no generation before it. When they move away from home, there is a tendency for many to act like puppies left off the leash for the first time...scattered and out of control.
My oldest daughter knew exactly what she wanted to do, finished her BS in 4 years and is working in the career of her choice. That was great. My second attended community college for two years because she made the decision she wanted more time to focus and upgrade her skills before transferring to a 4-year school. i was impressed with not on;y the maturity of that decision, but the money she saved living at home for the first two years while spending very nominal amounts for tuition. My third started college as a business major, realized it was not the best choice and returned home after her freshman year. She attended community college for a year to gain time to think about what she really wanted. She settled on nursing. She'll graduate a semester "late" because of her change of majors, but she'll graduate next Dec. with a nursing degree. My fourth child started college and put the same effort into it he put in high school, which can charitably be described as none. After two years of commuting -- and lackluster grades in classes that did not represent any clear career path -- we told him to pause. Until he knows exactly what he wants to do, college is just wasting his time and money. He's now working full-time as a systems engineer for a entrepreneurial firm. He loves it. He's learning a lot, and his work is described as outstanding. In a year, he may realize a degree in one specific field or another may be useful. Or maybe he'll decide, for what he is doing, he doesn't need it right now. The point is, forcing him to go to college now would not have been in anyone's best interest. My youngest is still in high school. She plans to go to college. Bottom line: Let's realize that each student is unique, and the "right" path is not always the most popular one.  User Rank
Gold NO RATINGS
Deciding on the right career path is the most difficult decision that you will ever take when it comes to your education after high school. I chose medicine while in high school but realized that was not my calling right before entering college and took a year off to work and think things through.
Luckily for me my job gave me all the answers I needed and I went to college to study business management. The year I worked in the industry before actually getting my degrees really gave me a lot of valuable insight into what I was going to get myself into and I found it much easer to understand what was taught in class since I had already experienced it in a real life working environment. I think it might be a good idea to actually get a job in the field you are interested in for a short time before investing in a college education in that field. I think it will help you make the right choice before spending valuable time and money on it. What do you think?
@Noreen I think your second and third daughters did the right thing by taking time to think things through when they were not sure of their choices.
 User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
I'd say right now college is worth it if you are getting a degree in science or engineering but not if you are studying poetry and drinking beer. There are still alot of well-paying jobs if you have unique engineering skills. Career focus is key.
You can always go into a field like sales or marketing with a cheap degree from a state school and do fine, if you are a good worker.  User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
I agree completely. Not everyone belongs in College or University. We do have a need for skilled tradesmen and overall we are not doing a good job in training them. College has become the " new high school"- it really is an entry card to many higher level jobs. We need to find ways to fund education for the best and brightest if we want to remain competitive in the world. I still think it is one of the best investments for the individual as well as the society.
User Rank
Iron NO RATINGS
We tend to look at people who did not attend college as lazy or stupid, unless they happen to be Richard Branson, Bill Gates or Michael Dell.
User Rank
Iron NO RATINGS
I know several people that did not graduate college that have higher paying jobs and more opportunity than most college graduates. They were smart enough to know that college was not the only route to success. My degree has opened doors for me but it is not a golden ticket to success. That comes with constant hard work and effort
 User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
PAW, though you do not have to go to college in order to be sucessful, it can only help, more in some cases depending on what you desire to do with your life. As an engineer I would not be where I am currently if it were not for graduating college.
I think each person will need to make sure that college is a fit for them, at the right time. and not every single person is ready for college at the age of 18, some people are better off going off and gaining some life experience before getting a degree. User Rank
Iron NO RATINGS I agree that going to college can open doors for you career wise; it certainly has for me. This was especially true after I received a Master's degree. College did prepare me for a specific career – Accounting (thankfully, I changed my major from Psychology to Business). But, too many times, college kids are not sure what they are in college for resulting in degrees that are worthless in the job market. For example, before my nephew started college (he didn’t know what he wanted to major in), I told him that he should take a year and travel and figure out what he really wanted to do. I still think it is a good idea but he went to college right out of high school and is now a “Communications” major. I’m not really sure what that means or what type of job that will get him. User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
PAW, even though communications is always joked on as a major (and i understand why) I think any degree can be a great starting point for a career, so even if you dont find your passion until after college at least you still have the first degree out of the way.
Jobs like yours and mine require specific degrees to break into, that is not the case for every job, so i think just haveing a degree can be a great starting point if someone is unsure. I work with someone who has an Electrical Engineering degree but works in the field troubleshooting issues because that is what he loves, he could make more money doing design, but he would hate being in an office behind a desk. so even a focused degree like engineering or accounting can go to waste if someone losses their passion for it.  User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
I think college can be for everyone, but I think the mistake we make is in assuming that it has to take place right after high school or the opportunity is somehow forever lost or forfeited.
Last winter I had the privilege of attending the awards ceremony (separate from the much larger graduation) at the community college from which my younger son was graduating with highest honors. He had landed there as a "re-grouping effort" after his initial choice of school and major required some re-thinking, but that's not really my point. Rather, I was struck by the fact that both the valedictorian and salutatorian of the class were middle-aged single mothers who described how they had thought that college was not in their life plans. Both had faced challenges (having to learn English, working full-time) that I daresay would have daunted most Ivy League grads! But they turned one class into two classes into a major into an A.A. degree and now they had full scholarships--one to Columbia and one to NYU. Amazing and humbling! My niece is another example. She's 29 and has two young sons. She got married right out of high school and is now divorced and back in school studying accounting. Luckily she lives on the west coast and we have the time difference in our favor because she can put them to bed and call me for help. I dust off my ancient accounting knowledge and we puzzle through the coursework together! Immigrants, veterans, late bloomers....THESE are the EVERYONE we need to educate! But let's stop assuming that the boat leaves the dock at age 21 because it does NOT! User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
Excellent points @Street Smart. A little maturity and life experience can transform the whole college experience.
 User Rank
Iron NO RATINGS
Yes, college knows no age, that's a good way to put it. People don't have to go to university/college right after high school. But it's still better to go there whenever they are ready. Learning knowledge and skills in college is just one part of it. To better grow and mature sometimes is much more imprtant for any one. If people think attending university is wasting money/time if they later switch their career or something like that, then these people probably won't read "Shakespeare". To them it''s just a waste to do anything other than climb their career ladder or earning more money. But to me, life is not just career and money. We can learn lots more in universtiy/college.
On the other hand, the tuition cost is another issue. User Rank
Iron NO RATINGS
Having a degree is a great starting point if someone is unsure about what they want to do. But, with the cost of college continuing to increase, I think that one needs to be more sure of what their educational goals are before they, and their parents, start spending all that money on tuition. Maybe college is not what they need.
User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
I have a good Ivy League story. Over time, I have worked with and hired many Ivy Leaguers. I have found they fall into two categories 1) Brilliant or 2) Spoiled fraud.
Here's an example of a spoiled fraud. My new hire was young Harvard grad. He mentioned this a lot. He seemed to have a sense of entitlement. The first day of work, he did not show up. I called him at home. "Oh, he said, I decided I'm going to work at home, I don't like commuting," he said. "Well, I said, if you want a job you have to show up here at the office." He never showed up.  User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
Speaking of entitlement, it seems like some of these CUNY students have a sense of entitlement. Demanding CUNY be free for all? I understand that a lot of CUNY students come from families facing financial problems, but that's just ridiculous.
I also find it interesting that more people DON'T go the 2-years-at-a-community-college route, especially when considering how much money it saves you in the long run. There are so many stigmas that have grown out of the current college culture. It seems like kids are almost afraid of going to community college, despite the fact that your final four year diploma, whether it come from an illustrious school or not, is never going to make mention of it. User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
I agree asking for it to be totally free doesn't make sense. To get value out of something, there has to be a cost. The cost also serves to filter out the people who are really serious about it.
User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
Very true. The period of time that the CUNY system (if I may pick on it again) sported an open admissions policy and didn't charge admission was directly responsible for the significant decline in the system's academic reputation, which was fairly strong previously. The prevalence of remedial courses in the CUNY curriculum at that time corroborate the idea that "college is not for everyone."
User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
I discovered that myself when I was in college. I was working 32 hours a week, maintaining scholarships and really expending a lot of energy to be in school. All the students in similar situations were working just as hard. The ones who skipped class, took six years to graduate, goofed off and basically made college an extension of their childhood were the ones who did not have to invest anything in their education. Mom and Dad paid the whole bill -- and there was no incentive to achieve.
User Rank
Iron
Noreen, now a day’s educational institutions are more or less like a business or enterprise organizations. Most of them are working for a profit rather than spreading knowledge. The entire way of educational institutional working model has been changed in to business way. More over students are also having similar thoughts that we are investing for a better returns for the future. So in my opinion both students and institutions have to be changed in to a different way of sharing knowledge rather than looking for profit and investment manner. I admit that there are several financial aspects are also included.
User Rank
Iron NO RATINGS
Scott
Wow, that's something I learned today. Do you mean he never ever showed up since then? No explaination whatsoever? Well, now we need to be careful with Ivy League grads. The unemplyment rate is over 20% in young generation. Maybe, just maybe, their behaviors is one of reasons? User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
mInvestor -- this was a long time ago, before being disinfranchised was even cool. And no, he never showed up. Never made it to the second day of work.
 User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
The easy way to tell the difference between these two groups of people is: counting how many times they mention their schools.
Spoiled fraud is eager to tell everyone where he went for college, because attending the school is the few things he can bragged about. Brillant people usually made so many achievements in their lives, they don't think it is something they have to mention to everyone. User Rank
Iron NO RATINGS Going to college isn't a right. It is a privilege and it is not something for which the government should pay. I don't even think that the government should be in the school loan business. If you cannot afford a University than a Community College is a lower-cost option. User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
Actually, government funding is the whole problem. Because of the government-subsidized student loan business, tuition costs have been artificially inflated. Think about it -- it's just like the housing market. Cheap financing = rising cost of assets. So to return to normal the government needs to change the student-loan programs.
 User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
Makes no sense to me why tuition is so high when many of these institutions own the land and the buildings on it. Scott is right--it's a result of artificial inflation from the federal loans/grants/subsidies.
 User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
I think we have to start shopping for our education the way we shop for other consumer goods, and weigh the cost/value equation before we agree to buy it. As it is, we blindly pay whatever the asking price is for alleged "prestige" without asking the bottom line question: Will this pay off for the major/career I plan to study?
User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
The other problem with college, is the direction it has taken. Some countries start students on a career path in high school, and they stick through it through college. I'm not saying this is the best method; but the way it's becoming in America- high school round two is just not productive. Students end up switching "majors" sometime in their first two years, before they even have a chance to take any classes related to their major because the first two years are filled with "General Education" classes--yes, the same ones that high school was supposed to cover.
At the end of the day, it's a business. The worst part is that these schools can do whatever they want, to prolong graduation--faculty will encourage the (already babied gen y) students to "take their time" and "enjoy college while you can", universities can change graduation requirements without warning. Why do students continue? The stigma attached to not having a college degree is too great. These days, it's becoming unacceptable to not have a masters degree. My point--College is the perfect scam. User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
Very well said!
 User Rank
Iron NO RATINGS
I've grown tired of protests--whether it's CUNY students, OWS or some labor union. I feel like I've fallen into the '60s, without the justification that fueled the dissent back then.
User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
Acknowledged, Dex. While it's certainly the American way, the protesters have increasingly been getting in the way of other Americans who have, well, work to do. Or work to look for.
 User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
I don't mind complaints. But I'd like to see people complain AFTER they take the time to understand the facts of a situation. I'm tired of people protesting things they know nothing about, including $300 annual tuition increases.
User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
We seem to have a speak first, think later mentality -- and it affects everyone (in the 99%, and the 1%)
User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.
Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists" George Bernard Shaw. How many people are teaching things they know little about? I've known journalism professors who came up through the ranks as teaching assistants. Many had never been in much less worked in a real print or broadcast city room. One more reason cat tail is right --- it is a scam.  User Rank
Platinum NO RATINGS
I've had some excellent professors over time, and, yes, I've had some terrible ones too. It does seem like those who teach a "craft" like journalism or a "skill" like nursing are much better if they have had real world experience. But the flip side is this: some excellent professionals -- top of their fields, actually -- prove to be terrible teachers.
Just knowing information doesn't mean you know how to convey it. User Rank
Blogger NO RATINGS
The bottom line is that higher education should be a thoughtfully made decision, not something you do to please someone else or as a way to "have fun" at the risk of incurring unmanageable debt.
The blogs and comments posted on Investor Uprising do not reflect the views of Investor Uprising, PRNewswire, or its sponsors. Investor Uprising, PRNewswire, and its sponsors do not assume responsibility for any comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose. |
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