50K degree in underwater basket weaving, stuck in low pay job.

[ViviTheMage]

Before you declare a major you should be forced to do a research project on the job prospects, pay, and overall education costs required to complete that degree.

Compare the cost to the realistic salary/job opportunities you could expect and send a copy of that to your parents, the government (if you are student loans) and any other entity that is financing your ass.

Then let them decide if you can proceed down that path.

In any other loan you take the underwriters require some proof that you'll actually be able to repay that amount.

Shit, they should force that even for graduates.

The university application process usually includes a "why did you choose our program and university" section addressed to the university of interest. If you say "to make money", that probably won't fly. No, you generally have to bullshit about how amazing it would be to broaden your academic background, share you knowledge with the university and fellow students, and then use that knowledge to better society as a whole...

I just finished writing a 16 page proposal for my multidisciplinary studies degree, and I started off with the jists of 'I want it, because I know I need it to advance my career"but it's turned into "It would be nice to have, and share my thoughts with my peers, balblabla horseshit"....I was given a lot of flak for having it being about growing my career, but my teacher siad that will never swing with the committee that approves these things.

 

[JS80]

poorly worded. they dont hate the military, they wont stand for anyone in the family joining the military.

lol being hypocrites is much better

 

[vi edit]

I dont think all kids need the military in fact most wouldnt really benefit from it. But they need to something else beside just rolling out of high school and into college. They need real life experience that shows them the difference between fucking off and making something of your life. Dumb as it may sound most spoiled ignorant American teens DONT actually know the difference.

Two year/trade schools and programs need to be embraced more often and not treated as the red headed step children of the post high school education world.

 

[Linflas]

I'll admit I was fairly directionless before the Navy. Not lazy, but not focused either. I didnt want any one particular thing in life, just wanted to see the world. After I got out I was 26 and had seen plenty, had also taken part in some things too.
Knew right then what I wanted and kinda how I wanted to get it.

I dont think all kids need the military in fact most wouldnt really benefit from it. But they need to something else beside just rolling out of high school and into college. They need real life experience that shows them the difference between fucking off and making something of your life. Dumb as it may sound most spoiled ignorant American teens DONT actually know the difference.

This is my opinion based on observing community college students for the past 3 years.

Joining the Navy was really my only option and probably the only decision I made as a teenager that was the correct decision. By the time my 4 years were up I was a completely different person than the stupid hippie I was in high school "smoking dope and bad mouthing my country" to steal a line from a movie.

 

[Nintendesert]

im all for my kids joining the military (gre up as a military brat), but i dont think that will happen since my wife comes from a long line of democrats. The military can straighten you out and give direction too.

It can. Just like working though I've seen many on both paths go nowhere good. Real life in general straightens kids out, College isn't real life. It's some make believe world where kids can get these worthless degrees and something better for them is on the other side.

Less college and more trade schools is what this country sorely needs. There's not enough skilled workers out there.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Ok, seriously, how big of an idiot would you have to be to think that a degree in "Interdisciplinary In Humanities and Social Thought" is going to lead to a high-paying job? They saw her coming from a mile away.

 

[corwin]

Personally I think Colleges should stop offering BS degres like this in the first place and only offer ones that really are meaningful in the workplace to begin with, what the hell kind of job is this degree supposed to prepare you for anyway? Stupid degrees like this are setup by the college to make money and nothing else...

On a side note a ton of places don't give a shit what your degree is in so long as you have a piece of paper from somewhere...my current employer is one of them, for all our IT positions you just have to have a bachelors degree, for all they care it could be underwater basket weaving so long as the piece of paper says bachelors degree

 

[MotF Bane]

They need to differentiate between graduate degrees in stuff like "Interdisciplinary In Humanities and Social Thought" and degrees in things like Engineering if they want to write a serious article.

A Ph.D. in robotics is going to leave you in a nice job in almost any economy. "Interdisciplinary In Humanities and Social Thought" is going to leave you in a shitty job even in a great economy. You can't write a serious article that talks about "graduate degrees" as a blanket thing.

But think about who is writing these things - the journalism and English majors. They're not going to crush the dreams of those following them.

 

[ShawnD1]

I got lucky. Decent job for a 2 year degree from a generic tech school.

A few of my family members have that. It's useful. Some of the programs like welding end up paying a ridiculous amount of money. The ones with lots of applications require students to write a short report about what the field is. If you wanted to be a civil engineer, your report would mention things like road design, rail design, sewage systems, etc. As long as the person has a basic understanding of what the program is, the report is good enough.

I can't even imagine what to write for something like humanities or social thought. I really don't know what that is. I'm guessing employers don't know either. Sure you have this weird degree..... can you type without looking at the keyboard?

 

[shortylickens]

I once suggested that all students coming out of high school be made to spend a year doing something, ANYTHING else besides school. Get a job, backpack around the country, travel, it doesnt matter. But they need a year off from the classroom and it needs to matter. Having been in college for a bit and watching how things work, I'd like to amend my statement.
The system needs to NOT allow students in unless they've had at least one whole year since high school. It would be better, trust me.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Personally I think Colleges should stop offering BS degres like this in the first place and only offer ones that really are meaningful in the workplace to begin with, what the hell kind of job is this degree supposed to prepare you for anyway? Stupid degrees like this are setup by the college to make money and nothing else...

On a side note a ton of places don't give a shit what your degree is in so long as you have a piece of paper from somewhere...my current employer is one of them, for all our IT positions you just have to have a bachelors degree, for all they care it could be underwater basket weaving so long as the piece of paper says bachelors degree

The graduate degrees like this are meant as a stepping stone towards a pHd. This chick didn't get the memo

 

[PingSpike]

It isn't clear to me if $50K is her total school debt or just the cost of the Master's degree in addition to her bachelors.

As for that lawyer dude with ass loads of debt he can never pay off, he should do what my exgirlfriend did and marry a commodities trader.

 

[leeland]

I also think parents who have the money but refuse to pay for their kids' college tuition are dicks.

While I can partially agree with this statement this shouldn't be some BS crutch to not attend school...

I worked three jobs and was full time to get through school...

I made 4.00 dollars an hour working at cousins subs, the YMCA and a little bit more working at the hospital...

It totally sucked balls...but I got through it with some student loans and CC debt...

Gives you a little responsibility knowing that if you fuck up YOU are the one losing out because YOU have to pay for it...

My parents gave me money just 1 time over the course of two degree's due to money problems...and it was under 1,000 dollars...

I don't see a problem with parents NOT paying and as a parent I plan on NOT funding the education...I will 'assist' when needed to a point...but it won't be no free soup kitchen...

EDIT:

One thing a buddy of mine had in college that was kind of cool...

His parents would pay for either the years tuition or the room and board...but not both...

They did this for 4 years of college...after that he was on his own. When he got a car they paid for the insurance for the first 6 months...after that he was on his own...

That is the kind of assistance I would provide...as a parent...because you have to make the kid somehow responsible...if they can make enough money on a summer job to not have to work during school great...but if not...get a job and budget your time...and money.

 

[shortylickens]

There used to be a time when you could open a savings account for your newborn and by the time they would be ready for college, it would be more than enough.
Nowadays with insane tuition prices you pretty much need a scholarship or student loan.

 

[drebo]

This is a serious problem...kids are going to college for far too long and for the wrong reasons. They aren't going to college to receive training for a career path anymore, they're going to college because that's what all their friends are doing. And they stay in college because when they graduate, they realize that their 4-year degree in philosophy didn't prepare them to be able to get a job or raise a family or be self-sufficient. So they get a masters...or a second degree. And when that doesn't magically get them a job, they get a PHD or a second masters. Seriously, two of my wife's siblings are in this condition, and one of her best friends.

No job prospects, no real-life experience, no training for any kind of career skills...no use to society at all.

We need to stop with the "everyone goes to college" shit. It doesn't work and it devalues the education one could have received in college. There need to be two secondary education paths in the US: one path which leads to college and one path that leads to vocational training. In 8th grade, you take an aptitude test. Based on that, you either go to a traditional high school with all like-minded people, or you go to a vocational highschool where you learn to weld, to repair cars, to be an apprentice electrician, to frame houses, to be an RDA, etc, etc. There is no shame in any of those jobs, and none of them require a college degree. Shoe-horning all of these people into the umbrella of "liberal arts" college degrees is just plain stupid.

 

[Tobolo]

While I can partially agree with this statement this shouldn't be some BS crutch to not attend school...

I worked three jobs and was full time to get through school...

I made 4.00 dollars an hour working at cousins subs, the YMCA and a little bit more working at the hospital...

It totally sucked balls...but I got through it with some student loans and CC debt...

Gives you a little responsibility knowing that if you fuck up YOU are the one losing out because YOU have to pay for it...

My parents gave me money just 1 time over the course of two degree's due to money problems...and it was under 1,000 dollars...

I don't see a problem with parents NOT paying and as a parent I plan on NOT funding the education...I will 'assist' when needed to a point...but it won't be no free soup kitchen...

EDIT:

One thing a buddy of mine had in college that was kind of cool...

His parents would pay for either the years tuition or the room and board...but not both...

They did this for 4 years of college...after that he was on his own. When he got a car they paid for the insurance for the first 6 months...after that he was on his own...

That is the kind of assistance I would provide...as a parent...because you have to make the kid somehow responsible...if they can make enough money on a summer job to not have to work during school great...but if not...get a job and budget your time...and money.

My parents paid about 50k for my brother to attend a private school and receive a BA in Religion so that he could become a preacher. I attend a public university and studied history with the goal of teaching. I got about 5k over the years. I also had to drop out because I could not afford it.

All that to say, he is still a spoiled brat and I appreciate everything that I worked for a whole lot more.

 

[Red Storm]

Ever since getting my first job in IT, school has been on the backburner. I'm still working towards that degree, but I value the experience I've gained (and continue to gain) in the real world a whole lot more than school. Both are rewarding, but at the end of the day one is paying me money, while the other is costing me money.

 

[goog40]

$45k for an admin assistant sounds like a pretty sweet gig.

 

[CPA]

Let me guess, she's currently sitting with some occupywallstreet group.

 

[homercles337]

biggest take away from the article:

Federal and private student loans outstanding for graduate and undergraduate education is approaching $1 trillion, and surpassed U.S. credit-card debt in June 2010 for the first time, said Kantrowitz, who analyzed federal loan data and modeled private student-loan volumes. Defaults are at their highest since fiscal 1997, according to the Education Department.

The overwhelming majority of this is to students in private, for-profit schools. These schools have to keep an ever increasing number of students to keep wall street happy. This leads to lies to students about employment opportunities post graduation.

A little knowledge may help with your tunnel vision: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/

 

[bfdd]

I don't get why this article tries to make me feel bad for them. These were stupid personal choices that have cost OTHERS tons of money, not themselves, but society. I do not feel bad for idiots who won't own up for their own mistakes. What do they want from me? I dropped out of high school and passed my GED test the next day. I've been working ever since.

 

[BoberFett]

I've got a high school degree and am in the top 10% of earners. College as a training program is overrated. Return college to what it should be, a place of learning not a job placement office.

 

[KlokWyze]

My idiot friend literally just got another loan for around $25k to get an associate's degree through ITT Tech. He started classes yesterday. Now, the real funny part is that he is on a deferred payment plan for a $30k loan he got for Kaplan scamiversity about 2 years ago. He failed to obtain the degree because his GPA dropped below a threshold required for the loan in the 1st place. Still has to pay the old loan he never got a useless degree for and he purposely got another one.

I believe it was a FAFSA loan.

Next. Bubble. To. Burst.

Anyone see that last season of Weeds?

 

[Vic Vega]

Who takes out a loan to go to college? If you can't get in for free, you aren't trying hard enough and probably shouldn't go!

There literally are billions of dollars up for grabs every year in free college money, but people are lazy and would rather take out loans then actually WORK for something and apply for the FREE MONEY. They can't be bothered with that because it takes EFFORT and would cut into party time, Facebook time and general dicking around.

There are even students who take out loans and refuse to work while in college. Appauling. Then they complain when they get out no one will hire them. Well of course no one will hire you Mr. 28 year old who HAS NEVER HAD A JOB OF ANY KIND. Any experience is good experience, so if you worked 20 hours a week at McDonald's your entire college career when you get out you can show an employer you are EMPLOYABLE. That's what they want!

 

[KlokWyze]

Who takes out a loan to go to college? If you can't get in for free, you aren't trying hard enough and probably shouldn't go!

There literally are billions of dollars up for grabs every year in free college money, but people are lazy and would rather take out loans then actually WORK for something and apply for the FREE MONEY. They can't be bothered with that because it takes EFFORT and would cut into party time, Facebook time and general dicking around.

There are even students who take out loans and refuse to work while in college. Appauling. Then they complain when they get out no one will hire them. Well of course no one will hire you Mr. 28 year old who HAS NEVER HAD A JOB OF ANY KIND. Any experience is good experience, so if you worked 20 hours a week at McDonald's your entire college career when you get out you can show an employer you are EMPLOYABLE. That's what they want!

The real kicker is that the system isn't designed to teach students how to employ their skills in the real world. It's just about generating revenue. There are tons of idiots out there that cannot be helped (look @ my example above), but those on the cusp aren't really encouraged to make intelligent choices. Whenever I've been to the fucking COUNSELOR, they were never helpful. You have to drill them for info. Frankly, you've got to be really aggressive to get the answers you need.