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

[Hugo Drax]

http://webfarm.bloomberg.com/news/2...e-in-low-paying-job-is-increasing-lament.html

Laura Sayer, unsure of what she wanted to do after graduating from college in 2006, figured a master’s degree was “a safe bet.”

So she figured get an easy degree and somehow your set for life in a high paying job with a degree in "Interdisciplinary In Humanities and Social Thought"

Opps FAIL.

 

[ElFenix]

i don't think you could even teach college with that

 

[IceBergSLiM]

This cheap useless degree hasn't gotten me anywhere maybe an expensive useless degree will do the trick. Chick logic.

 

[DesiPower]

Someone who has a brain which allows them to choose such a field should be glad that they are making $45,000 a year. She should feel lucky, for her its equivalent to winning a mega million lottery.

These degrees are like Ponzi schemes, some people who study these get a PhD and go into academics and teach more losers and and so on... like multilevel pyramid marketing like Amway or something like that...

 

[IceBergSLiM]

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.

 

[sygyzy]

Is the topic title a joke? I really thought someone majored in underwater basketweaving. I understand the point of the article but I found the topic title really misleading.

 

[vi edit]

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.

 

[shortylickens]

A long time ago it was true that having a degree in pretty much anything would guarantee a decent job. Since they pass out high school diplomas like toilet paper nowadays basic degrees mean very little. You need to actually learn something useful for anyone to take it seriously. Thats why people with engineering programs get more jobs in museums than people with history degrees. They are still more useful, even if their training isnt directly related.

 

[Fayd]

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.

i have a brilliant idea. stop subsidizing loans for non-science majors.

 

[krunchykrome]

She majored in humanities and social though.....enough said

she's the dumba$$ for acquiring $50k in student loans for a BS degree.

 

[Drako]

Is the topic title a joke? I really thought someone majored in underwater basketweaving. I understand the point of the article but I found the topic title really misleading.

"Underwater Basket Weaving" would actually be more useful than "Interdisciplinary In Humanities and Social Thought", don't you think?

 

[HydroSqueegee]

tell you what, if my kids know what they want to do and have direction, college is for them. Otherwise im telling them to go to trade school and be a plumber or something.

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

 

[LordMorpheus]

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.

 

[krunchykrome]

tell you what, if my kids know what they want to do and have direction, college is for them. Otherwise im telling them to go to trade school and be a plumber or something.

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

My kids are going to college; it's not an option they have. And they're unless they're incredibly talented in something like music, dance, etc....they're going to major in something useful. Sounds harsh, but it's tough love from a realist father.

 

[Macamus Prime]

I got a full time job before I got my degree. And now, I am doing something I didn't even go to school for,.. just 5 years worth of experience, that I am doing just fine.

Now, an education IS needed, just so you fill your big empty head with something other than ATOT trash ideas/demands on how you should think and live.

 

[Linflas]

Just glanced at the link and pictures and understand why Communication Arts was not a degree path.

 

[BoomerD]

i have a brilliant idea. stop subsidizing loans.

fixed.

 

[Anarchist420]

Federal loans are driving the price of education way up as well as public education in general. At VA Tech (a public university) the football coach gets well more than half a million per year when they could be using the money for students who don't go to college just for athletics. Then, the students who go to college for atheletics would be helped themselves because they'd go straight to a professional league (although IP and subsidies for the NFL make that more difficult). The same thing goes with presidents of public universities, they get the lions share from tuition paid and they get a free house often on waterfront front property. Some would say they have to move when they're no longer president of the university or that the football coaches generate revenue for the university but the costs of athletics far exceed the money given to the university from athletics.

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

 

[HydroSqueegee]

My kids are going to college; it's not an option they have. And they're unless they're incredibly talented in something like music, dance, etc....they're going to major in something useful. Sounds harsh, but it's tough love from a realist father.

but what will they go for? what will they do? When I started college, i had no direction or drive. dropped out of that after the second quarter.

College is not for everyone and you dont need a degree for a lot of jobs that you can make ok money in.

 

[shortylickens]

but what will they go for? what will they do? When I started college, i had no direction or drive. dropped out of that after the second quarter.

I am of the opinion that MOST kids coming out of high school dont need college at all. They need to join the regular untrained work force and see how shitty life can be.
I guarantee when they go back to school they will have some fucking direction.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

I am of the opinion that MOST kids coming out of high school dont need college at all. They need to join the regular untrained work force and see how shitty life can be.
I guarantee when they go back to school they will have some fucking direction.

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.

 

[Imp]

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.

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...

 

[JS80]

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.

So it's confirmed, Democrats hate the military?

 

[HydroSqueegee]

So it's confirmed, Democrats hate the military?

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

 

[shortylickens]

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.

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.