College for all? Experts say not necessarily

[FarCenter]

This graduation season, some experts challenge whether four-year degree is path to success

Alan Scher Zagier, Associated Press Writer, On Thursday May 13, 2010, 4:23 pm EDT
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/College-for-all-Experts-say-apf-3621490094.html?x=0

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- In a town dominated by the University of Missouri's flagship campus and two smaller colleges, higher education is practically a birthright for high school seniors like Kate Hodges.

She has a 3.5 grade-point-average, a college savings account and a family tree teeming with advanced degrees. But in June, Hodges is headed to the Tulsa Welding School in Oklahoma, where she hopes to earn an associate's degree in welding technology in seven months.

"They fought me so hard," she said, referring to disappointed family members. "They still think I'm going to college."

The notion that a four-year degree is essential for real success is being challenged by a growing number of economists, policy analysts and academics. They say more Americans should consider other options such as technical training or two-year schools, which have been embraced in Europe for decades.

As evidence, experts cite rising student debt, stagnant graduation rates and a struggling job market flooded with overqualified degree-holders. They pose a fundamental question: Do too many students go to college?

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"A four-year degree in business -- what's that get you?" asked Karl Christopher, a placement counselor at the Columbia Area Career Center vocational program. "A shift supervisor position at a store in the mall."

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Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder blames the cultural notion of "credential inflation" for the stream of unqualified students into four-year colleges. His research has found that the number of new jobs requiring college degrees is less than number of college graduates.

Vedder's work also yielded something surprising: The more money states spend on higher education, the less the economy grows -- the reverse of long-held assumptions.

"If people want to go out and get a master's degree in history and then cut down trees for a living, that's fine," he said, citing an example from a recent encounter with a worker. "But I don't think the public should be subsidizing it."

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[pnwmom]

1. And the experts are right. Making all students think that a 4 year degree is a must

is STUPID, since we'll never have an economy consisting of nothing but jobs that require a 4 year college degree.

[baldguy]

2. Everyone shouldn't go to college - but everyone who wants to should.

[HillbillyBob]

3. "Everyone knows that you can't flip burgers w/o a degree.

[InkAddict]

5. Great taste-less filing (oops - filling)

http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/careers/hamburger_university/our_college_degprog.html

•The American Council on Education (ACE) is the nation's unifying body for higher education. They have recognized the investment McDonald’s has made in people and the company’s high-caliber training curriculum.
•Hamburger University students can earn credit toward a college degree through their course work. The American Council on Education has recommended 100 percent of the restaurant manager and mid-management curriculum for college credit – a total of 46 credits.
•This means that McDonald's training for Managers is now recognized as college-level course work, eligible for credits that can be transferred to colleges and universities (both private and public) and applied toward a 2 or 4-year degree.
•The average restaurant manager has completed the equivalent of approximately 21 credit hours of college-level work through their McDonald’s training, which is equal to about one semester of college.
•We continue to work with colleges and universities to leverage our partnership with the American Council on ....

[LiberalFighter]

4. Why waste time getting a degree that doesn't help them in their career?

Technical training involves higher learning in an area that those receiving a college degree probably wouldn't excel.

[jp11]

6. indeed

Too many people who received degrees turn around and then require that the people that work with/under them have them too. "I had to get one so you should too, regardless if you can do the job without one or not". The tit for tat aspect with the fact that a degree or a GPA is used as criteria to whittle down the prospective employee resumes that need to be looked through promotes the idea that people must get a college degree.

Colleges in the US have been ringing the register for a long time and worse is those students who go because it is expected of them and don't study anything practical, getting degrees in History but have no interest in doing anything with it and so on. I'd think compounding the issue of money not going into the economy is those students and parents who insist on paying lots of money, often going into debt, for that education as if a community or state college couldn't provide the same degree providing that the school is accredited.

Evidence that a degree isn't necessary is all the people who flat out lied about their non existent degrees or who purchased one from a diploma mill, and of course the many people who have been successful without a college degree.

[spin]

7. I've known people who did not have a college degree ...

who were smarter than those that did. Some were very successful.

The problem I see with a college degree today is that you spend time effort and money to get it. You get a mediocre job. The company decides to outsource your job to India and you have to train your replacement.

You end up unemployed and overqualified for the jobs that exist.

Meanwhile that guy you knew in high school who didn't go to college but instead became a roofer, has opened up his own roofing company and is making a fortune. His job can't be outsourced.

[Meldread]

8. So true - you don't need a degree to be successful.

It is a lie perpetuated in our culture that people with degree's and a few extra letters after their name are somehow inherently more special / better qualified. Certainly, there are some jobs that require a lot of additional education, but every job requires some form of education. Being a doctor or a physicist requires a lot of additional education, but becoming a roofer (as someone else brought up) requires additional education - just a lot less of it. Many jobs you can literally learn on the job. Some jobs - like starting and running a business - is believed to require a great deal of education (such as an MBA), but in reality, doesn't need it.

Certainly, ANY additional knowledge and training is helpful. But at the same time it can also restrict your thinking. Schools are designed to teach you to follow a set path of success, when the reality is most goals can be achieved through multiple routes. When you're taught to follow only one route, you become less flexible and it becomes harder to think outside the box and innovate based upon circumstance or situation.

College and advanced degrees have their place, but they are in no way required to be successful. Ninety percent of success is based upon timing, luck, ingenuity, innate talent, and perhaps most importantly a passion for what you do - and a willingness to do what it takes to overcome the obstacles in your way.