Growing Number of College Grads Regret Liberal Arts Degree

[MacFromOK]

Yep, I follow Rowe on FB and it's too bad he doesn't have a bigger audience. Teach kids work ethic, integrity, how to save and manage money..... these core values should be taught by parents..... not the system. They should emphasize that college is an option, not a necessity.

 

[dennishoddy]

Yep, I follow Rowe on FB and it's too bad he doesn't have a bigger audience. Teach kids work ethic, integrity, how to save and manage money..... these core values should be taught by parents..... not the system. They should emphasize that college is an option, not a necessity.

Agree 100%, although the schools should also include that training. My parents got my sister and I a checking account in High School, and a savings account way before that. Mowed lawns for $2, and put half of it in savings.
There are parents that aren't financially responsible, so that's where the school takes over. In a perfect world, it would all be by parents to set the example, but it doesn't work that way in the real world.
I don't know if they have it now, but When my 40 year old son was in high school, they were required to take a class that was called home living or something like that. They were introduced to checking, savings, cooking, budgets, and so on. Great class.

 

[mightymouse]

I have no bias liberal art majors. Most are a burden on society because they can't get a job due to the lack of "learning enough" marketable skills. And liberal art majors continue to leach from the those who work.

Wow...the higher learning personified. The cardinal tenets of a classic liberal arts education are these:
1) Learn to write well. This usually involves proofreading.
2) Learn to do research well. This means you present facts rather than baseless generalizations.
3) Learn to speak well.
4) Learn to present your ideas clearly and concisely.
5) Learn to think critically.
6) Learn how to develop an idea, flesh it out, and present it orally or in a written form in a clear, concise manner.

A liberal arts education has always been considered fine preparation for law school, and for a career in politics. Yeah...those leeches.

 

[Podman]

One of my nieces's boys has a Dr. degree in english and works at a fast food place! About all he's qualified for I guess. His wife manages
the place, don't think she's a college grad though.

 

[Glocktogo]

If you're an idiot and you get a higher ed degree, congratulations. Now you're an educated idiot. Having or not having an education doesn't define you. You can get an MBA and it doesn't guarantee you a successful career as a businessman. Likewise, getting a degree in LA doesn't mean you'll never be successful. The problem comes when idiots assume that buying a college diploma on credit means they're entitled to success in a higher paying career. If that ship ever existed, it sailed into the Bermuda Triangle and never came back.

The reason higher ed is so maligned these days is because they graduate too many people who don't really even understand the world they're entering.

 

[emapples]

More and more liberal art graduates a figuring out they didn't learn enough in college to make a living or for some to even get a job because they have no marketable skills that an employer wants to pay for. And on top of that, they have a boat load of debt. What's funny is the liberal web sites continue to defend the benefits of reading poetry.

Even this article blames school funding (like most liberals) and not the fact that these degrees provide little value when trying to find a job. The easy solution would be to require stem coursework instead of that extra LGBT or poetry class.



The results of a recent survey by McKinsey and Chegg – an ed-tech company also running a textbook rental business – which shows that nearly half of those polled wished that they had made different choices upon graduating high school – is likely to add to an increasingly loud debate about whether higher education is ultimately a worthwhile investment.

Among its other troubling findings, the report says that nearly half of college graduates are currently working jobs that don’t require a college degree. Roughly 30% felt that college didn’t adequately prepare them for the job market.

The most alarming conclusion appears to be that a full 41% of graduates from America’s top 100 ranked colleges and universities couldn’t get employment in their field after they graduated. When looking at all colleges and universities around the country, the percentage goes up to nearly half.

Students don’t ask the questions they need to, like how often students graduate in four years, what percentage of students are employed within six months of graduating, and what percentage of students get jobs in their major. They need to be encouraged to do so, and schools need to have those answers.

And schools are evaluated by things like selectivity, not how they help students prepare for the workplace or support their job search.

Students in liberal arts were particularly prone to regrets. They were more likely than their STEM-graduate peers to be under- or unemployed and were deeper in debt, were paid less and were overall less happy with the higher education choices they made.

The findings illuminate the fact that schools are not doing a very good job of filling their students’ needs. Instead of expanding programs that lead to higher paid jobs and more steady employment, it appears that many schools are cutting back due to budget cuts.

As a result, students are not only feeling more regrets about where they enrolled and the major they chose, but are also graduating with higher debt loads and fewer options.

Things are moving in a troubling direction. Instead of expanding curriculums to include the skills students really need now, many institutions, particularly public ones, are cutting back. That means students have to spend longer to graduate and go deeper in debt, without getting an education that’s any better suited to the world we live in. The key to solving it, Rosensweig says, is using technology to break down some of the barriers and habits that have held higher education back and kept it from adapting, to focus more on specific skills, and creating more entrepreneurial students.

They should sue the career advisors / counselors that directed them into the decision ...after all it's the liberal thing to do

 

[ripnbst]

Well no ****...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JD8]

Wow...the higher learning personified. The cardinal tenets of a classic liberal arts education are these:
1) Learn to write well. This usually involves proofreading.
2) Learn to do research well. This means you present facts rather than baseless generalizations.
3) Learn to speak well.
4) Learn to present your ideas clearly and concisely.
5) Learn to think critically.
6) Learn how to develop an idea, flesh it out, and present it orally or in a written form in a clear, concise manner.

A liberal arts education has always been considered fine preparation for law school, and for a career in politics. Yeah...those leeches.

Hit the nail on the head with all points.


Meanwhile....on the right side of the isle....

 

[Poke78]

Wow...the higher learning personified. The cardinal tenets of a classic liberal arts education are these:
1) Learn to write well. This usually involves proofreading.
2) Learn to do research well. This means you present facts rather than baseless generalizations.
3) Learn to speak well.
4) Learn to present your ideas clearly and concisely.
5) Learn to think critically.
6) Learn how to develop an idea, flesh it out, and present it orally or in a written form in a clear, concise manner.

A liberal arts education has always been considered fine preparation for law school, and for a career in politics. Yeah...those leeches.

I think my life experience demonstrates the above, if only anecdotally. I received a BS from Oklahoma State in 1977 in Broadcast Journalism. The only time I've worked in that field was while in college for practical experience as a degree requirement. But my education was effectively a Liberal Arts education because it gave me experience in each of those six areas. Every employer since that time has used my education and experience in those areas to meet a need. Additionally, I gained experience from each position that put me in a good place to pursue other positions.

Each new position required that I be ready to learn the specifics of that business and that's an unstated part of the Liberal Arts curriculum: curiosity and a willingness to productively apply the new learning. Across my work life this meant being an Army officer, learning to weld (MIG/TIG/stick - aluminum, stainless, brass, steel), reading architectural drawings/specifications, some manual/board drafting, project estimating & management, training & needs assessment, quality auditing & management, consultative sales, economic development, organizational effectiveness, Lean/Six Sigma, etc.....

If you let your "education" or what was printed on your degree define you, it will be impossible to really experience the possibilities because you've built a box around yourself. However, I never felt led towards either the law or politics.

 

[mightymouse]

There is one simple ideal inherent in a classic liberal arts education that is very often overlooked in this money-grubbing society we live in today--a liberal arts education is intended to enrich the mind, not your a$$ pocket.