Growing Number of College Grads Regret Liberal Arts Degree

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donner

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Ugh, the tired and embarrassing conservative narrative blaming "liberal arts" degrees for millennial whining. Look boys, Letters and Classics were two of the hardest degrees when I was at OU, those people got jobs, because well... they could learn anything. Several tech companies have come out and stated they'll hire these types of people because of their versatility. The problem out there today is that kids that probably shouldn't go to college, are going, when they probably should be in a trade, or out in the real world. They've been told all their lives that they need to go to college. On the flip side, I can't tell you how many "business" majors from OU I have seen fail. Most of the curriculum back then was a joke compared to other degrees. What kids need to be told is that it's ok to NOT go to college, it's ok to take up a trade, it's ok to get out in the real world and work..... just don't be complacent.

This. Just because Millennials expect high paying jobs to fall in their laps doesn't mean the degree they sought is worthless. The idea that education alone guarantees good jobs is false and a strawman you see promoted time and again. Education and job training can be the same but do not have to be the same.

It's what a person chooses to do with their degree that matters more. And as JD8 notes, sometimes that means NOT going to college. My wife, a professor, will be the first to say that not everyone should be pushed towards it.

The other thing is play here is that they are surveying people right out of school. The fact is that most people will change jobs several times and you don't really know what aspect of your education will ultimately pay off most for you. it could be that your accounting classes workout best, or it could be that advertising class you took or even that classics course. Being educated has value in and of itself, which is sadly lost for some.

And the issue of debt is a very real and important one. Not only should schools do better about managing costs (many acknowledge this) but they can do better at helping grads find jobs (again, many already echo this sentiment). But as has been discussed many times here, schools alone aren't responsible for the ballooning costs of education.
 
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donner

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Show me where these kids/students get the idea that you can make a living with a liberal arts degree. It's put in their mind by someone, the parents, the media, who? The colleges promote it, just search yahoo for liberal arts degree regret. The liberal media and liberal arts universities are promoting it to the hilt. These colleges will say about anything to keep enrollment and funding, whether true or not.

are you saying people can't make a living with a liberal arts degree?
 

donner

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Here is a contribution article Forbes ran in 2016 on what you can do with a liberal arts degree (because 'liberal arts degree' actually can encompass a lot of subfields).

What Can You Do With That (Useless) Liberal Arts Degree? A Lot More Than You Think

and an excerpt:
For our experiment, we ran three majors with a bad reputation for non-employability: liberal arts proper, history, and English. Here’s what we discovered: The career options available to graduates of general liberal arts degrees are far more diverse and attractive than we usually assume. Of course, liberal arts grads need to develop additional skills (either on the job or through separate courses, such as a writer who learns some coding to be a more effective blogger), but the truth remains: Employers in every sort of industry are interested in people with these majors.

Why? Employees hailing from a liberal arts background have honed valuable skills that might be left underdeveloped in other majors. Businesses value these graduates' critical thinking skills, communication abilities, and creativity. The breadth of focus gives the students knowledge that can help them thrive in a wide variety of fields. In fact, to many employers, the name of your degree doesn't really matter as much as you might think. English? Communications? History? Job postings call for one and all in the same breath.
 

kennedy

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Mike Rowe has several articles and videos on the "necessity" of college. He has explained it better than I have heard it anywhere else for the need for people to learn skills and trades instead of college degrees. College isn't for everyone. I never went to college and have developed skills over my years and live comfortably. There is something to be said for the trade skills and the youth of today need to start embracing them or the U.S. industry may be in trouble. There is a lot of money to be made out there by being machinists, welders, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc...
 

JD8

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Show me where these kids/students get the idea that you can make a living or at least that it provide everything they want in life, with a liberal arts degree. It's put in their mind by someone, the parents, the media, who? The colleges promote it, just search yahoo for liberal arts degree regret. The liberal media and liberal arts universities are promoting it to the hilt. These colleges will say about anything to keep enrollment and funding, whether true or not.

Again.... OSU, OU, UCO, OCU, TU, etc.... show me the real world logistics of this vast conspiracy by local colleges.

A yahoo search? I couldn't care less what the media says currently, kinda surprised anyone on this board does, given the bombardment on 2a rights the last 8 years, and the current attack Trump. However, I get we tend to accept it when it fits our narrative. Nonetheless, do you have something concrete that the colleges are to blame?
 

JD8

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Mike Rowe has several articles and videos on the "necessity" of college. He has explained it better than I have heard it anywhere else for the need for people to learn skills and trades instead of college degrees. College isn't for everyone. I never went to college and have developed skills over my years and live comfortably. There is something to be said for the trade skills and the youth of today need to start embracing them or the U.S. industry may be in trouble. There is a lot of money to be made out there by being machinists, welders, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc...

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.
 

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