College a Scam? (Not my words...see article)

[Basket Weaver]

Food for thought:


rethinking college as student loan burdens rise: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance

[TMW2010]

Ehh.. I don't agree with him for the most part. The student loans, as we've talked about in other threads, have gotten way out of hand for people. But beyond that... There are fields where you don't have to have a college degree to thrive in. IT is one of them (speaking from experience...) Sales would be another (Its more about personality and networking rather than book smarts) and the list goes on, but to get into professional positions 9 out of 10 times, you need that piece of paper saying that you stayed awake long enough in class to do a passable effort. Maybe 100 years ago, you could get into working in a lab without a college background, or 50 years ago you could teach in a little school on the prarie, but these days, places want licensure.

[P00057870]

Another reason for people to find this method of gaining your degree -- then you can pay for your exams as you go, and not be in debt when it is over.

These are options that were just not available to us many years ago.

That was probably a reason why so many of us older, returning students did not get our degrees sooner. Our other obligations made it so that we could not justify either the time or money to go to college when we had family to take care of and living expences to meet.

Thank you IC and the Big 3!

[Basket Weaver]

Another reason for people to find this method of gaining your degree -- then you can pay for your exams as you go, and not be in debt when it is over.

These are options that were just not available to us many years ago.

That was probably a reason why so many of us older, returning students did not get our degrees sooner. Our other obligations made it so that we could not justify either the time or money to go to college when we had family to take care of and living expenses to meet.

Thank you IC and the Big 3!

Couldn't agree more. My wife (has her degree in Interior Design from a Tokyo university) and I have been talking about where our sons will go to school...needless to say, if I have my way they'll have their degrees, for the most part, done before they graduate high school. Having that box checked, they can then go out and build up their life experiences with no student loan. I have learned a lot from the other parents of this forum and garner a lot from the route their children have taken.

[Ruddigore]

needless to say, if I have my way they'll have their degrees, for the most part, done before they graduate high school. Having that box checked, they can then go out and build up their life experiences with no student loan.

...And have time to earn another degree if they so desire (bachelors, masters, PhD...).

[Levi]

My dad emailed me that exact same Yahoo report a few days ago. I haven't read/listened to it yet, but it sounds pretty accurate from what I've heard.

[Chebasaz]

I think the article has some good points, as do many of the responses here. In my own opinion, I think that in many colleges the priority has changed. While the original mission may have been to educate America's youth, many colleges are now being run as a business. Education is still important, but primarily as a justifier of charging a higher tuition. The reason behind this change is complicated, but I think we can safely say it's not because the quality of education is getting better.

So why are colleges so concerned with money? That would be the question I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on.