Comments on: Updated: Perry to call for upfront price tags at universities

By: Tarl

Tarl — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 03:55:42 +0000

I think this is where a two-year community college degree comes in. It costs less than a four-year bachelor’s and, assuming the program is a sound one, produces a graduate with marketable skills and required credentials.

When I was in high school — way back in the ’70s — a student who wasn’t headed to college could take vocational courses such as metalworking, carpentry or auto shop. I took a few of those “Industrial Arts” classes myself.

For the most part, all that is over. High schools have effectively ceded that role to community colleges and private technical schools, which is a shame because it shifts costs onto students.

By: Skeptical

Skeptical — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 02:40:50 +0000

Tarl, I’ve seen such reports, but they tend to mistake correlation for causation. For decades, the best and brightest went to college, so their incomes reflected their native advantage. Now, we push everyone to go. The marginal qualifier who may bounce through ACC to Texas State and inch out a liberal arts degree is maybe $50k in debt. The career he was sold on is not there for him, and he has lost the economic benefit of 5ish of his most productive working years. And what does he have to show? And that is if he makes it. The prospects are much worse for the long-time student who loses hope along the way. Better to not overvalue the degree emotionally so you can make a rational decision about your economic best interests. And better to instill that developing a skill and making a job for yourself is just as worthwhile a pursuit for some. Learning is very important, but a university campus is merely one place this can occur. As towers of inefficiency, they are due for some reforms.

By: Tarl

Tarl — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:18:15 +0000

I’m not sure I fully agree with you Skeptical. I recently edited a report arguing that a four-year college degree has effectively become the new high school diploma: without one, your future will involve a series of low-paying jobs with few if any benefits and little upward mobility. In other words, if you don’t earn a college degree, you’re pretty much fated to never reach the middle class.

This is the result of our becoming a combined knowledge and service economy. If you’re part of the former, you have a better chance of doing well. If you’re part of the latter, then it will be much, much harder. Trouble is, knowledge economy jobs don’t go to folks with just a high school education.

This is a drastic change from a few decades ago, when a high school diploma was an acceptable credential for acquiring the skilled labor jobs that employed millions of Americans. Those jobs have all but disappeared.

So while it’s tempting to paint many college students as people who are in school simply to go to school, I believe the vast majority are there to get a degree that will lead to a career.

A $10K degree sounds enticing, but I’d wonder what corners will need to be cut to reach that price point. And a decade from now, will prospective employers and grad schools be able to distinguish a $10K degree from all the rest? You know they’ll want to.

By: skeptical

skeptical — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:19:48 +0000

Something I rarely say, yes Perry. Big ed is the next bubble. State universities are charging prices which cannot be justified by the earnings growth they drive for those who attend. Students are not rational consumers because they value education as an end unto itself rather than a means to an end, and they are freely borrowing federal dollars which they may or may not pay back. Some transparency in pricing would be one step.