Love the post, and I agree that higher education certainly has many issues. It’s failing Generation Y, as it did generations before them. For myself, I was a first generation student, and made the huge turn-around after a few years off to 4.0 student, including straight in to a maximum-load clinical psych graduate program where neuroscience, pharmacology, experimental stats, and many other technical courses were the mainstay.

You might find it interesting that I actually operate a college entry and re-entry program. I wound up doing this type of work after many strange twists, and really love it. I work with students directly in the Pittsburgh area, and do distance consultations to parents and students in many states. So, the topic of college failure is too big for me to drone on about here.

If I had to sum up what I’m thinking: College remains, for the average person, the most certain way to increase one’s earning power. That credential serves to preserve earning power (in comparison to non-grads), and ultimately helps our labor force be competitive in the world. The U.S. currently ranks 15th out of 29 developed nations in college graduation rates, so low graduation rates not only hurt the individual, but have national implications.

As workers, students can’t see themselves as relying on employers as previous generations did. Trends-watching and entrepreneurial thinking must be part of their outlook so they can position themselves for the future. So, specialization can be very useful as a tool, but not without understanding the big picture trends that will affect us all.

I think the skills that students develop at a good liberal arts college are valuable. This is where other colleges that aim to pass students through, fail. Also, for someone going back to school later in life, their needs are different than an 18 year old from high school.

This article is particularly relevant for me. I was lucky that I gained some marketable skill in computers early on. I was interested in software, the web, as well as, putting computers together. These are skills that I learned in extracurricular activities in high school, though.

In college, I took some science, math, and software writing classes (C, C++), and I ultimately ended up in Philosophy (the dwindling major). I went on to pursue a MA in Philosophy, and I can’t say that I regret it.

My personal feelings are that the critical thinking methodology that exists in strong social science classes are far more helpful for most students. (Unless you are going into the Sciences) Learning how to write, speak, and argue. Symbolic logic in Philosophy and Discrete Math in Computer science teach proofs, arguments, and thinking your way through solutions.

Although I didn’t learn any additional “practical” skills in college, the time I spent getting my BA and MA (the average 6 years noted in this article) allowed me to mature, know how to complete things on deadline, and work on and put in hours into long term projects.

Many of my cohorts left college to start at marketing level jobs, consultation companies, and finance. Many of those jobs seem to rely on a mentoring policy that relies on strong communication and solid educational background. I think for most jobs out there, especially in communications, you cannot predict what skillset will be necessary. You need to find a field that interests you and let your intellectual curiosity guide you.

Interesting post.
How many people do you know who can say they used their college education in their day to day jobs? College has become a rite of passage. Go to college get a job, work, works, work etc. and if you are lucky get a raise from time to time.

You do have to give credit to the school who have added courses to address today’s economy and technology (classes on social media, internet marketing, etc)

The cost issues is scary. As the cost continues to rise more and more people will just get deeper into debt that will only take them years to pay off. I love finding companies like http://www.straighterline.com they make the basic college course available at reasonable prices.

I am off to read the your follow up post now.