<p>While watching the President's semi-State of the Union address, I remember hearing him say that he not only wanted every student in America to have a high school degree but to raise the number of college graduates.</p>
<p>Now, while I applaud this goal, it has made me think that perhaps this is not necessary or could possibly be detrimental. With the job market the way it is, a college degree is such a minimum requirement now, considering the number of people that graduate with a Bachelors, that to compete for a decent job, you require either a lot of prior working experience or a graduate or post-graduate degree. In addition, it seems that many programs that offer college degrees, are just getting easier, seeking students of the lowest-common-denominator.</p>
<p>It seems that with the rise of many smaller schools and community colleges, most people are getting degrees, and once the government requires everyone to attain a certain level of education, both the difficulty to get the degree and the real-world value of the degree will diminish.</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone else had thoughts similar to these, or if they disagree with me completely.</p>
<p>How could you increase the amount of college degrees handed out without making it easier to get those? It is not like they are recruiting from a very different pool compared to fifty years ago.</p>
<p>You know, our basic education today which everyone is forced to take would make you a scholar 1000 years ago, devaluation of education is just a side effect of our society getting more advanced. The more menial labour we can give to machines the less is a person worth without a degree, and the more persons with degrees the more work we can give to machines which do it more effectively than humans meaning that we all get net wealthier by this effect.</p>
<p>I agree. While high school is necessary, college education should not be. There are several reasons for that:
Comparative Advantage: Some people are just not good at studying. But, they may be good at sports or craftsmanship. I don’t think my plumber will do his job any better if he has a bachelor degree in science.
Market Demand: People go to college because the costs of going to college is below the benefit, namely increased salaries for completion. Therefore, when more people attend college the price of education increases. However, due to an increased supply the wage for graduates will decrease. Eventually, there’ll be an equilibrium where the cost of education exceeds the benefits for people who have a hard time studying. What I mean by that is not all education is the same. I’m not saying that some people shouldn’t go to college. But, why would someone go to college and get a 40K job when he can earn 80K being a pilot and doing what he wants?
College and universities are different. But, the above mainly applies to universities, large instituions designed for degrees rather than diplomas. I’m confused because in the US, “college” may also imply Princeton or Harvard. But, college should be an extension of a high school degree.</p>
<p>Wait a minute - no one is saying college will become required education! I think in most states, a kid can drop out of High school at 16. There is no law being passed to change the required age of education. Of course the president - wants more Americans to have high school diplomas, but is he passing a law requiring us to be in high school until 18? </p>
<p>True, devaluation of degrees is a side effect of more people going to college, but is that a bad thing? The standards are rising, everyone will be more educated, but having a BA/BS is no longer a big deal. 200 years ago, indoor plumbing was a big deal, now it’s been devalued - is that bad thing? No, because everyone has a place to do their business. I know, it’s a terrible analogy comparing pooping to education, but I’m saying education is a good thing, it should NOT be just an elite thing. And anyway, only 1 out of 4 Americans gets a Bachelors degree.
Not sure where you’re from, but in the US, college and university ARE basically the same. A college is a university which only has undergrad, whereas a university has undergrad AND grad. A college is not an extension of high school, it awards degrees just like a university does. In the US, the words college and university are interchangable (maybe you’re from the UK, I know it’s different there). I go to New York University, but I don’t say, “I go to university” I say “I go to college”, because that’s just how we talk.</p>
I know, it’s a terrible analogy comparing pooping to education, but I’m saying education is a good thing, it should NOT be just an elite thing. And anyway, only 1 out of 4 Americans gets a Bachelors degree.