Growing number of college grads

Parents Forum
21

<p>The jobs have to be there. Competition is growing, especially with online applications precluding any impact from your in-person style.</p>

<p>It bugs me that the focus is on the degree and, eg, stats about how degreed folks earn more-- when the jobs aren’t there. And the student debt keeps piling up. </p>

<p>Also name recognition for a college or program depends on the potential employer, some great schools are off the radar in other parts of the country. Your interviewer may- or may not- know the school. Or may or may not value an academically competitive experience.</p>

<p>Other than that, I do agree that the overall experience can be grand, at an academically demanding school. For the kids who put their shoulder to it.</p>

22

<p>ucbalumnus</p>

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<p>It didn’t and I’m guilty of hyperbole, but trade associations guard their turf fiercely. I’m just saying its heading in that direction. Protectionism drives up costs and doesnt really add any value. A few offhand examples:</p>

<p>Look at some of the states requirements for salon licensing, they can be obscene.</p>

<p>Dentists have been lobbying that beauty salons should not be able to apply stronger teeth whitening at a fraction of the cost.</p>

<p>Some states are already in the process of requiring all nurses have bachelor degrees.</p>

<p>You can debate the merits of all of these but on average it just seems like more regulation.</p>

23

<p>Isn’t it good to have more college graduates, better educated population? Isn’t that why we offer free public education from 1-12? Education and democracy go hand in hand.
[Want</a> a Stronger Democracy? Invest in Education - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/want-a-stronger-democracy-invest-in-education/]Want”>Want a Stronger Democracy? Invest in Education - The New York Times)
Maybe that’s why China is worried to have so many unemployed college graduates.</p>

24

<p>Yes, they are afraid of another June 4th…</p>

25

<p>“We have entirely too many people going to college these days…”??? I can’t imagine how having 30% of our population have college degrees could be considered a bad thing for our society as whole (except for the issue of student loan debt, but that’s a separate discussion). We all benefit from an educated populace. Yes, maybe there’s more competition for jobs that require a degree, but everyone should be given a chance to succeed. Not everyone is suited for college, so we should have more technical/vocational programs, but in a civilized society, everyone should have a chance to get ahead. The alternative is to keep some people down so that a few can rise above them. Not only is that elitist, but having an uneducated majority with dim job prospects is bad for society as a whole.</p>