Perhaps not, but evidently people who would not be good accountants, computer scientists, engineers etc should be pushed into those jobs…
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I don’t think anyone said that - including me - who said that those jobs do have a path to a better outcome then say a philosophy or geography or whatever major. That’s all anyone said. We all know you can’t just create an aptitude or desire for these - you have to be the right fit for these.
I think @Glow271 summed up very well - that a kid who is taking out a big loan to attend a name school would likely be smarter to attend their local CC, state school or a school with merit.
I am generally against going into material debt for any undergrad degree without significant consideration of the outcome/ROI.
I agree with this and someone else said you don’t buy what you can’t afford.
How is someone’s life going to be different getting a history degree if they have to borrow $100K at one school vs. $20K at another or perhaps no $ at all? Yet we hear so many kids that “must” go to this school or that school - no matter what - and parents unable to say no.
Each can spend what they want - but for every success we hear on the CC which is loaded with I’d say more educated and successful people in life - I think for mainstream people we don’t have this level of success - and when you read about the # of people owing student debt and being so thankful for the delays and possible retiring of the debt - I think real life is far different than the experiences of the folks on this board.
Someone said education is a luxury consumption - and I agree that’s right. You don’t eat at Flemings or Mortons if you can only afford Outback.
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What are we debating now?
Which Restaurant franchises can survive in Volvo driving distance of self-identifying
Liberal Arts Universities 
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I don’t think the article (written by a Harvard economist) is anymore misleading than than constant drumbeat insisting that the key to a lifetime of happiness and success is choosing one’s trade at a very age and narrowly sculpting one’s life around that singular choice. This strategy may work for some kids and/or their pushy parents who have been grooming them for engineering/medicine/cs from an early age, but the approach is not necessarily a good strategy for those who view education as more than just a box checking exercise to get to a predetermined outcome.
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Sorry, @tsbna44 and @Glow271, I was making a general comment and did not mean to imply either of you said that, though there have in fact been posters who outright said things like “low SES students should only choose pre-professional majors” and similar.
I happen to agree with both of you regarding not buying what you can’t afford. And that applies equally to low SES students choosing colleges and well-off two income couples living beyond their means. To what extent ROI matters can vary depending on many factors, but I’ll agree it should be considered.
So I apologize for my snark; it’s just that this basic topic or some variation thereof comes up, or threads devolve into it, so often on CC it gets tiresome, especially for those of us (who it feels like are a minority) who value quality of life and personal fulfillment over greater financial opportunity.
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We are talking past each other at this point. No one thinks a student should live a lifetime of unhappiness being forced into a pre professional major.
@lettiriggi i appreciate your point of view and agree that money does not buy happiness or self worth. I just truly feel for those that take on a burden of too much debt for a degree at a name college and struggle to make ends meet.
There is this notion on CC that there are really two kinds of majors – the STEM soul crushing variety where the student takes these only due to parental pressure, and the other utopian majors that greatly fulfill your self-actualization needs and students should be left alone to take only those :-).
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This thread has officially jumped the shark.
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I don’t even know what an SES student is. But I can look it up. So it wasn’t me.
I simply said - one has a better chance if they get a degree in something pre-professional - because it lines up with something. I acknowledge not everyone (myself included) is cut out for engineering or accounting or computer science or math (which I consider pre-professional). It’s why I majored in history, journalism, and marketing (the fluff of b school). I’m very fortunate to have the life I’ve had - but if I were to lose my career, I’m not sure I’d have an easy fallback, at least at not close to the income I have. A CS person or engineer or a teacher or whomever - would.
@Glow271 gave a great example as an accounting major - and I see it with my nephew who at 30, got his accounting degree from UNLV of all places four or five years ago, barely has any real work experience in the field., He had finally gotten a job, a few weeks in was furloughed. When he was called back, he declined and he day traded the last few years til last year wiped him out. He started applying for jobs and shocking to me, had several interviews and three offers and will start out next week at about $80K in a low COL area. And it wasn’t even his best offer financially. The job he left several years ago was paying him $48K.
What would the history major have to fall back onto?
Someone else said - Technical skills taught in college have a short shelf life, while a liberal arts education prepares graduates for jobs that haven’t been invented yet.
I’m being tongue in cheek - sort of maybe - but I think that the students at MIT, Cal Tech and CMU are totally screwed!!!
Anyway - not sure how we devolved into this. But i’ll admit - It’s interesting to see so many perspectives.
In the end, no matter what we think or decide, people will continue to have choices and make the choices they feel are best for them, whether idealistic or realistic . For some it will work out, for some it won’t…and the debate will continue - if not today, in another thread with other people in 3 or 5 years from now 
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For some, right or wrong, you need one to have the other.
The right part - is you need to be able to afford to live.
If you can do that and you aren’t harming anyone - whether you work at McDonalds, work with refugees like my daughter desires, drive a school bus or are a CEO - you are A OK with me!!!
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To the contrary, viewing college as vocational first-job training strategy is an effective strategy for many families. But not all families. The constant disrespect directed at non-vocational paths gets very old, and it is damaging to some kids for whom the vocational path isn’t will suited.
My only disagreement with this is the “3 or 5 years from now” part. I believe it will be more like 3 or 5 threads from now 
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Speaking of Happy Days. The shows creator and driving force Gary Marshal attended Northwestern and received a BA in journalism.
Speaking of McDonalds their CEO graduated from Duke with a BA in economics before becoming a management consultant and B school.
More success stories of individuals overcoming a humanities education😀
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I have no disrespect for non-vocational learning at all. 80+% of my STEM kid’s transcript is non-vocational. It is a luxury. In fact most STEM majors are required to have at least a third of their transcript in humanities. The problem for (not with) the humanities majors is that they are not required to have a third of their transcript in STEM. If they were, they would have far fewer problems in the job market. Basic numeracy is missing for a lot of kids.
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Although, UCBalumnus will argue that Journalism is a professional degree. 
Okay, can we stop with the kid bashing?
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So…what is a liberal arts university?
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You’ll know it when you see it
Your posts indicate otherwise. For many a non-vocational education is not a “luxury.” It is a valid, responsible, and necessary educational path.
Requiring such would not only be a luxury, it would be an absurdity. Some STEM training is important for everyone, but a third of their college level credits? This viewpoint is typical of the overvaluation of vocational STEM training that is so prevalent on CC.
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