I finally figured it out, and if you follow me on this, I think we might actually be able to do some good.
Today, I declare June to be "Worthless Degree Awareness Month."
It may sound funny, but it really is no laughing matter. The single worst thing we do to our young kids is cripple them financially for the rest of their lives by telling them to waste 4-8 years of their youth and anywhere between $50,000-$150,000 on worthless degrees. Economically, the education bubble is on par with the housing bubble, but this time it is within our own control to stop it.
Since most kids graduate from high school during early June, it's the perfect time to "raise awareness" (I always wanted to use that vile phrase for something that's actually good, legit and noble) about the threats and dangers of majoring in a worthless field.
All we have to do is get the word out there.
Got a blog? Start linking and citing articles about worthless degrees.
Got a child or a family member? Sit down and have a chat with them.
Got a PTA group you know? Have someone come speak to them.
And as always if you don't know how to broach the subject with your children, buying them a copy of "Worthless" is definitely a diplomatic and caring way to tell them about the economic realities of choosing a good degree.
Been there, done that. Still doing exactly that. Saved myself from making the worst financial decision I could have ever possibly made last year and feel very lucky and fortunate about it. I would have been in over 11 grand in debt already had I made the decision then to go to an overpriced out of state school.
ReplyDeleteThough I have mixed feelings about staying at home for a year and sometimes think about the short term social effects, I'm even glad I was able to do that because it gave me time to think about my plan of action and what kind of degree that I was going to need.
I'm in. Wrote a post already. And unlike other "awareness" causes dreamed up by people with worthless degrees, I attempted to quantify what awareness we're trying to raise.
ReplyDeleteHear hear! Gave a copy of Worthless to my youngest brother for Xmas (he graduated HS last June). From then to now, he changed his major from English to Administration of Justice. Plans to join an intelligence agency.
ReplyDeleteNot STEM, but better than before!
Hi Aaron.
ReplyDeleteTo help out, I have found four particularly good examples of what to avoid.
Link is http://pukeko.net.nz/blog/2013/06/worthless-degree-awareness-month/
I hope you appreciate me putting the boot in, good and hard, into Maori (read Indian or Indgenous) studies. And Greenpeace
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/working-your-way-through-college-doesnt-add-up-for-todays-students-b9922857z1.html
ReplyDeletenuff said...
You're right, Cappy. Blogged it, and already passed it on to others. Should have put it up in a post long ago.
ReplyDeleteThis needs a hashtag. #WorthlessDegrees?
ReplyDeleteA friend passed on this blog and added: "I too want to “put the boots” to useless degrees such as “women’s studies”, “black studies”, “trans-gendered studies”; English; History of Art and so on. If you want to learn about these things, then do so on your own time. Do not expect to get a good job."
ReplyDeleteI am of two mind on this one.
On one hand I totally agree, so I needn't repeat the salient points.
However, I disagree that these topics/degrees should be discarded lock, stock and barrel. All of them are legitimate.
A university education is NOT a college or trade school education, NOR should it be. Universities are (were) intended to broaden a student's horizon: allowing them to peer into other aspects of our human condition(s) to see the true 'universitas' of our existence and how things are interconnected. Colleges on the other hand, are all about training. They are meant to be focused and career-based. Somehow this distinction has been lost over the past few decades. As such, people are expecting both a well-rounded education and a "job" from a university education.
As a result, universities are now pumping out highly educated, single topic idiots. The MBA programs are an excellent case in point. These graduates may know everything there is to know about money, finance, economics etc. But ask them something intelligent about even one of the arts and they look at you like you have two heads. Engineers are another highly qualified bunch of myopics. No where in their formal studies did they have any exposure to the arts... or anything else for that matter outside their "major".
The result is the universities are failing miserably at their original purpose. They are trying too hard to compete with colleges for student dollars, and have thus blurred the lines between the two.
Which brings me to the crux of the problem: we've all missed one point here; higher education isn't about higher education anymore. It's all about MONEY. Much like everything else these days, altruism is long gone. Ask any high ranking administrator of an education institution.
So... for all us poor saps who grew up in a time when there were still some vestiges of higher purpose left in our university education systems, we're still hanging on to those long gone notions. Time to let 'em go and face the reality.
As for the students, The institutions are failing them by allowing limitless numbers of them to major in areas of study that have limited application in the job market. Yet another example of "buyer-beware".
Steve.
I agree with the author and Envirofrigginmental. I have two "worthless" degrees- History and Secondary Social Studies Education. Normally, one wouldn't call teaching "worthless", but when you spend $53, 000 to find out you don't like young "adults", then it is...
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my teaching mentor I was going to go back to school at the local Community College, she gave me some great advice, "You've learned how to think, now learn how to do."
It's a shame that for future employers to see our "hire-ability", the two must be separated.
so you know that Mike Rowe put you out on his facebook page today right?
ReplyDeleteCongrats on "making it" or at least making it into the notice of a popular national cable show host!