College Degrees More Expensive, Worth Less in Job Market

[The Straight Story]

College Degrees More Expensive, Worth Less in Job Market

Employers and career experts see a growing problem in American society - an abundance of college graduates, many burdened with tuition-loan debt, heading into the work world with a degree that doesn't mean much anymore.

The problem isn't just a soft job market - it's an oversupply of graduates. In 1973, a bachelor's degree was more of a rarity, since just 47% of high school graduates went on to college. By October 2008, that number had risen to nearly 70%. For many Americans today, a trip through college is considered as much of a birthright as a driver's license. (See pictures of the college dorm's evolution.)

Marty Nemko, a career and education expert who has taught at U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Education, contends that the overflow in degree holders is the result of many weaker students attending colleges when other options may have served them better. "There is tremendous pressure to push kids through," he says, adding that as a result, too many students who aren't skilled become degree holders, promoting a perception among employers that higher education doesn't work. "That piece of paper no longer means very much, and employers know that," says Nemko. "Everybody's got it, so it's watered down."

What's not watered down is the tab. The cost of average tuition rose 6.5% this fall, and a report released on Dec. 1 by the Project on Student Debt showed that the IOU is getting bigger. Two-thirds of all students now leave college with outstanding loans; the average amount of debt rose to $23,200 in 2008. In the last academic year, the total amount loaned to students increased about 18% from the previous year, to $81 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091209/us_time/08599194608800

[Deja Q]

1. Sky is blue and people who have lots of one-night stands are more likely to get STDs.

Everyone knows it.

Tuition really ought to drop, what our country's business leaders are doing to its working class is very uncivilized.

If the piece of paper is worth so little, why do employers ask for it? And lots of others?

[MadHound]

2. Yep, seeing more and more of this

But what are the other options? Kids who used to be able to turn go to tech schools and get training there that would lead to a well paying job are now confronted by a job market in which their skills really aren't needed. Kids who used to be able to go from high school into well paying manufacturing jobs have had that opportunity pulled out from under them. There are essentially two choices left for high school grads, pay the big bucks and get a college degree or consign their lives to working in the ill paying service sector. Oh, or they could go into the military.

Degree inflation has been going on for awhile, now virtually any serious profession requires people to get at least a masters degree in their field.

This is what happens when you export your manufacturing sector, and sadly it's only going to get worse.

[JHB]

3. That's a bookmark...

...Something to refer to every time some Great Pontificator says the answer to the loss of "old economy" jobs is "more education, more retraining"... and treat it only as something individuals need to do on their own.

[rucky]

4. If only universities provided retraining.

A good skills match will make you more competitive in the job market. Degree - not so much.

[TwilightGardener]

5. And yet, most employers require it to at least keep your resume

out of the trash, even if it doesn't get you the job. It's now an expected requirement instead of an impressive credential. I guess they all now want advanced degrees and work experience on top of the bachelor's.

[exboyfil]

6. Do we need to go to a more European style system

such as Germany when it is decided at an early age who will go on to college and who will be tracked into industrial jobs? Germans have lots of complaints about this system because it has a tendency to lock occupations by generation. I think we have far more flexibility in the U.S. My dad and grandfather worked in a factory all of their lives, and I got an engineering degree from a public university. I am looking at my daughters going to professional school (such as medicine or vet). I am not sure such a progression would be so easy for someone in Europe.

What I would like would be a national prepaid tuition system that would allow parents to actually plan for college at an early age. The fact that many of the state prepaid tuition systems have experienced great difficulty is a sign that the entire system is unsubstainable. I contribute to the state tax deduction for my two girls into a 529, but I am sure that my return will not match the increase in tuition. I am on course to have put aside, at today's tuition rate, four years of tuition for each child at a public university in my state. Even though I wish I can do more, this is all that I can manage and it requires making sacrifices to get to this point.

[comtec]

7. If only we still had manufactuiring and light industry jobs, and trade schools

and a government that wasn't trying to murder us all in our sleep.....

I'm glad to be living in Europe. It has it's problems, but they are not legion (only the taxes are) like in the US =[

[The2ndWheel]

8. Many people with degrees, degrees not worth as much

Your job can probably be done anywhere, so place isn't worth as much.

As more and more people have the same certifications/attributes, and more and more places around the world become similar in form and function, then where you are, and who you are, make little difference. There is an upside to that, in theory a more level playing field. However, there has to also be a downside to it, to balance it out. That would be that you are interchangeable, easily replaceable, and you are but a very small part in the larger picture of "can the job be done?". All that matters is whether the job can be done, and if it can be, regardless of anything else, then you don't matter.