WVU Eliminating Degree Programs-Future of Higher Ed

Fancy dorms is just one of many reasons.
While I don't think this is the major cause of tuition increases, I do agree it creates a bad impression for the average taxpayer, and perception is 90% of reality, especially in this day and age. People do not separate room and board from tuition, institutions have not helped themselves by creating these perceived luxurious accommodationins. But in our current environment every indication is that the public wants institutions to compete for students, thinking they would compete on costs. Appears they are competing on student environs, much to the chagrin of the public.
 
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Boomer logic is a handful of students getting useless degrees and a recent trend in building a few new buildings to replace ones from 1930 is what is causing a 50+ year nationwide trend or costs rising.
There seems to be a rather significant discrepancy between what people go to college for and where the end up working. When taking someone else's money to subsidize education, it seems that we should be more stewardly in using that money to get people educated with something they will actually use. We are spending alot of cash educating people with things they don't use.

  • Only 27.3% of college graduates work in the field of their degree.
  • 62.1% of college grads don’t work in their major field.
  • 38% of people with a bachelor’s degree say they would have chosen a different major.
  • 48% of college grads with humanitarian or arts degrees said they would have studied something different.
  • Only 24% of those with engineering degrees say they wish they had studied something different.
  • 84% of college grads have trouble finding work.
  • 40% of recent college graduates have had to lower salary expectations.
  • 34% of college grads could have been hired in their current jobs without getting a degree.
I'm not a Boomer. Gen-X baby...
 
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There seems to be a rather significant discrepancy between what people go to college for and where the end up working. When taking someone else's money to subsidize education, it seems that we should be more stewardly in using that money to get people educated with something they will actually use. We are spending alot of cash educating people with things they don't use.

  • Only 27.3% of college graduates work in the field of their degree.
  • 62.1% of college grads don’t work in their major field.
  • 38% of people with a bachelor’s degree say they would have chosen a different major.
  • 48% of college grads with humanitarian or arts degrees said they would have studied something different.
  • Only 24% of those with engineering degrees say they wish they had studied something different.
  • 84% of college grads have trouble finding work.
  • 40% of recent college graduates have had to lower salary expectations.
  • 34% of college grads could have been hired in their current jobs without getting a degree.
This doesn't strengthen your argument at all.
 
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Not a real thing.

Yes it is. I literally know a person who paid tuition for four or five years at Grinnell College and works the desk in a public library. She's 46. She had some quirky major that has nothing to do with scanning books, but she loves being a librarian. No idea what her debt load was/is. I just know she was paying her loans off for a very long time. I have no idea if art philosophy is an actual major by the way. I just made that up.
 
I get real tired of the argument that everyone should just go to community college or trade school. Not everyone is made that way. There should be no stigma for trade careers (and honestly there are more people that complain about there being a stigma than actual stigma....). But people should also be able to reasonably afford a 4 year degree.

I have no mechanical sense at all. I couldn't be a plumber or a ditch digger. I needed to be an accountant. And I should be able to pursue that without going into thousands of dollars of debt. And you know what? Back from 1997-2001, I was able to do that. In-state tuition room and board was reasonable, I had saved a small amount of money growing up with the expectation it was for college, I got a few small scholarships, and I had loans totaling $16,000. My parents were unable to help much at that time, but I obviously had them to fall back on if things had gotten scary. Even 20 years ago $16,000 was a reasonable amount of money pay off. I paid $100 per month for 15 years because I had an incredibly low interest rate and I was finished.

I'm a firm believer in people being smart about their college education. I think they should think about future careers and earning ability and all of that. I majored in accounting because I figured that was the most versatile and it would be easier to get a job. But I would have lost so much had I not been able to go to a 4 year school and do the whole college experience. And kids today should be able to attend Iowa State for a reasonable amount of money (i.e. not what they have to pay now) without getting told that they should go to trade school just because their parents don't have money. And there is. difference in community college and a university. One is not better than the other, but there IS value in a university education for some people.
 
Yes it is. I literally know a person who paid tuition for four or five years at Grinnell College and works the desk in a public library. She's 46. She had some quirky major that has nothing to do with scanning books, but she loves being a librarian. No idea what her debt load was/is. I just know she was paying her loans off for a very long time. I have no idea if art philosophy is an actual major by the way. I just made that up.
We know
 
There seems to be a rather significant discrepancy between what people go to college for and where the end up working. When taking someone else's money to subsidize education, it seems that we should be more stewardly in using that money to get people educated with something they will actually use. We are spending alot of cash educating people with things they don't use.

  • Only 27.3% of college graduates work in the field of their degree.
  • 62.1% of college grads don’t work in their major field.
  • 38% of people with a bachelor’s degree say they would have chosen a different major.
  • 48% of college grads with humanitarian or arts degrees said they would have studied something different.
  • Only 24% of those with engineering degrees say they wish they had studied something different.
  • 84% of college grads have trouble finding work.
  • 40% of recent college graduates have had to lower salary expectations.
  • 34% of college grads could have been hired in their current jobs without getting a degree.
All of this doesn't surprise me, at least 76% of engineers are happy with their career path and education. And grads having trouble finding work is a combination of their degree, supply and demand in the job market, and their expectations.

But do you expect every materials engineer to be studying how to make a jet engine more reliable, or every aerospace engineer how to make the journey to Mars safer? Without the milk, there is no cream.

How many of those 62% of grads who don't work in their field would have the job they have without their diploma? Are these people saying they would have chosen a different major before they graduate or after? Do they see someone else who is more successful in a different field and wish they had went in that direction? And is that 34% hires coming from their own observation or is it from company's HR divisions.

I know when I hired I always would prefer a college grad in a management position, but would prefer people with experience on a "line" position.

EDIT: I would say the grad had a hell of better opportunity to get a line position than a non grad get a management position.
 
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All of this doesn't surprise me, at least 76% of engineers are happy with their career path and education. And grads having trouble finding work is a combination of their degree, supply and demand in the job market, and their expectations.

But do you expect every materials engineer to be studying how to make a jet engine more reliable, or every aerospace engineer how to make the journey to Mars safer? Without the milk, there is no cream.

How many of those 62% of grads who don't work in their field would have the job they have without their diploma? Are these people saying they would have chosen a different major before they graduate or after? Do they see someone else who is more successful in a different field and wish they had went in that direction? And is that 34% hires coming from their own observation or is it from company's HR divisions.

I know when I hired I always would prefer a college grad in a management position, but would prefer people with experience on a "line" position.

Yeah, its worth noting that a decent number of those in a different career field than they planned still had that flexibility because of the broad-based university degree they had.
 
But do you expect every materials engineer to be studying how to make a jet engine more reliable, or every aerospace engineer how to make the journey to Mars safer? Without the milk, there is no cream.
I guess I don't understand your point here.

How many of those 62% of grads who don't work in their field would have the job they have without their diploma?
The study below says that 33% of recent grads are working in a field that doesn't require a college eduaction of any kind. So if my math is right, the answer to your question is about 1/2. And 1/3 of college grads are not making use of their degree in any way.