whiterock said:
FLBear5630 said:
whiterock said:
FLBear5630 said:
Mothra said:
FLBear5630 said:
cowboycwr said:
Yogi said:
You can certainly tell the difference.
The mouthwash I bought this morning is the same that I used in 2019. Back then, it ran about $5.50 per bottle. My last bottle cost me $9.50.
Honestly, I don't know how a family with a household income of $75,000/ year makes it anymore. In my childhood, that household income would buy you a great house in a great neighborhood with a nice car. Today? You may be able to get by.
And yet, we still have kids running up $100k/ year loans for college courses that will never pay for the costs of living.
And nobody seems to care that this is neither economically nor politically sustainable.
So very true.
Colleges need to pull back on the degrees they offer. If a degree cannot get a person a job, as in there isn't a field that uses that degree, then it should be done away with.
Colleges should also do away with or revamp the "basics" needed. I still to this day have never needed British Lit from high school or college. It has never once helped me or probably anyone else get a job that wasn't a Brit lit teacher/professor.
Sorry, disagree with you here. Higher education is supposed to be about more than getting a job. You may be the best accountant, lawyer or doctor in the world but if you are ignorant of Shakespear you are nothing more than a well trained idiot.
If you are going to a Higher Education institution the culture of the west and east is important to learn. 6 credit hours is not a big lift.
Otherwise, go and be a paralegal, bookkeeper or physicians assistant. There are already vocational schools out there. You go to Baylor, you better come out knowing something of Literature, History, and Philosophy. What you do with it is up to you... Maybe being able to go to NASCAR in the afternoon and the theater in the evening is the sign of a well rounded person...
PA school requires not only a 4-year college degree but also that you've taken all the pre-med courses. And then it's another 2 1/2 years. Hell, it's one semester less tha. A law degree.
Agree with the rest - though I will say he has a point on the types of degrees offered nowadays. If you're spending $250k on higher education, you better damn we'll be able to get a job that can pay back the massive debt.
It used to be the.people that got those degrees did it for the love of the subject, the job usually teaching came after years of expertise gathering. Is it worth it? I ls philosophy worth it? Is gender studies worth it? For the 1% that truly love it and it is their life's work? Sure. It needs to be the persons choice and the person needs to passionate about what they are studying. It is not a coincidence that these areas were restricted to the wealthy or truly academic gifted. Dumbing down higher ed is not the answer.
I do agree on more emphasis on vocational for those going to school just for a job. You can work in EVERY field without studying Liberal Arts, but 90% can't get to the highest levels without the 4 year degree Does everyone have to be at the highest levels? Nursing has a problem right now, every RN wants to be a Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Anthestitist with no experience, just education. So we have a lot of mediocre NPs that got into nursing for the wrong reasons they don't want to be nurses, just psuedo-doctors. Nobody is left for bedside nursing. They are shipping them in from Japan and the Philippines. What we get is bad health care. But they didn't have to take Brit Lit ..
every person should be free to become a polymath. But to justify state investment, education must serve a purpose, not just be an end in & of itself.
We agree there. I don't want the Universities lower standard and become VoTech. Most of our innovative research comes for Universities. We need to preserve that.
Now, non-research institutions? I can see those being used a "colleges" that have a specific mission. We used to have "Teachers Colleges" and "Nursing Schools". Those people don't need what a University student needs. But, I don't want to see A&M just become a "job college" with low standards.
not everyone needs or wants a college degree. Certifications for trades or special skills would be a better investment.
My 89 year old mom went last week to the funeral of her life-long best friend who was the Ex. Secretary for Herbert Reynolds for his entire tenure at BU. They were friends before either of them could speak. She of course could have sent all three of her children to BU for free. None of them did so. They all went straight out of high school to work in technical fields. The oldest went to work for Texas Power & Light and will retire next year from Oncor with 49 years of service. He still wears a uniform to work and knows the McLennan County electrical grid like the back of his hand. Guys like him are the reason ordinary people can do magic things like turn a room from dark to light with the flip of a switch. We need more people like that than we need philosophers. He owns a couple hundred acres of land in the Chalk Bluff/Elm Mott area. Didn't inherit a square inch of it. Worked, saved, scrimped, made wise choices early......and today he's worth several million dollars and has a pension that will allow him to retire comfortably. Only in America.
it's the college educated who has gotten us into such a mess, not the guys with grease under their fingernails.
I agree. That is not the argument. I am a huge fan of VoTech, Professional Colleges, Junior College Certifications and Regional Colleges. If you want to be a professional and NOT have to learn Western Culture, Literature, or PE don't go the University. But, don't lower the requirements of University degree.
As I said, you guys are mixing up what you want with the mission of Universities. There are places to go and get exactly what you describe. Now, they won't have a football team, bowl games, networking and the other social aspects major universities have, but it will be cheaper.
