College or University in the United States, for the most part is required if you want to get any skilled labor job in the country. While I do have many disagreements with this method ( you don’t need a college degree to be customer support, ect), it is done as a way to weed out people into a more selective group of candidates for employment. However because of the price of college in our country and the amount of debt one incurs , often for a long part of their life, the system is broken.
In addition, universities force general education topics completely unrelated to your major, claiming to make you a better person, but in reality it is more likely a cash grab. I have taken my fair share of general education classes and no one wants to be there. Most people who are uninterested will finish the course and never think about it again, despite often being charged a large sum for it. General education has just become a way colleges can keep students longer and rack up more bills.
Highschool and other public education is for general education. They are supposed to give you the basic amount of education someone needs to function in the world today. Universities and other “higher” education should have one job which is to prepare you for employment in a specialized field. Their job is not to force unneeded classes for little purpose. I am not saying the classes don’t have any benefit, but in terms of efficiency, they are a waste of time.
Many other places in the world finish university in 2-3 years because they solely focus on specialization, which gives the student more time to gain valuable experience, do internships ect. Also not to mention they aren’t burdened with extra tens of thousands of dollars in many cases. The only ones winning here are the universities that charge massive amounts of money, pay professors very little and spend their money on the administration which gets more people in.
Thanks to @Elyaque for the badges
Education is good.
Pay for education and you have to go find a JOB to pay for it is bad.
This is a recipe for disaster.
Parents have to help the kids to make a choice.
Life Happens.
Keep on steemit
The world has changed while the education system has not changed with it.
And unless people start taking it upon themselves to educate themselves they will continue to be duped into forking over thousands of dollars to come out of college with a skillset that is not in demand.
The new world allows each of us to create our own opportunities. No longer do we have to wait to get a piece of paper to be able to get a job. Create your own job.
Entrepreneurship is the answer to this problem!
It's sorta funny. I was having a conversation with my dad about this topic earlier. Although he's pushing me to get a bachelor's degree he said that the way it's being done in the first 2 years is completely stupid. This is a topic that really needs to be discussed at this very moment. There has to be a solution to this.
Honestly, if going to college is part of the American Dream (for those that live in the US) then we have to do better than what we're doing.
I hear you, I felt the same way. I recommend getting your bachelors at a state university an avoid private tuiton costs, unless they pay for a large part of it. Remember tuition isnt only the only thing, cost to live away at school is very high as well because dorms usually charge you outlandish prices. I did it and im glad I did, but im not glad about the debt I incurred. Also treat your degree like an investment, get a degree in something that has some marketing potential when you look for a job. Preferably a BS over a BA if you can as well.
I definitely will keep all of this in mind. Thanks.
I probably spend 20k on just general education in college and I know many people who that will take 2-3 years to just pay off.
They should teach students first about financial education and than everything else.
THIS I agree agree with as a general ed course.
I definitely agree
Back in the 90's, the one good thing about the general education topics was having members of the opposite sex. As an Engineering student, there weren't many females in my course (5 to be exact - out of 250).
When I took "Women, power and politics" as one of my general education courses, I can assure you, I do not remember any of the content of the course. Do I think it was worth the price ... no ... but it was a nice break from predominantly all male classes..
Its a nice break in terms of difficulty and a new topic, but is it necessary?
Definitely not. Especially with the price of the courses these days!!
I completely agree with you on this topic. While I was enrolled in college I would constantly tell my parents that half the classes I was taking were just a waste of time and money.
However, I think the problem starts with our secondary school programs. If we can focus on improving how our youths come out of high school we could use their time in college to focus on more specific topics, like they do in other parts of the world.
Agree with so much. I faltered in college because of my general education classes the first year and almost dropped out. It wasn't till I got into the harder more specialized classes and into my actual program that I found passion for the process. Went from a C-B student to a B-A student
Many friends and family looked at me like I was the "dumb" kid or whatever because I wasn't doing well my first year, known to smoke weed, and took time off to work.
After receiving my STEM degree, now my job requires much more critical thinking and technical skill than they could handle, and I don't have much debt because I went to a community college. Screw those gen ed classes!
Could not agree more. The whole "go to college and get a good job" idea is falling by the wayside.
Hi @calaber24p, Your post reminds me of altMBA of Seth Godin. He's also of the same views about education system. I fully agree with your view point about education. I've been teacher for 10 years so I understand how this noble profession has turned into a very profitable business. Great post.
Thumbs up and Steem On!
I should look into him, the name sounds familiar.
Yup, he's the best marker in the US alive. Also the author of many best-sellers including The Purple Cow.
thought you might appreciate this video by Stefan Molyneux, "DON'T GO TO COLLEGE":
information is very useful friend
the whole system is in the shitter for most
Just take the courses which relate to the field you are getting the degree in and do not try to experiment with unrelated subjects!
Unfortunately almost all 4 year universities require almost 2 years of gen ed classes.
Yes it is true. It is very expensive in the United States. They are beloved for years with debts and loans. Sad thing is that you have to learn to pay too much to pay
If this isn't common sense by now I don't know what to say about people.
You would be suprised. I had a 20 minute argument with multiple friends who claim gen eds are necessary for a college education because they make us better people.
In theory perhaps, but general education has reached the level of appealing to the lowest common denominator.