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Are We Educating for the Right Jobs?
We Don’t Need As Many College Grads As People Think
Steve Roesler
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How Many College Graduates Does the U.S. Really Need?
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I have lately questioned the ROI of an “expensive” college education.
I’m sure I’m not the first. Nor, the last.
By “expensive”, I think efficient and effective. Efficient, in that, it’s affordable. Effective, in that, it leads to a lifetime of satisfying and rewarding employment in the service of others.
REMEMBER my personal formulation of “Success For Your Generation”
Success for your generation is:
(1) ruthless financial discipline — no bad debt;
(2) a life long interest in learning — education — a degree — they can’t take it away from you;
(3) a NON-OFFSHORABLE white collar job in order to save big bux;
(4) a blue collar skill for hard times — never saw a poor plumber;
(5) one or more internet based businesses — your store is always open;
(6) a free time hobby that generates income; and
(7) a large will-maintained network of people who can “help” you.
I disagree SLIGHTLY with Steve on “We can and should question whether the current system is designed to effectively produce what, and who, is needed.” That’s a good MACRO question. But as participants in the job market, we can’t care about grand scale problems; we have to worry about the MICRO question. What’s good for me?
The country is beset with so many political problems caused by “fuzzy thinking”. A good college education might help create an “educated electorate”. Unfortunately the current education paradigm — schools completely under the control of secular progressives who think esteem is more important than wisdom — is unlikely to produce the hard-nosed pragmatic thinkers we need to work our way out of these problems. (My personal suggestion is to KICK the gooferment out of education completely. It’s only job is to prevent the residents from force. So private schools should be the rule; with the gooferment ensuring that there is no fraud.)
I think that my alma mater, Manhattan College, strikes a great balance. Remember it’s just the “well”; it’s the students who bring the energy and the “bucket”. When I was taking my engineering courses, I questioned the need for philosophy, theology, and literature courses. Upon reflection, maybe those were MORE important.
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Reinke Faces Life 