Keep those college students dumb and happy

[longknife]

Posted by neo-neocon Wednesday, March 26, 2014

What's so preposterous about this? Makes a whole lot of sense to me and continues the rule of Low-Information Voters. Read the piece @ college students | ignorant | government | number senators

 

[DGS49]

If it is true that a significant number of college students at a reputable, private college do not know that every state has 2 senators, or cannot name their own senators, then it seems like a serious problem.

These fuckers can VOTE!

But on a non-political level, should the colleges be testing incoming Freshpersons to ensure that they have the basic knowledge and skills that an intelligent High School grad would have? Obviously they don't.

Not that it means anything but the college students in my family (always 4 or 5 of them in school at any given time) seem to be very aware of the political world. They have goofy ideas, of course, but they are young and have never had to earn a living. I had goofy ideas when I was 19, too.

 

[waltky]

Good question...

Is College Worth It?
June 03, 2014 — Is college worth it? With rising tuition costs and a tough job market, this question is asked with greater and greater frequency. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Still, before you send your kids off to college, it's worth sitting down and wrestling with this question as it applies to your own family. Failing to do so can cause you to spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on a poor investment. So how do you determine if college is worth it?

Ask Your Kids Why They Want to Go

"I'm a firm believer that college isn't for everyone," says Craig Meister, president of Tactical College Consulting. "One of the first questions we ask people is why they want to go to college." Answers vary, but more often than not, kids haven't given this question a lot of thought. "When we get down to it," says Meister, "a lot of times the curriculum at a four-year university just isn't aligned with their professional and personal goals."

Sit Down and Figure Out an Academic Plan

Sunil Sani, co-founder of CareerGlider, is the first to admit that when he was at college he didn't learn an employable skill. His son, however, studying computer science at Harvard landed a summer job at Google. Not bad. "One study found that 17% of kids had jobs lined up for after graduation in 2013," he says, "That's down from 20% the year before."

What's more, Sani cites statistics from Kinsey stating that 42% of grads have jobs that don't require a four-year education, with 40% saying they couldn't find jobs in their field and a full half stating they wish the had a different major. All this underscores the importance of taking time to seriously appraise any academic post-secondary track with your kids before they enroll.

MORE

See also:

Best Jobs For Those Without a College Degree
May 20, 2014 — Finding a good career can be accomplished even without obtaining a bachelor's degree, based on the median salary and number of jobs available, according to a recent report by CareerCast, the Carlsbad, Calif. career website.

Some of the top professions include working as a web developer, which makes an average of $62,500 each year, a carpenter, whose median salary is $40,000, being employed as a computer service technician which pays an average of $49,000 or being a dental hygienist, which generates an average annual income of $70,000.

The top 16 jobs which don't require a college degree are also in industries which are in higher demands and are predicted to demonstrate double digit job growth by 2022, CareerCast said. Jobs for dental hygienists are expected to increase by 33%, 40% for skincare specialists and 22% for medical records technicians. To see the full report, go to this site. "For job seekers who simply didn't or couldn't attend college, there are still many rewarding career opportunities available if they know where to look, including fields such as health care, personal services and information technology," said Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast. "To land one of these jobs, you'll need to compensate with good, old fashioned hard work and some post-high school training."

Many studies have demonstrated that earning a college degree will lead to a higher paying salary. The average median weekly salary for a worker without a degree is $651, compared to $777 for those with an associate's degree and $1,108 for those earning a bachelor's degree, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The tradeoff is that a college degree can be expensive with the average cost for a four-year degree ranging from $40,000 to $160,000, according to the College Board.

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[ogibillm]

my guess would be that civics studies follow the same pattern.
Fact Is, Students Have Never Known History : NPR
your article is just a pity party and excuses for why the republican party can't convince young adults to vote for them.

 

[shart_attack]

Intercollegiate Studies Institute - Educating for Liberty

 

[DGS49]

It is a RARE 18-year-old who has any firm grasp on what career s/he wants, and at least half of the ones that do have some specific "ambition" are pursuing something stupid or unattainable.

You want to be an Astronaut? Really?

I am not joking when I say - at 64 years old and having three college degrees - I don't know what I want to do in life yet. But I will decide soon. I promise.


But it is a sad fact that young adults - particularly ones who are unemployed or employed at stupid jobs - tend to do things that can mess up their entire lives. And they are less likely to do such things if they are enrolled at college. And for that reason, it may be a good idea to go to college even if it is not to study accounting.

So if the family can afford it, the best programme is to go to college for a couple years with no declared major, then make a choice and work like hell to graduate on time with a meaningful degree. And do all the wise and prudent things possible to minimize the cost and minimize the debt that you walk away with.

In 1965, ANY college degree was a ticket to at least a mid-level executive career if you didn't mess it up. The Vietnam war and the Baby Boom conspired to cheapen the value of a degree to the point where the best options for most grads are Enterprise Rent a Car, fast foods and government work - none of which actually require any formal education above HS.