Is College Still Worth It?

[Guest121613]

I loved my college experiences. It was a great time, mostly good teachers, some bad teachers. I did not have teachers trying to liberalize me.

I went for an associate out of high school. room, board, and tuition were $2500 a semester, and that was the full price. My company paid for my continuing education. I consider my self fortunate.

[cowboy8055]

Originally Posted by GP

I would have to say that THE BEST argument against a college education is not going so you don't have to listen to those whiny ass, liberal, tree hugging, unrealistic professors who will try and brainwash you. But that's just my opinion

That's a fairly accurate opinion. That was one thing I couldn't stand about college. I enjoyed college but the liberal slant was annoying.

[cowboy8055]

Originally Posted by JONBALLS

I said , ...................well....... ...I dont do "eco"................. leave the battery out..

i went to auto zone .. for .07 , spent ten bucks in gas and co2 spweewed the WHOLE WAY man

pressed that right peddle to the floor for BIG OIL! cut off 3 prius

went home and buried the core in the back yard

That's awesome

[cowboy8055]

Originally Posted by wantsome

The future probably is in on-line schools.

Liberal academia won't like that. Higher education is a joke. Just look at textbooks. A total scam. They are way over priced. Then you sell them back to the bookstore for next to nothing just to see them resell them for twice what you got back. Then they like to change editions all too often to increase new book sales. My last year at college I couldn't sell back half my books because they were changing editions LOL. Not to mention overpaid professors.

[jackfengshui]

Judging from the anti-education sentiments expressed here, perhaps the best way for the U.S. to remain competitive in this knowledge-based world economy is to close down our universities.

I might be delusionary, but my college days were some of the happiest and most rewarding of my life. Apart from having a good time and fostering some life-long friendship, I learned about, not just academics, but analytical thinking, problem-solving, team-work, communications, and the need to balance self-confidence with humility. The fact that my diplomas did open some doors was an added bonus.

As for online education, I'm sure there is a way for it to contribute, but again from my personal experience, since I probably learned more in the cafeteria and the dorms than in the classroom, I would hate to have to spend four years staring at a computer screen in isolation.

[offshoredrilling]

And the tech school I went to where I got B's in English is now a 4 year school where the largest major is heheheheheheheh now get this,,,, ENGLISH, yup flush them all and start over.

[GP]

Originally Posted by jackfengshui

I would hate to have to spend four years staring at a computer screen in isolation.

It's not that bad. Really!

[JohnnyCap]

Originally Posted by jackfengshui

Judging from the anti-education sentiments expressed here, perhaps the best way for the U.S. to remain competitive in this knowledge-based world economy is to close down our universities.

I might be delusionary, but my college days were some of the happiest and most rewarding of my life. Apart from having a good time and fostering some life-long friendship, I learned about, not just academics, but analytical thinking, problem-solving, team-work, communications, and the need to balance self-confidence with humility. The fact that my diplomas did open some doors was an added bonus.

As for online education, I'm sure there is a way for it to contribute, but again from my personal experience, since I probably learned more in the cafeteria and the dorms than in the classroom, I would hate to have to spend four years staring at a computer screen in isolation.

I had figured there was a positive and optimistic two cents coming from Jack, and the spirit and intent of your post feels right on. Online colleges cannot replace colleges as the camaraderie and interaction is as important as the book/lecture learning.

College is a great time of a person's life, or can be, but the older one is, the more likely that is to be true, as the younger have a lot of crooked bankers to finance.

The liberal slant is bullshit, there are right leaning professors too. I don't think there's much integrity though, I believe part of the education system is teaching people how to cut corners to maximize profits. I suspect many youths graduating business schools prepared to value dollars over ethics or principals.

What I find to be a disgrace is the unquestioned belief in university learning. Just about any educational discussion will acknowledge that the onus for learning is on the pupil. If one wants to learn, is hungry, one can. Then why accept the rising costs, the overpaid coaches, the fat fucking tenure abusing cunts called professor? Established bankers and politicians saying, come here, sign here, we will hold that money for you while you learn, and for sure you'll make it back, it's a great interest rate, everybody needs debt.

On a side note, far too little is made of the fact that batman shooter was working with a $25k grant. Our federal education funds are given out so freely that a whack job can go lulu and no one questions the unmonitored funds even after the fact?

[jackfengshui]

Originally Posted by wantsome

Higher education is the next economic bubble.

We need better cost control and student financial-aid advisement. However, the most urgent fix is to clam down on the abuses by the for-profit institutions (such as University of Phoenix). They pay predatory recruiters to sign up unqualified students who take up big loans but don't have any chance of graduating. They enroll 10% of the country's college students but are responsible for 50% of the student loan defaults.

[MC]

Originally Posted by jackfengshui

I would hate to have to spend four years staring at a computer screen in isolation.

That's how I spent this last semester LOL.

[jackfengshui]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCap

They glorify thugs and call them millionaire coaches.

My previous post about big-time college sports: http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=709568

[Guest080314-1]

Duplicate

[Guest080314-1]

I hold two Bachelor's and a Masters from notable Universities and realize fully that all they mean is that I had the financial backing and freedom (ie. no kids) necessary to stick them out. Mine is supposedly the most educated generation but I'd wager that we are actually the stupidest. College does not foster a free-thinking or problem solving mindset. I felt no sense of accomplishment in graduating because regurgitating information is not difficult. It is my belief that college curriculum and expectations were much higher when some of you more senior board members were attending because it really isn't too challenging these days.

I am not a particularly intelligent individual but I was able to graduate and do well in school while attending a scant number of classes. By my sophomore year of undergrad I was enrolling only in classes I knew didn't have attendance policies because I knew I could learn more reading my textbooks for an hour a day than I could in class listening to my teacher's inane ramblings.

As to the original topic of whether an education is worth it I'd say it depends on the degree. Mine was not worth it because I don't use any of the degrees in my work and they cost a fortune. Some degrees (those in education for example) are definitely not worth it in my estimation because of the minimal salary they'll receive and the amount of debt they will have accrued. Degrees in engineering or the medical fields seem like worthy undertakings though because you'll make a wage high enough to pay back the loans and retire someday.

Finally, my degrees are in the sciences and both schools were very signifcantly bent towards the political left. The THEORY of evolution and global warming were taught as though they were immutable facts rather than hypotheses. During the election year in 2008 we were asked to write position papers on the candidates in one of my English classes wherein myself and the handful of other right-leaning classmates received low grades from our very liberal, lesbian professor. Fortunately we brought the situation to the attention of the department head and he read all of the papers and assigned grades based on form and function rather than content (it was English after all) and forced our professor to use his grades. That's MY college experience though and I'm sure there are schools out there that are equally biased the other way.

[drluv1]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCap

I had figured there was a positive and optimistic two cents coming from Jack, and the spirit and intent of your post feels right on. Online colleges cannot replace colleges as the camaraderie and interaction is as important as the book/lecture learning.

College is a great time of a person's life, or can be, but the older one is, the more likely that is to be true, as the younger have a lot of crooked bankers to finance.

The liberal slant is bullshit, there are right leaning professors too. I don't think there's much integrity though, I believe part of the education system is teaching people how to cut corners to maximize profits. I suspect many youths graduating business schools prepared to value dollars over ethics or principals.

What I find to be a disgrace is the unquestioned belief in university learning. Just about any educational discussion will acknowledge that the onus for learning is on the pupil. If one wants to learn, is hungry, one can. Then why accept the rising costs, the overpaid coaches, the fat fucking tenure abusing cunts called professor? Established bankers and politicians saying, come here, sign here, we will hold that money for you while you learn, and for sure you'll make it back, it's a great interest rate, everybody needs debt.

On a side note, far too little is made of the fact that batman shooter was working with a $25k grant. Our federal education funds are given out so freely that a whack job can go lulu and no one questions the unmonitored funds even after the fact?

College was the best 13yrs of my life!!

I agree with most of what is posted above, but if a student is smart they can get their degree with Little to no debt. The 2 biggest factors in minimizing a student's debt load after college are going to a state school and living at home, at least for the first couple years. The cost of going to a NYS state school is about 8k a year, with some financial aid, help from parents and student contribution from work study or part time job, a student should easily be able to graduate with 10k or less in debt. A smarter strategy may be to go to a 2yr college and finish the last 2 yrs while working in your field and having your employer help pay for your schooling.
Is it worth it? as others have said, you learn as much from your fellow students as you do in classes. I'm wary of online schools as they are still expensive and require more discipline than most 18 to 20 yr olds have. The failure rate in online schools is higher than traditional schools. I also don't know how much respect employers have for such institutions when recruiting workers. It really depends on your major. Engineering and science degrees are well worth it. If you're a business major, you maybe better off working and adding education as needed, unless you what to be an accountant or finance major. If you're in the social sciences, it probably isn't worth it, careerwise, unless you plan on going to grad school (more debt).

[Guest080314-1]

My degrees were not worth it from a financial standpoint but were well worth it in terms of friendships and connections. I may not use my degrees but I got my job via connections made during undergrad.