NBC News Poll: dramatic shift, Americans no longer see 4-year college degrees as worth the cost

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s interesting that these results are read by most primarily as an indictment of colleges’ rising costs and not as hopelessness about the job market, the consolidation of wealth among a smaller and smaller group, and the efforts of corporations to slash labor costs.

Why do you think Peter Thiel and Elon Musk are telling kids they don’t need college degrees? Because college degrees have historically correlated with higher wages for workers and lower profits at the top. Why do you think we keep hearing about how AI is going to take all of our jobs? Because that gives companies cover to cut jobs and pay the people who are left less.

Look at the wording of the question: “worth the cost because people have a better chance to get a good job and earn more money over their lifetime.” This isn’t just about college costs; this is hopelessness.

Why should anyone be working for money in the first place? Life is about enjoying the experience, not working for some corporate overlord just to ensure food, clothing, shelter. The whole system is outrageous and should be overthrown. AI should do all the work for us, so that people can just enjoy existing.

[Anonymous]

I suggest all MAGA suport this. Let MAGA not go to college.

Let the fun begin.

Peter Theil and Erin Hawley have such great things ready for your kids like no benefits, no wages, no injury protections on the jobs fun for cops right?? ETC welcome to the new US where Theil and Trump tell you how to breathe while your kid has no food or housing.

[Anonymous]

It's always been the case if you go to a low ranked school and major in a fuzzy thing like communications you get lower career prospects. Now that costs $$$$$. It never was a good choice now it just costs more.

[Anonymous]

College should be about learning, not about getting a job!

[Anonymous]

It seems like what isn’t being honed in on this article is that the adults say it isn’t worth it to take on a bunch of debt to get a degree…not that the degree in itself is worthless.

Even most on DCUM agree it isn’t worth it to incur much debt for college.

If you were to ask all these same adults their opinion of college if nobody had to incur debt…you would likely get much different responses.

Now, the reality is most debt is incurred by kids from MC families going to the regional school down the street…not even kids taking on debt for a flagship and definitely not “donut hole” families taking on debt to stretch for an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's always been the case if you go to a low ranked school and major in a fuzzy thing like communications you get lower career prospects. Now that costs $$$$$. It never was a good choice now it just costs more.

Market failure ( via psychological warfare)
But sooner or later market will figure it out and T30 thru 80 privates will have to adjust to the reality

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should have to answer the following before you post in this thread:

A) Did you graduate from a 4-year college
B) Are you encouraging your kids to apply to 4-year colleges, and do you hope they are admitted

For me, the answers are yes and yes.

I’ve been on probably 40 search committees in my lifetime, across three industries. All of these were for what any reasonable person would consider to be a good job with a good salary and good benefits. Each of these jobs required a B.A.

I know there are lots of fulfilling, interesting, helpful, good-paying jobs out there that do not require a college degree, and of course I think trade work and skilled labor are immensely valuable.

But if we’re going to be honest, I would think the vast majority of us on this thread hope that our kids are admitted to a good, 4-year institution, because that will lead to good employment prospects, and even good social and romantic prospects.

I think a lot of the disconnect is that they’ve been pushing for “college for all” even for kids who aren’t college material. I think only the top 30% or so of kids need a college degree.

Right, I agree with you. I just think it’s funny how many people yammer on and complain about cost-benefit of college when they both have at least a B.A. themselves, and they actively want their kids to pursue college degrees.

I fully respect and appreciate trades, shift work, and other types of education such as culinary school and cosmetology school. That being said, I don’t know many “DCUM types,” if you will, who are pushing their kids to be plumbers or electricians or hair stylists, even though those are all careers that are useful, practical, helpful and can be very lucrative.

Completely agree. My kid is pursuing a PhD in a not particularly lucrative career field; but she is very smart and will get a sizable inheritance from us. While I completely agree that trades are valuable, I would indeed be upset if she had decided to not go to college. I hope (though I can’t honestly say it’s true) that I would have been supportive of something else if she hadn’t been smart and academically inclined. My nephew isn’t academically motivated, is very average in intelligence and loves hands on work. He would be much better off going the trades route vs. struggling through a college degree. His parents are split on what to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like what isn’t being honed in on this article is that the adults say it isn’t worth it to take on a bunch of debt to get a degree…not that the degree in itself is worthless.

Even most on DCUM agree it isn’t worth it to incur much debt for college.

If you were to ask all these same adults their opinion of college if nobody had to incur debt…you would likely get much different responses.

Now, the reality is most debt is incurred by kids from MC families going to the regional school down the street…not even kids taking on debt for a flagship and definitely not “donut hole” families taking on debt to stretch for an Ivy.

Some colleges cost almost as much as a starter house in a lowere cost of living area for each year of schooling.

Mine is at one of those, but earning a technical degree with a high earning potential right out of the box. In that case, the cost of college makes a little more sense.

They have classmates at the school earning degrees where even at peak earning, they would never be able to pay off their student loans, and where the entire cost of school is more money than they will take home in the first 10 years of their career. They are at the school for the name brand, not because it makes sense for their jobs or career.

In the 2nd group, the high cost of education is not worth the investment. They should have gone to a cheaper state school, not the 95K year private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's always been the case if you go to a low ranked school and major in a fuzzy thing like communications you get lower career prospects. Now that costs $$$$$. It never was a good choice now it just costs more.

Even worse is to go to a high cost high ranked school and major in a fuzzy degree like communications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College should be about learning, not about getting a job!

+1

[Anonymous]

The problem is student loan debt. Without the debt, a four year degree is good way to move from working class to MC. Even with debt, it was my pathway from poverty to MC. Grad school (which I didn’t pay for) buffered me a bit from the debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College should be about learning, not about getting a job!

I would argue that K-12 is about learning for the sake of learning. Past grade 12, it’s about a career and entering the work force. When the US began acting like college was compensatory education and propped it up by government lending programs, things went off the rails.
Other countries have free or low cost universities which have programs much for specialised towards careers than here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College should be about learning, not about getting a job!

+1

Even if just going to state school puts you $100k in debt? Not everyone has rich parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College should be about learning, not about getting a job!

+1, a lot of this is bs support for career development and other useless resources (excessive summer research spending, excessive grant funding for unpaid internships or internships in the non profit sphere, etc.) that is driving up the cost for a "better student experience." Residential colleges should be in the business of primarily educating your student, feeding and dorming them if they can, and not much else. I'm sick of tours that spend half the time talking about the students' internships or research experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College should be about learning, not about getting a job!

+1

+2. The last presidential election was divided the most by whether voters had a college education. That’s why MAGA hates college!