The end of the U.S. university: “degree optional”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Big change is coming. Surprisingly “big education” is behind the curve on technology and clinging to lazy, expensive, inefficient models. So much entrepreneurial opportunity in big education.

Right? I feel like the old model of going to a brick and mortar school for 4 years is going to go away for a lot of people.

[Anonymous]

In other countries-once you pick a major, you study to become/work in that industry. There aren’t many if any general courses. Undergrad is almost like the equivalent of undergrad and grad/professional school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In pursuit of equity, most top corporations intend to implement a “college/university degree optional” clause for all employee hiring within the next 5 years.

With the elimination of degree requirements, why bother with the expense and time to earn a college degree?

Except that it will widen the moat for all professions - lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc. All of them require a degree and a certain level of education before you take their certification exams and admitted into the 'fold'. None of these degree-optional chumps will ever make that cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would rather that the workforce be educated and know how to think critically. Reduce the barriers to education, not the barriers to employment.

Given the scholarship coming out of higher education and the behavior of students and their activism in recent years, it's hard to see college teaching kids how to think critically but more an ideological factory.

As it is, most people really don't need nor benefit from a rarefied higher education. Real world is in many ways the best teacher there is.

[Anonymous]

Good luck.

My kids will get college degrees with valuable majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather that the workforce be educated and know how to think critically. Reduce the barriers to education, not the barriers to employment.

Given the scholarship coming out of higher education and the behavior of students and their activism in recent years, it's hard to see college teaching kids how to think critically but more an ideological factory.

As it is, most people really don't need nor benefit from a rarefied higher education. Real world is in many ways the best teacher there is.

A certain subset of people have been trying to get this idea going for decades and yet the ROI on a college education continues to be very robust. Despite what certain pundits try to claim, college is not an ideological factory--you really do learn to read widely, do research, consider diverse perspectives, develop a social network of people pursuing different fields--at a time of life where your brain is still rapidly growing.
Experience is a great teacher, but honestly most jobs give you very little meaningful and varied experience. It's very hard to grow on the job in many places--you just repeat routines that are often idiosyncratic to your place of work. Few people are motivated to pursue education without the structure of schooling. I think forgoing college is recipe to getting stuck in fairly dead-end jobs for most people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH has a degree but has no advanced degree and has lawyers working for him (the horror!) He learned on the job and could easily practice law in that one specialized area.

Well no. And nor can nurses do the job of the doctor - there is special training involved that teaches how to think like a lawyer or like a doctor that others don't have or pick up. But yes, he could do most of the job of the lawyer. Just not the most important part.

The important part is having a license which he couldn't get. Legal training really occurs after you get a license. Law school teaches you enough so that BarBri can fill in the blanks and get you a license. Your first jobs actually teach you how to practice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would rather that the workforce be educated and know how to think critically. Reduce the barriers to education, not the barriers to employment.

+1.

Well said.

And for those amongst us that would rather work with their hands better access to trade apprenticeships.

[Anonymous]

We should strive for a more educated populace. This feels like the opposite.

This would only seem to serve to increase the chasm between the haves and the have-nots.

But it also feels like that might be part of the intent.

Also after this is implemented will the lack of an education be used as a reason to lower compensation ?

This feels like society going backwards.

[Anonymous]

There is a timely article out today. Some highlights:

"Nearly half of US companies intend to eliminate Bachelor's degree requirements for some job positions next year, a new survey has revealed.

And 55 percent said they'd already eliminated degree requirements this year, according to an Intelligent.com survey of 800 US employers, carried out in November.

It comes after Walmart, IBM, Accenture, Bank of America and Google announced similar plans.

For example, Accenture launched an apprenticeship program in 2016 through which it has since hired 1,200 people, CNBC reported.

INDUSTRIES DROPPING DEGREE REQUIREMENT
Information services: 72%

Software: 62%

Finance and insurance: 61%

Construction: 55%

Healthcare and social assistance: 42%

Education: 35%


Some 80 percent of those people joined the company without a four-year-degree.

Earlier this year, the company expanded the program with the goal of filling 20 percent of its US entry-level roles.

Among the 55 percent of companies who eliminated bachelor's degree requirements, 70 percent did so for entry-level roles, 61 percent for mid-level roles and 45 percent for senior roles.

And of the 95 percent of employers who have bachelor's degree requirements, 24 percent require these degrees for three-quarters of their jobs and 27 percent say they require a degree for about half of their positions."

The last sentence seems written poorly...I gather that is 95% of the 45% of companies that have not eliminated bachelor's degree requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather that the workforce be educated and know how to think critically. Reduce the barriers to education, not the barriers to employment.

Given the scholarship coming out of higher education and the behavior of students and their activism in recent years, it's hard to see college teaching kids how to think critically but more an ideological factory.

As it is, most people really don't need nor benefit from a rarefied higher education. Real world is in many ways the best teacher there is.

What a load of ridiculous horseshit. You really need to stop reading right-wing propaganda, pp. It's turned your brain to utter mush.

[Anonymous]

Today, on WTOP, I heard this same study mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather that the workforce be educated and know how to think critically. Reduce the barriers to education, not the barriers to employment.

Given the scholarship coming out of higher education and the behavior of students and their activism in recent years, it's hard to see college teaching kids how to think critically but more an ideological factory.

As it is, most people really don't need nor benefit from a rarefied higher education. Real world is in many ways the best teacher there is.

What a load of ridiculous horseshit. You really need to stop reading right-wing propaganda, pp. It's turned your brain to utter mush.

It’s just part of the Putinite effort to destroy any institutions that could oppose or slow the rise of fascism and Russian efforts to take over America.

[Anonymous]

my company (Big tech) has been degree optional since day 1. i see absolutely no difference and i mean ZERO difference between capability of degreed workers vs no degree. i have noticed that the military turns out some excellent highly skilled workers with great work ethic.

with that said my kids are still expected to go to college. I too believe the pursuit of education for educations sake is worthy. i just hope they have inspirational teachers and hopes it’s not high school 2.0 with teachers who are truly terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In other countries-once you pick a major, you study to become/work in that industry. There aren’t many if any general courses. Undergrad is almost like the equivalent of undergrad and grad/professional school.

this. My son’s friend went to college in Germany studying Mech Eng. Her first class was thermodynamics. No Bs fluff classes, just straight to the meat. Apparently the same if you want to become a doctor. No undergrad crap. Straight to doctor stuff .