The Value of a University Degree
Here's some food for thought for you: an extract from an article about Mike Rowe, an American actor known for his work on the Discovery Channel's series, Dirty Work. In this extract, he is defending a comment he made about the current university system over in the United States:
"Is it any wonder reasonable people are beginning to question the value of a four-year degree?" He continued, "Tuition has increased at two and half times the rate of inflation. Nothing else this important has ever done that. Not real estate, energy, food, even healthcare. The question is why? Is the quality of education two and half times better than it was thirty years ago? No way. Are universities turning out more graduates? Hardly. Fifty percent of those who enrol don't even graduate. Do people have more disposable income today than they used to? Of course not.
"No, universities have been able to raise their prices partly because too many parents believe that anything less than a four-year degree will doom their kid to a less productive existence, and partly because we’ve pressured millions of kids to borrow whatever it takes from a bottomless pool of unlimited money that doesn't really exist. The result? One and a half trillion dollars of student debt, 6.3 million jobs that no one wants to do, and millions of college graduates who can't find work in their chosen fields — but lack the skill to do the kind of jobs currently available. The kind of jobs you deem, 'hard work.'"
Summing up his point, Rowe said that his "intent is not to make those who choose college feel 'ashamed, lazy or brainwashed.' My intent is to remind people that a university is not the only place to enrich your mind or prepare yourself for the real world. Nor is it necessarily the best place. It's merely the most expensive. Other options exist..."
To read the entire article go to the link here.