President Obama Is Looking To Extend The School Year

GoBucks89 said:
I have never understood the point of anyone in this thread (at least that I can recall) that higher education has no place or value. Just that it should be part of the mix of available options to folks coming out of high school.

http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/56531.aspx?page=12#792640

One thing I took from the Yahoo article Gonch linked to is that there's a great disconnect between the the skills of the graduates being pumped out of colleges and the skills that real life employers are seeking for their real life jobs. Say what you want about critical thinking and problem solving skills, but if I'm undergoing surgery, I'd much prefer if the operating room had a nurse with several years experience to a mathematics major who worked in a cafe and thought they'd apply for a health care position because Monster recommended it.

I really don't know how we can make what colleges provide and what employers need more compatible. Needs some and go, and today's shortage become s a glut in 5-10 years. This is what happened with Petroleum Engineers during the 70s. After the first oil crisis, there was a great need, but within 10 years, things changed within the industry and suddenly the companies weren't hiring as many engineers anymore.

We can't force people into or out of certain majors, and no college is going to turn down a suitable applicant. But it's become a cliche in our society of the graduate in some field who's qualified only to work the drive-thru in real life.

RatherGoodBear said:
I really don't know how we can make what colleges provide and what employers need more compatible. Needs some and go, and today's shortage become s a glut in 5-10 years.

Why not just leave it up to the employers to create what they need? That is to say eliminate this idea that (for certain jobs - maybe even many jobs) college is somehow more valuable than on-the-job training and experience. Get people out in the field learning the skills that are valuable to the employers while earning money and being productive.

Carrie M. said:
http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/56531.aspx?page=12#792640

If I could go back and update that quote, I'd change it to say the idea that college is needed is a scam. Poor wording on my part back in 2003. :)

I agree that you cannot force folks into any given major. However, I think we should do a better job of educating students as to the job prospects of various degrees/majors. If after understanding the job prospects, folks still want to study 19th century French poetry, so be it. But I think a lot of students are just getting a college degree because its what they think they need to do with little if any consideration given to the actual degree/major.

Problem with employers providing the education is that to a certain extent, the colleges are paying for that now. And with job mobility (due to a lack of loyalty of both employee and employer) many employers are not willing to sink a large amount of time/money into training someone who may use that training to get a better job somewhere else.

RatherGoodBear said:

We can't force people into or out of certain majors, and no college is going to turn down a suitable applicant. But it's become a cliche in our society of the graduate in some field who's qualified only to work the drive-thru in real life.

I agree, but many institutions and legislators are actually indirectly trying to force students into specific fields. They are offering monetary enticements in financial aid for specific fields. And many colleges have great Career Services departments who work hard at educating students about the opportunities in fields where there is a large demand.

I don't agree with those approaches completely, though, because there's still a certain amount of fit that needs to exist. Not everyone can be a surgeon just because that's where the demand for jobs exists.

It's definitely a tough problem in my opinion.

Gonch said:

If I could go back and update that quote, I'd change it to say the idea that college is needed is a scam. Poor wording on my part back in 2003. :)

See, that's why you have to be careful about those linkbacks you provide. :)

I don't think that standards should be lowered because there is need in any given field. However, I do not have a problem with incentives being offered to qualified candidates to enter that field.

I wouldn't either if the metrics for determining the qualifications for candidacy to a field had anything to do with the skill sets and tolerance required in the field. But mostly it's just SAT score and/or HSGPA.

An engineering student and a pre-med student may have very similar qualifications for admittance to a degree, but their fit for the fields may not be interchangeable.

So expand the metrics for getting the incentive beyond those for getting into the field/program. Require essays, conduct interviews, require a year of college before you can qualify for the incentive (so you can get recommendations of professors as to qualifications for the field/program), etc. If there is a determination that we need more people in X field and that providing incentives will increase the number of folks interested in X field, I think we should do what we can to craft targeted incentives to increase the numbers of folks in X field.

Well, go write your congressperson. Currently, most of those determinations are being made at the state and federal level.

I will add it to my list of things to do. But there are a lot of things above it. Not sure when I will get around to it. :)

Can you pick up some laundry detergent and some bread while you are out??

Yeah. I need some blinker fluid and a few tons of C-4 to demo SOB too. :)

No problem. Though again, its a pretty long list. So if you are looking for clean clothes, to eat or demo SOB soon, you may want to make other arrangements. :)