College Degree Is the New High School Diploma A Minimum Requirement for Getting Even Low-Level Job

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/education/college-degree-becoming-new-high-school-diploma-minimum-requirement-getting-even-low-level



Whether or not President Obama's recent education-themed speeches are in direct response to Matt Taibbi's must-read Rolling Stone magazine article on the college loan crisis, it is great news that the White House is now taking the crisis more seriously. The credit bubble in college loans has ballooned into a systemic threat to the nation's economy. Additionally, as Taibbi documents, economic and political trends are now forcing an entire generation into a truly no-win situation: Either don't get a post-secondary education and harm your job prospects, or get a post-secondary education and condemn yourself to a lifetime of debt.

The economic trend fueling this perfect storm is about job credentials. Peruse employment data and you'll see that the New York Times was right when it declared that "the college degree is becoming the new high school diploma: the new minimum requirement, albeit an expensive one, for getting even the lowest-level job." Though the Times notes that the weak economy means the job outlook for college grads "is rather bleak," it is even more bleak if you don't have a post-secondary degree.

So, yes, some form of higher education is now increasingly as necessary as a high school diploma. Yet, in our financing models, America still isn't treating it as such. Just consider the critical difference between how high school and college education programs are funded.

The former is funded by broad-based taxes and few would ever suggest changing it to an individual tuition system. Why? Because we've come to view access to high school as a right. This view is based not just on notions of morality but also on an economic calculation. Basically, we know we need a workforce with as many high school graduates as possible, and we've decided that forcing young people to go into crushing debt to get a high school degree would deter many from getting the degree.

[FarCenter]

1. Too high a percentage of students receive high school diplomas

A high school diploma is now useless for screening applicants.

[daleanime]

9. ........

[GeorgeGist]

12. Far out ...

what a bummer your life must be.

[FarCenter]

20. The value of a certificate is inversely proportional to the number of people who attain it

You need to deal with reality.

It's why they have bar exams, for example.

[newfie11]

2. Then it should be free

Otherwise we will have a large population working for slave labor prices.

[customerserviceguy]

3. The article didn't say

Are we talking some four year degree in liberal arts to get that McJob, or would a cheap two year community college associates degree suffice? Being as so many high schools use social promotion, it's no wonder a high school diploma has become meaningless to employers.

Also, as this is the NY Times, are they talking about the entire US, or just NYC?

[Bradical79]

26. Two year degrees aren't cheap

Sure they're "cheap" relative to that four year degree, but that's only because the four year degrees usually cost a ridiculous amount of money.

[customerserviceguy]

31. If you go to a state community college

and get the Pell Grants and tuition tax breaks, they're not terribly expensive. If you go to some fly-by-night outfit that advertises heavily on TV, then you're right.

[PETRUS]

4. Yep.

One of my friends, upon receiving his B.A., said "ok, I've got my middle class membership card." That was 1992 or so.

[reformist2]

5. And to continue the point, an advanced degree is now a minimum requirement for a decent job.

[Bradical79]

27. But if it's too advanced you're over-qualified ;-)

[hobbit709]

6. So you can go $100K in debt to get a $9.00/hr job.

The system is rigged to keep you in debt slavery forever. I'm surprised they haven't made the heirs pay it off yet.

[xchrom]

8. shhh! don't give them any ideas. nt

[KurtNYC]

7. Completely depends on the job. A college degree can be a knock out for low paying jobs.

Some friends who were out of work recently applied for everything. The lower the job, the more likely the interviewer was to just cut off and say "this isn't for you."

College is archaic. It is now an only slightly revised version of what it was 100 years ago. In 1913, colleges were segregated by gender and race. There was limited access to outside information (no internet, fewer books, no TV, etc.) College was, in some ways, the white collar equivalent of a trade union. It still tries to be; for example college students may work on the research being done by their professor, a kind of apprenticeship.

100 years later, we still think of college as having a monopoly on access to good paying jobs but college has no monopoly on information, training or research. And it certainly is no guarantee of a decent job.

College has become more about brand -- football teams, Bowl games, name recognition, famous alumni. Colleges offer a much broader choice of courses, many of which have little or no application at all in available careers.

A college degree doesn't guarantee a jump in pay because there is no scarcity of the kind of education that colleges offer -- high supply, moderate demand.

The way to get paid is to get the skills that few others have, to become part of a supply of labor which is limited.

[LuvNewcastle]

13. Good points.

College was intended for scholars and professional people, not people who want to run a store. Our whole idea of higher education needs to be revamped for average people, but that's going to be hard to do since now it's become such a huge industry.

We need so much done regarding our infrastructure and our teaching capabilities in order to move into the future, but we can't do any of that as long as we're spending all our money on a bloated military and constant war. War is destroying this country just as surely as it's destroying the countries we invade.

[madville]

15. To add to your last paragraph

Obtain skills or offer service that few others want or are willing to do. I've always been willing to travel and/or be on 24-hour call, that eliminates 90% of your competition for a job right there plus it makes one more money through overtime and per diem.

[FarCenter]

19. Originally, college was either preparation for a profession or a finishing school for the bourgeois

Students from a variety of backgrounds could study for the clergy, to become a doctor, and later to become a lawyer (originally reading law was done as an apprenticeship to a practicing lawyer).

Upper and upper middle-class students, mostly male, would take a four year liberal arts degree, then spend a year traveling, and then enter the family business or the business of a relative or a family friend.

[raccoon]

25. Great post. nt

[Township75]

10. Since college degrees are given out as easily as HS diplomas then

This makes sense.

I think a lot of jobs could do without the BS requirement they normally have but that will take 10+ years for employers to accept

[madville]

11. Technical Degree

Technical degrees still have some value. I have certificates, military training and an associates in electronics, make $25 an hour and could go back to two former employers at anytime around that same rate, one asked just last week if I wanted to come back.

I'm encouraging my son to get a technical degree out of high school, maybe HVAC.

There is too much experience in the labor pool right now for college degrees to carry much weight. I know on my résumé I emphasize experience, education is a one line blurb because it's not as important.

[GeorgeGist]

14. Pest control is gonna be hot ..

with global warming feeding the fire.

[madville]

16. It's climate change now

Haven't you heard, it may get warmer, it may get cooler. By changing it to "Climate Change" we're covered either way.

HVAC will be an even more important field if it warms up though.

[Johnny Ready]

17. Welders are making 25.00 per hour in Fla.

I think that's good news.

[yellerpup]

18. So, I wonder how the value of an online degree ranks

in a job search. I saw an ad on TV last night for an online college and my first thought was, if people with college degrees (and the connections that implies) can't get jobs what are these internet students paying for? My thoughts are not always parsed in proper grammar. My apologies.

[FarCenter]

21. Just like bricks and mortar colleges, it depends on the college, major, and GPA.

I'd expect that the on-line Master of Computer Science from Georgia Tech will be worth something.

[yellerpup]

24. That's a good example.

Thanks.

[Initech]

22. There are also so many useless majors out there.

I read a statistic one time where for every 100 math, science, accounting, and engineering majors, there's like 5000 people who sign up for something useless like "media arts design" or something of that nature.

[Bradical79]

28. Art and design is an extremely marketable skill

Though how much use most college art degrees are in advancing that skill can be pretty questionable.

[Initech]

29. But when you have 5,000 applicants for a handful of positions it becomes useless.

That's my point. Of course you could say that about 1/2 the jobs out there.

[Supersedeas]

23. A fairly substantial investment

Is a college education now something that should be covered in the same way that a high school education is covered as a matter of national priorities

[Romulox]

30. Our service economy cannot sustain broad-based prosperity. Education funding is a mere symptom,

not even close to being the prime cause.