Obama: College Degree Not Needed for a Good Career

[NoodleyAppendage]

79. Meanwhile India and China are pushing their citizens to get advanced degrees in the sciences...

…as someone who actively works in the health and medical fields and carries a research portfolio, I can say with certainty that there is much more of a focus on the sciences and medical training among my Indian and Chinese trainees than US trainees. There isn't a week that goes by where I don't receive a "cold call" email from someone over in Asia sending me their CV and wanting to work in my lab. Rarely do I receive the same from US students.

Why are we (and our President) setting the bar so low for our citizenry? I understand that not everyone can aspire to be (or wants to be) a doctor or advanced degree scientist, but by putting emphasis on technical school training aren't we running the risk of training people for jobs that may be obsolete in 20-30 years. Tying your livelihood to a single trade or skill is self-limiting with respect to the ability to weather economic and manufacturing changes. Just ask those US workers who trained in the steel or textile trades.

J