Is "college completion" a number that matters?

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Wednesday, October 16. 2019

Is "college completion" a number that matters?

Not anymore, not nowadays. Not in a time when lots of "higher ed" is about work skills.

For example, 6 million Americans attend community colleges. That's a lot. They are not there to study Shakespeare and Plato. They stop by to pick up credits that help them apply for work: medical coding, computer coding, hospitality jobs, turf managment, nursing aide ed, etc etc.

When hiring goes up, off they merrily go to paid employment. Public Officials’ Fixation on College Completion Is Misleading

Posted by The Barrister in Education at 14:22 | Comments (12) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

Teachers and government officials have jobs that require completed degrees. They are therefore defending their turf, formally or informally, by assigning higher status to completing a liberal-arts degree that half of them don't understand what they've learned, versus picking up credits in something measurable.

A young friend who teaches English at a suburban high school brings in people from various professions to speak to the class once a month. She brought in an electrician and a commercial plumber and was told by her principal to not ever do that again. "We don't want to sell our kids short" he said. Tells you everything.

#1 Assistant Village Idiot on 2019-10-16 16:26 (Reply)

The only thing the Liberal Arts prepares you for is more school until you finally become a professor or accept your falling short and become a high school teacher. One must be careful to realize that college and now high school is organized to only promote more education.

In the past, a liberal arts major did give the student better writing skills and discipline of intellect, but that is no longer a common outcome of the modern Liberal Arts major as we see by the declining writing skills of those who enter the "intellectual", i.e., chattering, class.

Dissing those who don't get the credential is how the "good student" and "educational" professionals segregate themselves from the "dummies".

#1.1 JK Brown on 2019-10-16 17:14 (Reply)

[b] "We don't want to sell our kids short" he said. Tells you everything.[b]

Going rate here for plumbers is $150 to show up on the property. That's a lot of selling short.

Did anyone inform the principal about what plumbers and electricians make?

#1.2 Gringo on 2019-10-16 17:26 (Reply)

People hold information in different parts of their brain, where they don't touch.

Or, it is left over from centuries of nobility looking down on those "in trade."

#1.2.1 Assistant Village Idiot on 2019-10-17 08:00 (Reply)

You can study Shakespeare and Plato at your local community college. I always think I got a better education at my local junior college than the final 2 years at a university. And it was cheaper(actually it was on a scholarship).
When did the teaching and government guilds start requiring degrees?

#2 Grant1863 on 2019-10-16 17:05 (Reply)

Those colleges are preparing students for low-wage jobs. High wage jobs like welding, fabrication, and construction require a different kind of education. But those classes aren't offered, because we are all supposed to live in a post-industrial world; where there isn't any welding. China will do that.

#3 Ron Liebermann on 2019-10-16 17:09 (Reply)

Those classes are offered, as are classes in heavy equipment operating, specialty welding, etc etc. And they're often full. They are offered by extension services and joint industry cooperative programs. What are you thinking, that everyone still learns a trade by apprenticeships?

#3.1 Aggie on 2019-10-16 18:30 (Reply)

And those community/technical programs are serious. My local Community College offers a program in Machinist skills. It's 16 months long, and all day long. I wanted to do while still working, but I can't. The program description says they have a 99% job placement. I assume the 1% are like me -- who want to learn it as a retirement hobby. The welding program is also over a year long.

#3.1.1 billo on 2019-10-16 20:07 (Reply)

Employers use completion of a degree both as an IQ test and as an indication of willingness and determination to complete a task. Both are important.

#4 bob sykes on 2019-10-16 18:40 (Reply)

Not sure I agree with the IQ part. I know plenty of degreed folks who seem incapable of doing anything beyond regurgitating what they've read; which is about the only skill you need to obtain a liberal arts degree.

#4.1 Hoss (Link) on 2019-10-17 10:27 (Reply)

"willingness to complete a task" in the face of mounting costs, speculative outcomes, and better alternatives. Maybe appropriate for someone digging ditches or a kid doing his homework, but not for someone I want making decisions in my business...

(and an arbitrary task assigned by an outside party, not one based on design or strategy...)

#4.2 John on 2019-10-17 13:27 (Reply)

People who waste money going to film school are idiots. Move to LA, get a job as a PA, runner, go-fer, and learn.

#5 Marina on 2019-10-16 20:13 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Wednesday, October 16. 2019

Is "college completion" a number that matters?