UPDATE: College Education Overrated?
The New York Times’ Economix Blog summarized the stance of some economists who believe . Their thesis is that a four-year college degree is unnecessary for meeting most of our economy’s growing job needs. Not to mention the fact that students incur a lot of debt in college and sometimes never earn their degrees.
But the hard data is more important than vague predictions, writes David Leonhardt, pointing to the fact that college graduates still make more than their non-degree-holding counterparts. The real pay for college grads, in fact, has risen over the last 25 years while the real pay for every other group has dropped.
He points out that correlation is not causation — in other words, it may not be because of their degrees that those folks earn more than other groups. Regardless, he concludes, .
So what will happen to the from University of Hawaii at Manoa? Yesterday, KITV Honolulu reported that economists foresee for those and other graduates looking for jobs.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin editorialized today that Hawaii students should be given to the standard four-year degree pursuit. Vocational studies, career tech education and “techademics” are viable options now for students who want to bypass the four-year college plan and start right into their careers, the editorial argues.
What are your thoughts? Is a college degree as important for long-term success as many make it out to be? Does it make finding a job easier? Jump into the discussion.
