Education Takes on New Meaning the Second Time Around
I was in pain this morning at the donut shop.
I heard the clerk tell a customer that his 14-year-old son should not go to college because “aww..they just forget what they learn anyway.” This was seconded by another customer whose son was in an ROTC program and would be enlisting upon graduation from high school. She was proud of her son’s decision….not so much the enlistment but the decision to forego college. The same thing happened to me in the local market a couple of weeks ago. The cashier (older) was telling the bagger (younger) that education was stupid and that she should stay out of college. The bagger agreed.
I held my tongue as we do in those situations, but I felt like telling not only the young bagger, but the middle-aged cashier BOTH go to school and learn new skills that will help their careers, their families and their self-esteem. And when I say “it’s never too late” I speak from experience. At the college I teach at, I have met many people in the degree-based adult education program and watched their lives change by getting undergraduate degrees in business, psychology, or liberal studies. These are the students who never quite finished college. They might have an associates degree, just a few credits, or none at all. We work with them on an accelerated basis to have them complete their education and get their degree.
These are committed folks. They juggle jobs, family, and schoolwork. It is not an easy task but their pride is evident when they graduate. In fact, it’s just those things–their jobs and their families–that motivate these folks to work so hard. Many then go on for their masters degrees. We’ve had military personnel participate in some of our online courses while on deployment in the Middle East. In fact, I had one MBA student e-mail a question about his thesis and in the same message there was a picture of him standing outside of Saddam’s palace.
Granted, higher education is not for everyone…in fact less than 30% of us have college degrees. We find that many students had very bad experiences in high school or in their early years of college and that soured them on education. However, pressure in the workplace and competition for jobs has them returning to school. And those with bachelors degrees are returning for master degrees. Part of our job is to eliminate those fears and help them build confidence and skills. It works.
The clerks at my coffee shop and market are nice people and do a good job. We need cashiers and baggers and I fully acknowledge they are, in fact, a part of the broader supply chain. It just frustrates me to hear them minimize, almost mockingly, something that’s so important-education.
E commented:
My point was not that education is bad or negative in any way, it is just that it is not as good of a deal that it once was. Those of us that hold bachelors degrees should not encourage too many others to go because it by definition makes us more of a commodity on the whole. The reason why the ROI is so low is a combination of the cost of college and the abundance of people that go to college flooding the workforce and driving salaries lower.
Bonny M commented:
Astute observations about the "ROI". But increasingly, this world is one where you cannot even get your foot in the door without a degree. So that alone makes it worth it. And if you excell and start to learn how to form relationships and remain curious througout life - you'll do more than just get your foot in the door.
E commented:
Although College is a good investment and an education is important, the ROI on college is much lower than it was 30-40 years ago. Those who say college is not worth it may not be far from the truth. For instance, at the University of Texas or Texas A&M, the cost per hour was $4-$8 in the 1970s, now it is over $100 a credit hour and that does not include the exorbitant fees and high living expenses. Starting salaries are not 15 or 20x what they were in the 70s, but the cost of college is. If we were on the same ratio, a starting salary should be in excess of $200,000 in relation to the 10-20K starting salaries in the 1970s. Additionally, back then, a person working a low wage college kid job could work their way through college and graduate with little debt. Now, you have to finance a degree and pay for it out of the low starting salary ratio that I described above. College educations worked better for our parents generation than it does for ours. I am glad I have a college degree, but the return on invested time and money is not nearly what it used to be. Maybe this cashier did not go to college, but she got a good bargain developing her critical thinking skills without the high cost of tuition.
BDK2827 commented:
My daughter (age 21) is struggling with college. She may have inherited it from me. I am 55 have a CPM, no degree but going to school PT. (I wasn't ready at her age)
