Isthe‘GotoCollege’MessageOverdone?Eveninaweakjobmarkettheoldcollegetryisn’ttheanswerforeveryone.AbriefingpaperfromtheBrookingsInstitutionwarnsthat“wemayhaveoverdonethemessage”oncollegesenior
Isthe‘GotoCollege’MessageOverdone?
Eveninaweakjobmarkettheoldcollegetryisn’ttheanswerforeveryone.AbriefingpaperfromtheBrookingsInstitutionwarnsthat“wemayhaveoverdonethemessage”oncollegeseniorfellowIsabelSawhillsaid.
“We’vebeentellingstudentsandtheirfamiliesforyearsthatcollegeistheonlywaytosucceedintheeconomyandofcoursethere’salotoftruthtothat”Ms.Sawhillsaid.“Onaverageitdoespayoff…Butifyouloaduponawholelotofstudentdebtandthenyoudon’tgraduatethatisaverybadsituation.”
Onecommentthatpeopleoftenrepeatamongtheyearsofslowjobgrowthhasbeenthevalueofeducationforlandingajobandadvancinginacareer.April’snationalunemploymentratestoodat7.5%accordingtotheLaborDepartment.Theunemploymentrateforhigh-schoolgraduatesover25yearsoldwhohadn’tattendedcollegewas7.4%comparedwith3.9%forthosewithabachelor’sdegreeormoreeducation.Thedifferenceisevenbiggeramongthoseaged16-24.Thejoblessrateforthosewithonlyahighschooldiplomainthatagegroupisabout20%.AtthesametimerecentresearchbyCanadianeconomistscautionsthatacollegedegreeisnoguaranteeofpromisingemployment.
Ms.Sawhillpointedoutthatamongtheaspectsthataffectthevalueofacollegeeducationisthefieldofone’smajor:Studentsinengineeringorothersciencesendupearningmorethanoneswhomajorintheartsoreducation.Thecostoftuitionandtheavailabilityoffinancialaidareotherconsiderationswithpublicinstitutionsgenerallyabetterfinancialbargainthanprivateones.
Shesuggestedtwoavenuesforimprovingthesituation:increasingvocational(职业的)-technicaltrainingprogramsandtakingapagefromEurope’sfocusonearlyeducationratherthanpost-secondarylearning.“TheEuropeancountriesputalittlemoreattentiontogettingpeoplepreparedintheprimarygrades”shesaid.“Thentheyhaveahigherbarforwhoevergoestocollege—butonceyougetintocollegeyou’remorelikelytobehighlysubsidized(资助).”
Shealsoisasupporteroftechnicaltraining—toteachstudentshowtobeplumbersweldersandcomputerprogrammers—because“employersaredesperate”forworkerswiththeseskills.
小题1:Peopleusuallythinkt