This article appeared recently in The Atlantic.
The Economy Is Still Terrible for Young People: The era of the overeducated barista is here to stay. College graduates are still spending more and more years (and money) to get worse and worse entry-level jobs.
The article goes on to discuss how college grads, based on the data, are underemployed, either working multiple part-time jobs or finding jobs that don’t require a college degree. Gasp! I would shit a brick if I had loan repayments looming and the only career available was beneath my education level.
I continue to harp on this topic because despite the data, everyone still seems to want to follow the status quo. Send Johnny to college. Most people raise their eyebrows when I say defiantly that I will not pay for my son to go to college. He will have to find and fund his own way–like these kids. Very young adults (driven and ambitious) are making their way to San Francisco and Silicon Valley and working for tech–where youth is a badge of honor. It’s pretty awesome.
Some of these kids are Thiel Fellows, brainiacs awarded a no-strings-attached grant of $100,000 to forego college, hone their craft, and solve real-world problems. Peter Thiel, who established the fellowship, founded PayPal and is one of the most respected investors in the Valley. I think it says a lot that despite doing his undergrad and getting a law degree from Stanford, Thiel believes that our youth’s educational interests are best served outside of the classroom!
Still with me?
When I read about Make School, I almost burst into song. A tech-focused college alternative, Make School is (drum roll please) free! How is that possible? The program takes a cut of your internship and first two years wages after graduating. That means if you don’t get an internship or you end up working at Starbucks, they make nothing. This, people, is the future of education. No false promises from glossy campus brochures. It’s all about fucking results. Can I get an AMEN?!
Michelle
I’m hoping if we do this right, college will be one of several options and not simply the one and only option for her. That were not just training her to do well in school but to do well in life.
Janine Huldie
Totally got an Amen from me and preaching as I have a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, too and work from home. Thank god that I have a brain in my head and my parents raised me to be resourceful, because not sure what I would have done if not.
Tamara
Amen! Sometimes I swear I just want to sit back and hide and pray it gets better when my kids are college aged.
Then of course I realize – we all have to make it work and change things!
Patrick Weeman
My son just graduated high school and my daughter just finished her first year of college and I teach. The whole education system is rigged to make money (I can tell you some interesting stories) for some. It is not about a well-rounded education but it is about cash.
I went to a JC out of high school and drifted. I learned about life from the dopers in a welding class I took, I learned about humanity in an EMT class I took and so on. It was cheap, $100 a year for unlimited units and you could stay forever. When I finally went back, got serious and got my degrees I used all the life lessons I learned and I apply them everyday and passed them on to my kids.
I look at my kids and they can not experience anything like that. In the CSU system, they have a plan to get you out in four years. Of course, you may have a degree but you have the life skills of a rock. In the JC system it is $46 a unit, so you can’t drift.
It is sad state but true. And AMEN to that program.
Dana
Amen. We have a long way to go, though, before college is not the automatic go-to for most high school grads (in my area, at least).
AwesomelyOZ
That’s WONDERFUL because if you succeed, THEY succeed. Most institutions now is: you fail or succeed we get paid. And it sucks. I have a shit ton of student loans and I’m breeding my son to be academically strong so he can acquire scholarships because guess what? We’re not paying for his college education either. Let me be clear: tuition. My boyfriend and I have discussed this and we agree with you so don’t feel bad when idiots scoff at you. We’ll cover insurance, expenses, books, etc.. any educational expenses we’ll cover within reason but tuition is something we’ll help him understand the cost and how to find ways to cover it on his own WITHOUT loans or in very limited capacity. It’s ridiculous, we need an education reform STAT!!! I’m going to school next year to finish my bachelor’s because I have less than 40 credits left but I have a tuition reimbursement program with my company so they’ll cover it. That’s a relief! We also need more tuition reimbursement programs through our workforce.. Again REFORM! Have a great one Catherine! -Iva