Designing A Degree

In today’s society, a college degree has become a requirement in order to obtain a well occupied profession. Prior to the recession, which the study defines as the period between December 2007 and June 2009, bachelor's graduates were already more likely to be employed than were associate degree holders, who were more likely to be employed than those without any postsecondary degree. After the recession, employment of college graduates dropped 7 percent, while associate degree holders experienced an 11 percent drop, and employment of high school graduates fell 16 percent. The percent of people excluded from the workforce, meaning they were seeking work but couldn’t find it, rose 31 percent for college graduates, 37 percent for high school graduates, and 50 percent for associate degree graduates, though associate degree holders were still excluded at a lower rate than high school graduates (Tilsley, 2013).

According to The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), a study found that “at peak earnings ages (56-60 years) workers who majored as undergraduates in the humanities or social sciences earn annually on average about $2000 more than those who majored as undergraduates in professional or pre-professional fields.” This study which was conducted also found that the unemployment rate for recent liberal arts graduates showed a declining unemployment rate of only 5.2 percent. Not only does the estimated 9.6 million individuals hold a bachelor’s degree in the humanities or social sciences field, nearly 4 million of these individuals also attain a graduate or professional degree. These graduates with advanced degrees usually

This study is an analysis of what factors influence student’s college major choices. Upon following previous scholars, it was noted that gender, race and ethnicity, and one’s family socioeconomic status are all significant factors in college major choice. There are distinguished trends and discriminations of college major and career choices between females and minorities. However, these typical trends vary depending on the student’s socioeconomic status. 35 student interviews of different gender, race, and socioeconomic statuses were then conducted to test to prove

College graduates, on average, make a whopping one million dollars more in lifetime earnings than those with a high school diploma. Those with a college degree now make $17,500 more per year than those without — a wage gap that's doubled in recent decades. Those without a degree are four times more likely to be unemployed.One of the biggest and most important reasons for anyone to attend college is the upper hand it gives with regards to jobs and career. A college graduate has a higher chance of landing a job when compared to an individual with a high school qualification. Further, a college graduate also has better options and opportunities to progress in their

Many people are confused on why to invest time and money of attending college. A reason for obtaining a higher education is that a college degree can possibly earn a much higher salary than the majority of the people who have a high school diploma. College can be expensive and time consuming for the most of the people that do not have enough money and spare time to go to college. Stephen Rose, a research professor at the Georgetown University, wrote an article on “The Value of a College Degree” to explain if a college degree can be valuable to people to have. Eleni Karageorge, an author on the United States Department of Labor, wrote an article “Is A College Degree Still Worth It?” to give some details on job occupations that compares with employees having a bachelor’s degree or a high school diploma on how much they annually make on their job. Finally, Paul E. Barton, a consultant and a writer for topics related on education, wrote an article “How Many College Graduates Does the U.S. Labor Force Really Need?” on giving details on how valuable to have a college degree in the near future are needed when certain occupations are on high demand with a requirement on having a least a bachelor’s degree. We need to know why going to college is so important for anyone who wants to have professional occupations.

In recent conversations of the increment of the student loan debt, a controversial issue has been whether a college degree is worth getting. On the one hand, some argue that earning a college degree is a major life achievement that some consider to be part of the American dream. From this perspective, we can see that a college degree opens up more opportunities and possibilities of employment with a higher pay and position. On the other hand, however, others argue that many people succeed without college degrees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 30 projected fastest growing jobs between 2010 and 2020, five do not require a high school diploma, nine require a high school diploma, four require an associate’s degree, six require a bachelor’s degree, and six require graduate degrees. In sum, the issue is whether a college or career path is worth the debt or not.

Although the future of higher education may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today’s concern over unemployment. With the way the job force has changed due to the fall of the economy, we can no longer rely on our trade or jobs that were lucrative and provided enough income for our families in the past. As it has been proven at Evergreen State College, “despite the university’s reputation as a countercultural bastion, 82 percent of its graduates found full-time employment within a year, and 93 percent of those who applied got into graduate schools” (188). This idea alone proves the fact that one has a larger change of attaining a job, if one has a college education. The notion of having a better likelihood of obtaining a job, or broadening my options, puts my mind at ease about unemployment.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, nearly 25% of college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed – a term which means they are employed at a job beneath that which is appropriate for their skill level. (Knowledgeatwharton). This is a serious issue and raises some important questions for both college graduates and the institutions from which they obtained their degrees. In this paper, I will be discussing what I believe to be the primary source of this problem, the impact it has on college graduates, and a solution, which Butler Community College could implement would work towards rectifying this issue in our local community.

The presupposition of “Preparing for a Career” by Derek Bok indicates that vocational and liberal arts majors should merge to help students prepare for their career. Bok’s purpose is to convince the readers to treat both majors equally, whether it’s vocational or liberal arts. Bok argues that vocational and liberal arts should combine because liberal arts gives students writing, reading, presentation skills and critical thinking while vocational majors prepare students for their future career. Bok suggests that college should give students opportunities to build connections in their major, instructor should give students feedback about their work.

Financially being able to afford life after college is a priority that many students carefully plan for. The only issue both sides do agree on is that the majors most student's are currently studying will not have a high demand for job placement once they graduate with their degrees. The two communities say the majors that most student's study will not provide them with the economic resources they may need to be sufficient during post college. In 2007 unemployment rates for student's who had a bachelor's degree was 4.9 percent and 8.5 percent for people with associates degrees and high school diplomas (Billitteri). Providing proof that the job market and the majors that students were choosing did not coincide with one another, resulting in the two communities claiming money may have been wasted in order to educate the unemployed, also assuming the money invested did not go to proper use.

Deciding on a college major is huge, but what's even greater is the variety of career paths available through Liberal Arts. I went this route because it didn't limit my choices or pigeonhole me into one option. I've changed my mind a few times, but at the same time, I am learning the sociocultural skills needed to work anywhere. Baker and Baldwin (2015) emphasizes “exposing its students to a breadth of disciplinary and interdisciplinary experiences; helps them develop strong analytical, communication, and conceptual skills; and encourages them to engage in social and political issues to develop their attitudes and skills as effective citizens” (p.253). This is a positive argument against critics who constantly bash the ongoing staying power of the Liberal Arts program.

There is substantial literature study the impact of unemployment on the decision of people to come back to school and enroll in the college. However, there is only a small amount econometric study that examines the impact of unemployment on advanced degree enrollment in the United States. This is somehow surprising since the opportunity cost of graduate education is much higher compared to high school or undergraduate education. The number of graduate level degree has increased by 96% over past two decades in the U.S, and it is expected to increase by a further 28% over the next decade. Also, during the two decades the average tuition levels at graduate schools doubled . Generally speaking, there are two main channels for human capital accumulation: learning from work and formal schooling. Hence, it is important to understand how the unemployment affects the enrollment of graduate school. During the recession of late 2000s, there were many news media report that the number of student application to graduate school increased during the economics depression. There are also a number of descriptive articles discussed the impact of unemployment on the enrollment of graduate or profession school. However, there is little research about the impact of unemployment on the graduate school enrollment. The objective of this paper is to investigates the

According to the National Center for Education, about 80 percent of the students in the United States end up changing their major at least once. In fact, I myself am part of that 80 percent. Not only did I change my major, I changed Universities in order to discover who I’am and find a suitable career for me.

Today college has become an investment for the future. For all our lives we have been around a certain group of people, from elementary to high school we have not moved outside our comfort zone. We were never given the freedom to try and discover new things. College provides students with a sense of freedom and independence which is extremely important for the life ahead.”Education meant nothing less than freedom” (Bowie state university commencement speech, 289) in college we meet new people coming from different backgrounds with so many different cultures and ideas. For me this is freedom, freedom to discover a new world, learn about new things. With so many majors on the table everyone can choose independently what to pursue.

One thing that varies faster than the gasoline price may be the debate around the value of a right path for a young adult— which major guarantees a smooth access to a decent job offer. According to the article, “Not All College Majors Are Created Equal”, the author, Michelle Singletary, indicates that college degrees are not the same based on the different majors. She starts her article with a question that she asked her college students, “What’s your major?” Singletary immediately determines her student’s future by the major that the student is choosing. Later in the article, she states her opinions on how majors have played a great important role in one’s career life by using different examples and statistics. Indeed, college majors are not