Why College Isn't for Everyone | Wall Street Oasis

The opinion is a bit extreme and I'd honestly rather have a janitor with a college degree that can sign up for an MSF, just as an example, than not have that option. The higher education system is far beyond bloated, it's leveraged against a massive unforgiveable debt sold to teenagers and must adapt before it threatens the entire country. I DO have a serious bone to pick with people like John Stossel, who only has his job because of his ivy league education who's desire to rape the system and who's general ignorance of how to better the system lead them to say things as stupid as 'any college that's not top 3 is worthless'. Get a clue, not everyone wants to be a GS MD, but there's plenty of room for jobs above construction worker that require education.

I really have no patience for ideological/abstract/mindless "it's the government's fault" bitching, largely because it solves nothing. A lot of problems AND good programs come from there, so let's focus on what actually works and what does not. A few ideas to start the brainstorming:

* Encourage more AP classes in high school. My high school had almost none and I learned calc 2, bio, and three languages by the seventh grade. High school was torture for me because I went from some of the most advanced childhood training to being around the average idiot and I got straigh A's 9-12 without ever cracking open a book. Not everyone is like me in their desire to read an entire encyclopedia by the age of ten, but I fail to see how 50% of college freshmen fail writing 101. It's a travesty.

* Bolster community -> 4 year degree programs. I'm from NJ and there are several very CHEAP and SUCCESSFUL programs here where kids who do well in high school get a free / at cost associates at community college and are then guided through the transfer process to full fledged four year degrees at good universities. I've seen a bunch of kids do two years at a community, two years at Kean/Rutgers/St.Peters/etc and go to BB/MM / F5000 / grad school etc....and they are functionally indistinguishable from guys like me who went straight from high school to university. The only real difference is that they graduate with 50% of the debt I did and typically don't spend as much time on the party/drinking scene (I didn't party in college, believe it or not). Leave the traditional system intact for people with resources or willing to go into debt, just build on the alternative system.

* Full audit of employment stats from every program / school getting government money. While the assholes spending 9 years in ugrad to get an alchemy degree and then doing a PhD in english and ending up as a pool boy are obvious, we don't even have any clue what the whole picture looks like. Track students 1, 2, 5, and 10 years out to get an idea of what schools and programs work, which need improvement, and what ones are just a drain on the system. There's no reason to have a publicly funded system so devoid of objective data points, this isn't the CIA, it's school. Same for grad school: these aren't top sectret proprietary formulas, they're basic stats on how well a university prepares people for the real world.

* End for-profit colleges immediately, as these are the biggest fraud foisted upon a young generation since allowing snake oil salesmen to roam the countryside selling cocaine. A non-degree in 'informational studies' from an online university with no accrediations or employment stats is fraud and should be shut down.

* Assign college credit and accredit vocational schools, even if capping it at associates status. How in the fuck is an art history major granted more rights and access to grad schools than a guy who can build a house from nothing or take apart a train? White collar pricks hear 'vocational' and assume a bunch of momos, but I spent some time in a vocational school and was impressed by the depth and discipline of (some of) the programs. I will never be able to use that towards grad school or a degree...and that's ok for me because I also went to college, but those kids deserve better. I see it as a class system, plain and simple. Why should not a person who can maintain a 747 not be eligeable to get a masters in elecronics???

* Build up grammar school. Why in the fuck were my hockey buddies learning mulitplication in seventh grade...SEVENTH!!!!.... at the public school while I was prepping for multivariable calc? I'm no genious, the systems need improvement. This isn't rocket science: pay the good teachers more, can the shitty ones, and raise the general bar.

These are just rough ideas to get people thinking. Truth be told, you can either breed + train better citizens, or you can spend that time keeping moronic ones in line. Take your pick.

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