It’s old news by now that the wage premium attached to a college degree largely depends on the field of study. Engineering and health care, for example, are far more … Continue reading “Making a College Degree More Valuable the Wrong Way”
Although there is no shortage of college graduates, a degree alone, unfortunately, does not guarantee students learned anything of substance while in college. The grade point averages listed at the … Continue reading “Could College Exit Exams Restore Confidence in Higher Ed?”
Credential inflation refers to an increase in the education credentials required for a job—for example, a job that used to be done by high school graduates but now requires new … Continue reading “Credential Inflation: What’s Causing It and What Can We Do About It?”
Every college student knows that, once they graduate, landing the job of their dreams isn’t going to just happen. Yet, students still downplay the difficulties they will face, either because … Continue reading “The Job Skills Students Need That Colleges Don’t Teach”
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the history field has seen a precipitous decline in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in American colleges. As Benjamin Schmidt, a historian at Northeastern … Continue reading “Why Students Should Still Pick a History Major”
Nationwide, higher education enrollment has been trending down for several years. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2019 was the eighth straight year of decline, with an overall drop … Continue reading “How Colleges Can Survive the Coming Enrollment Crash”
All that the favorable job statistics for college graduates tell us is that having a degree positions you better in the job market compared with people who do not have those credentials. Many employers who need workers for jobs that require only basic abilities and a decent attitude now screen out people who don’t have college degrees. Companies looking to hire for positions such as sales supervisor and rental car agent, for instance, often state that they’ll only consider applicants who’ve graduated from college. What they studied or how well they did is largely beside the point.
Two modest reasons to preserve the humanities
Is the college diploma a sign of advanced skills or just a screening technique?
Conventional wisdom has it that America desperately needs more STEM graduates, but “it just ain’t so.”