minutia ...

[wild@nite]

Do universities ever partake in cost cutting. I know people who worked for major corporations who slashed the workforce by 20% worldwide all at once. I think professor numbers and salaries should be slashed and more technology used to teach. Top experts in various fields, industry leaders, could record lectures in their area of greatest expertise and classes could be offered online. GAs could be used to grade the tests. Let's find out how the unemployed profs do in the real world.

Just get rid of all of the gen ed BS, like World Regional Geography, Biology, Sociology, college Algebra, etc... Myself, nor my two college grad kids needed any of those classes, yet ate up valuable time and $. Some majors need theses classes, but many don't. Requiring them is out dated and ridiculous.

[Ksuminnesotacat]

Let’s see a billion dollars, even at 300,000 a pop tuition and or salary, wow thats 3 million 333 thousand employees students or whatever. Yes let’s raise taxes and tuition and whatever… hard pass use your own funds chumps…. Endow yo selves…

[stlcatfan]

Most folks want a good return on their investment. Too much time and money invested in college, while struggling to find a good job upon graduation is leading to changes. As college enrollment declines across the nation, trade schools are seeing increased enrollment.

There is a huge need out there for qualified construction workers, electricians, plumbers, welders, HVAC technicians, mechanics, computer repairmen, etc. Young people who go to trade school and are willing to work hard should find decent paying jobs only one or two years after graduating high school. In some places, they can take these classes in high school and have a full-time job waiting for them upon graduation.

These kinds of jobs will always be in demand and can't easily be off-shored to another country. I think people are finally waking up to this new reality.

https://www.businessinsider.com/culinar ... udy-2023-4

[spot2180]

If I had kids in high school, a four year college would not be a high priority for them to further their education, depending upon the career they intend to pursue. Far too many kids go to college and get degrees that are relatively worthless.

Eight years ago I paid my plumber $125 an hour for some work on my house that I couldn't do. Pretty much the same for my mechanic. Electricians, carpenters, AC/Heating/HVAC... I tell my students that trades will likely pay off much sooner than a four year liberal arts degree that may lead nowhere. I often kick myself for not learning how to do more of that kind of stuff after I got my teaching degree.

[katlander]

spot, does one really need a four year degree to teach grade school classes?

[tmcats]

Typical earnings for bachelor’s degree holders are $40,500 or 86 percent higher than those whose highest degree is a high school diploma.

College graduates on average make $1.2 million more over their lifetime.

https://www.aplu.org/our-work/4-policy- ... 20lifetime.

[NatCat2]

74 - 77 I attended K-State and I worked 3 different jobs during the school year and a day and a night job during the summer to pay for it If I didn't, I wouldn’t be able to pay for the next semester’s tuition and the first month rent. Tuition my freshman year was $154 and you could take up to 20 hours. Tuition my junior year was up to $176.
I say all this to ask, does anyone think you could do this today ? NO WAY!!! Part time and summer jobs wouldn’t pay nearly enough to cover tuition and rent.
Also, I did not take any loans and didn’t take out any loans when I put my daughter through college (You can probably guess how I feel about loan forgiveness).

[stlcatfan]

Typical earnings for bachelor’s degree holders are $40,500 or 86 percent higher than those whose highest degree is a high school diploma.

College graduates on average make $1.2 million more over their lifetime.

https://www.aplu.org/our-work/4-policy- ... 20lifetime.

I agree it is best to get educated past high school. But that can include getting an associate's degree from community college, or a degree from a trade school/technical college. People with jobs in the trades can end up making more money than those with bachelor's and even master's degrees.

I don't think anyone here is in favor of shutting down our nation's four-year universities. They still have their place, especially for those seeking STEM degrees. What people are arguing is that maybe the traditional four-year college is not for everyone. In addition, universities themselves need to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. For K-State, that could be re-focusing its effort to fulfill its mission as a Land Grant university and all that entails. For instance, maybe certain majors that do not advance our mission could be cut and the money saved get put into programs that do advance our mission.

[tmcats]

some youngsters would rather be accountants than plumbers or electricians. and i can't imagine my mhk grandsons going to trade school rather than college because their parents are college grads. a lot of this has to due with one's family, like everything else in life. a successful set of college grad parents are likely priming their kids in college prep schools. it has little to due with cost but rather family traditions. my father was a depression era, greatest generation bricklayer. one of his and mom's proudest moments was being at my sdsu graduation, mine at my son's k-state mba. now his is off on scholly to washburn.

[stlcatfan]

some youngsters would rather be accountants than plumbers or electricians.

For sure. The trades never appealed to me, even though my dad was an electrician and my uncle was a carpenter. I'm just not wired that way. I've never regretted my decision to go to K-State. They were some of the best years of my life and my degree in Secondary Education set me up for life.