In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt

I find it tough to believe that they're in worse shape in the job market after getting a degree than before while not getting a degree. And every one of the jobs they can get even if low starting pay has much greater opportunities for advancement than they had before flipping burgers or doing nothing. They're also usually more interested in the job as well if they choose correctly which goes a long way further than a couple extra bucks.

Also student loans aren't meant to be paid off immediately and have stupid low interest rates making them usually not even worth paying off. I still have student loans I'm paying from graduating 5 years ago. I'm not sure what people expect but 10 years to pay off student loans isn't too unusual.
 


I wish there was some sort of hybrid. Traditional schools sucks ass. Typically way behind the times in anything tech related. Have to get to your Masters or Graduates to get to the interesting stuff.

Vocational is much easier focused on getting more money in peoples pcokets.

I've had a lot of friends that have come out of both that have ended up worthless and semi-successful. Some of the vocational schools can teach you code, do it work etc without all the art history bullshit.

The irony of the education system is this... they claim that if you go to college you're make more money. So we're brainwashed from youth that we need to go to college. The smarter people get accepted and get degrees. SHOCKER they make more money, they were the fucking smarter people to beign with.

My feeling is this college has nothing to do with making money. It's merely a piece of paper you get and some ranking system. I prefer employees without degrees a lot of times cause they are usually more free thinkers. Of course I'm only hiring intelligent people so that removes that factor from the equation.

Status quo college is fine if you need someone to lead you or want to go into the corporate world. Vocational college is fine as well if you want to learn a trade. Of course if you're just going to school to get more money, you're typically going to get out of it what you put into it.

The whole vocational thing is similar to the bizopp arguement. No one can make money using this stuff and it's all a scam. Well i got into this business from a bizopp and I know a number of other very big affiliates that did as well. I've invest in the 100's of thousands a day to run campaigns and lost money. Does that mean they're a scam? I could have made a lot of money but because i didn't does that mean it's bullshit? Just like vocational schools if you go an get you IT degree of some sort get out and expect to be a millionaire and your not does that make it a scam?

Honestly I really hate how people are so quick to judge things and call them bullshit in here. I know a couple guys that were working very low paying blue collar jobs and then went to vocational schools. Got degrees, got out programed for a while. Then got into AM and make a truckload of money. If they'd stayed at the blue collar job they never would have been moved to be where they are today.

/rant over
 
I don't think the for profit schools are a scam per say they just aren't a very good deal.

From a student perspective the main problem with many of the for profit schools is that employers don't take the degrees seriously and generally the cost of the education is higher than better quality state schools. So students end up with a degree that has marginal value that they paid much more money for.

For a 2 year IT type degree it would cost ~$4k at my local community college while the university of Phoenix would be more like ~$20k and most employers will put higher value on the AS from the community college. Doesn't make it a rip off just not a very good deal imo.
 
college taught me how to compete with people smarter than myself. high school definitely did not do that for me.

I had about 17k worth of debt from the experience, and I think it was worth every penny. In fact, if I could do it again, I would take more debt and go study abroad for a year.
 
Ive been saying schools were scamming people for years

Besides anything you learn at school you can learn 50x faster on your own. Or atleast I can. I think old style teaching is outdated for people who have self motivation.
 
for the rest of the world who isnt trying to be self employed / start a business, good schools = connections and connections = jobs.

Employment is 10% what you know and 90% who you know.
 
TylerDurden said:
I worked for a career college (Remington) and I have to admit the entire time I was there I felt bad about it. It just didn't feel right convincing someone to pay $40k (for an associates) to get a degree in a field where the avg. starting pay is $11/hr. I got the impression that most people I worked with felt it was wrong too but putting food on their own table was more important.
Click to expand...

One of my buddies works there...runs their PPC. I didn't realize they had more locations than central FL.
 
amanda11 said:
When you're in debt, you're a slave. That's why I never attend university.
Click to expand...

That's why I paid off all my student loans last year with monies form slangin' edu leads :)

There's definitely something to be said for the college experience as a whole, I think it's worthwhile for the smart people you meet and the parties.

But I do feel bad for people who spend the next 10 years struggling to pay off their loans.
 
Also, what the hell is wrong with simply being better educated? Why is that not a virtue in itself?

Personally, I crave an educated conversation. I meet loads of smart people but few well read, well educated people who can craft an argument, have opinions on matters of history before WW2 (which everyone seems to be an expert in), can discuss Dante's impact on Medieval Europe or Lincoln's motives for war (I live in the UK where most don't even know who Lincoln was). Someone who's got an opinion on Ayn Rand or Gore Vidal.
 
"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." SO TRUE

Real talk though i fell into that scheme. It's called the art institute and I'm still enrolled :/. They advertise everywhere! You watch porn without seeing one of those "FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!"

 
^^ Chill out on the bold bullshit.

I believe that Colleges have been over saturated with students, and degrees. Here's a rant of things I hate:

1. Most College Majors could be offered in 2 years.. instead students have to deal with 2 years worth of bullshit Gen Eds (which prop up retarded programs).

2. I doubt many business/non-science positions really benefit from applicants attending college.. I bet most could train employees in 1/4 the time and 1/8 the cost.

College is really only useful for Science and Graduate Programs. And don't give me that "College exposes you to a wide variety of subjects/topics" bullshit. If I'm interested in something i'll learn it on my own.
 
amanda11 said:
When you're in debt, you're a slave. That's why I never attend university.
Click to expand...

I lived with my parents when I went to uni, and paid everything off as I went (had a part time job). But living with your parents is a whole different kind of slavery.

My degree though has served me absolutely no practical purpose. The only thing it did was help me get a visa to work in Japan. I've been here for 8 years, so maybe it was worth it, but I gave up 5 years of my life to get that degree.

Almost everything I learned in uni and still remember and make use of is stuff I learned in my free time in the library, just picking up books I found interesting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom