[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker

It makes you wonder about the caliber of the counseling at our high schools, not to mention questioning the input of the parents who, quite often, have guaranteed the loans.

All too many Bachelors Degrees are simply a "check in a box" on a job application. Most graduates are not qualified to manage a sunglass kiosk at the mall. However, they have not been forewarned. In this market, a degree without on the job experience (within their major's field) is nearly worthless.

Parents need to get more involved. If they start really delving into the curriculum and the associated costs, maybe they could drive a serious restructuring of universities. Rising tuition has far outpaced inflation for years, yet the caliber of education has fallen.

As far as I can see - the only college degree program that guarantees a return on any investment is the one that leads to a degree to become a funeral director!

Just read the posts on TOTV from people looking for assistance - most of them for someone in one of the trades or for a landscaper or handi-person...no degree necessary for those positions!

My brilliant niece is entering her senior year in h.s. Upon graduation she will take her licensing exams for cosmetology and nail tech; which career she plans to use while attending the univ of south carolina to study for a future as a dental hygienist! She figures that working part-time while going to college full-time will help to avoid those college loans. And in the end she will have licensure in two careers that are each portable in nature as well as flexible when it comes to working if/when she marries and becomes a mother!

Tell me she did not receive good advice from her parents and her favorite great-aunt!!!!