5 ms·
I'd say universities are to blame. My alma mater's main selling point is its co-op program. Instead of 4 years of straight classes, you have 5 years total spl
by umjames 17y ago
I'd say universities are to blame. My alma mater's main selling point is its co-op program. Instead of 4 years of straight classes, you have 5 years total split up as follows:
- freshman year as normal
- the next 3 years are spent with 6 month classes/6 months co-op with some local company
- senior year as normal
My alma mater is not alone in this kind of marketing though. How many commercials do you see (especially during noon and in the late evening) about going back to school so you can make more money/land a better job?
- fnid2 17y agoAnd a lot of those commercials are for trade schools teaching welding, health care instrument management (mri, phlebotomy, nuclear)... Not traditional universities, so the unis, which are much more expensive than those schools, are really hurting right now. People are going to the University of Phoenix online to learn vb.net instead of Harvard to learn "computer science".
- ericd 17y agoI really doubt Harvard or any of the other top schools are hurting for applicants. When I was entering school, Harvard and MIT were taking <15% of their applicants, which leaves quite a bit of wiggle room.
- fnid2 17y agoHavard, in this case, is a metaphor for "traditional universities"
- ericd 17y agoI realize, could you point to an article about university admissions dropping? I haven't happened across anything saying that universities are in trouble, for any reason other than their endowments getting decimated due to the financial crisis.
- fnid2 17y agoSimple as a google search: http://www.google.com/search?q=%2B%22declining%20enrollment%22%20%2Buniversities&hl=en&ned=ca&tab=nw http://www.google.com/search?q=%2B%22declining%20enrollment%...
- jff 17y agoMy university does a similar thing, however while they sell the co-op pretty hard, they don't advertise on afternoon TV. I look at the co-op as an opportunity to get out, enjoy a break from classes while making money and gaining experience. I've spent 9 months of my co-op time at a national lab, doing research. As of now, it looks like I could go back there as soon as I've graduated. However, while it's very nice to have a job waiting, I'd say it's equally important that I had the opportunity to get out and do real research, get paid, and get published.