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I wouldn't say 'practically everyone' has one. Only ~30% of the US population holds one: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/education/census-finds-bachelors-degr

I wouldn't say 'practically everyone' has one. Only ~30% of the US population holds one: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/education/census-finds-bachelors-degrees-at-record-level.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/education/census-finds-bac.... Just most of us on HN run in social circles were that number is 85%+, that we feel like everyone has one.

bonesmoses 10y ago
Isn't 30% is more than enough? If 3-4 people apply for a single position and 1-2 of them have a degree, then it's a fairly reasonable decision to ignore the other two. And the ratios I've seen are far more than 3-4 applications per position.
- sokoloff 10y ago
  3-4 applicants per position does not imply 3-4x as many people than jobs. (It's not a pigeonhole problem.) If you were laid off or moved cities, how many jobs would you apply for? How many of them would you be able to hold simultaneously?
- taxicabjesus 10y ago
  > If 3-4 people apply for a single position and 1-2 of them have a degree, then it's a fairly reasonable decision to ignore the other two. Years ago I found a copy of "The Screwing of the Average Man" at a thrift shop. According to Mr. Hapgood, getting preferential consideration for jobs was always the reason wealthy families sent their children to college. After WWII the proletariat class got congress to subsidize college so they too could access jobs that had traditionally been reserved for the upper class. Thus began the college price spiral.
throwawaylalala 10y ago
What percentage of those actually participating in the workforce have one?
freehunter 10y ago
I would argue that "everyone has one" is inherently "everyone in my career has one", which the number that matters. If a heavy equipment operator doesn't have a bachelor's degree, well that doesn't really matter to me because I'm not competing for his job and he's not competing for mine. What matters if, what's the percentage of people competing for my job that holds a BS? Because that is the only determining factor of whether or not I should get one.

bonesmoses 10y ago

Isn't 30% is more than enough? If 3-4 people apply for a single position and 1-2 of them have a degree, then it's a fairly reasonable decision to ignore the other two. And the ratios I've seen are far more than 3-4 applications per position.

sokoloff 10y ago
3-4 applicants per position does not imply 3-4x as many people than jobs. (It's not a pigeonhole problem.) If you were laid off or moved cities, how many jobs would you apply for? How many of them would you be able to hold simultaneously?
taxicabjesus 10y ago
> If 3-4 people apply for a single position and 1-2 of them have a degree, then it's a fairly reasonable decision to ignore the other two. Years ago I found a copy of "The Screwing of the Average Man" at a thrift shop. According to Mr. Hapgood, getting preferential consideration for jobs was always the reason wealthy families sent their children to college. After WWII the proletariat class got congress to subsidize college so they too could access jobs that had traditionally been reserved for the upper class. Thus began the college price spiral.

throwawaylalala 10y ago

What percentage of those actually participating in the workforce have one?

freehunter 10y ago

I would argue that "everyone has one" is inherently "everyone in my career has one", which the number that matters. If a heavy equipment operator doesn't have a bachelor's degree, well that doesn't really matter to me because I'm not competing for his job and he's not competing for mine. What matters if, what's the percentage of people competing for my job that holds a BS? Because that is the only determining factor of whether or not I should get one.