5 ms·

In countries like India you would be laughed at if you aren't rich and take an arts degree. It is because in a country with limited earning opportunities, it do

• woodruffw 8y ago
  The cause is probably the other way around: college has become a necessary (but not always sufficient) ticket to the middle class, and so (by this calculation) is no longer valuable for its own sake.
  • ams6110 8y ago
    I agree. In the past, there were fewer people with university degrees so they were worth more. Humanities degrees were seen as a indicator of intelligence and accomplishment. Now they are seen as an indicator of someone who went to university but had no real idea of what he wanted to major in.
• caro_douglos 8y ago
  To the extent that you have to go into debt...our nation's taxpayers (imo) are subsidizing for profit schools (with manipulative advertising on MTV and the Maury Show). Can we be that surprised when uninspired students getting an underwater basket weaving degree come out with 30k in debt?
• lloydde 8y ago
  > In countries like India ... I thought India was pretty unique for its culture that values so highly engineering and as a result has the highest rates of engineering graduates. When you say other countries like India, which countries are you thinking of and what about them brings them to mind?
  • mehrdadn 8y ago
    > I thought India [...] has the highest rates of engineering graduates. Where did you see this? Weirdly enough it doesn't even seem to make the top 10 in the stats I can find, though they say "engineering/manufacturing/construction", and I'm not really sure we should be separating them for the purposes of the current discussion. (Though this is a bit weird considering how big India and China are? Not sure what's going on.) [Edit: Seems they're not part of the World Economic Forum, and hence they lack data on India and China.] But to address the question of what other such countries might be: the top 3 seem to be Russia, USA, Iran: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-most-engineering-graduates.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-most-...
• neltnerb 8y ago
  Oh, that's an interesting point. Universities have increased their student body share from foreign countries. And from the same source, only 2% study humanities. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/international-students-united-states https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/international-studen... There's a spike from 3% to 5% of the total college population, so that doesn't account for the whole story. But the makeup of their elite school demographics might also differ from average.
  • gowld 8y ago
    That's because rich foreign students pay full price, as public schools cut funding and raise spending on educationally-worthless perks to raise their USNews rankings. USNews has done grievous injury to tertiary education in USA.
    • firebones 8y ago
      And some would argue the same for hospitals.
• groby_b 8y ago
  Given that an arts degree in the US easily costs a quarter million (at least at a decent art school) these days, I think "poor" isn't the word I'd use for people who don't take it. Just "not willing to be in debt for the rest of their lives".
  • gowld 8y ago
    https://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/E58F762A/How-Much-Does-Art-School-Cost/ https://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/E58F762A/... says $160K including residential living expenses (which you'd pay even if you weren't at scool.). $80K for the education part.
    • groby_b 8y ago
      That example they chose is Pratt. IIRC, Pratt has a BA, not a BFA. It's also not even in the top20 art colleges. And you know, $160k debt in a profession that has $35k salaries... paying that off will easily take 20-30 years. How's that not indentured servitude?
  • bo1024 8y ago
    You're implying that's universally true, but it's not even close. Even places where tuition is that high (which is not all "decent" places), scholarships and financial aid can completely change the equation.