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Every college I've researched claims that their graduates, on average, make $XXX,XXX/year. That number is usually enough to pay back their tuition. Unfortunatel

Every college I've researched claims that their graduates, on average, make $XXX,XXX/year. That number is usually enough to pay back their tuition. Unfortunately, what they don't tell you, is that is very bimodal.

OnlineGladiator 5y ago
Well at least by going to college you can finally understand how they misrepresented the data in order to get you onboard. It may not soften the financial burden, but hey at least you know you learned something!
- gravypod 5y ago
  That's the one plus but, unfortunately, our CS program didn't have a stats requirement so many of the students didn't even learn about this in college :)
  - Ekaros 5y ago
    I'm thankful that we had probability and statistics as mandatory. Which to me looks like on the more useful side of anything math related for CS. Modelling and interpreting data would be useful for many jobs.
lowkey_ 5y ago
Sure, but you can't seriously fault the college for not declaring "Our $LiberalArtsMajor majors are usually unemployed." Graduating high school, it's incredibly clear that studying finance or engineering will give you a higher income than studying most liberal arts majors. That's so universally known in our culture — and I say this as someone from a terrible neighborhood where nobody went to college — that it's almost absurd. Nobody signs up for a liberal arts major, stays through it throughout college (even seeing their low to zero internship pay compared to high pay for other majors their peers are in), and then when they get out, says "wow, I'm shocked!".
- gravypod 5y ago
  > Sure, but you can't seriously fault the college for not declaring "Our $LiberalArtsMajor majors are usually unemployed." Why not? We expect homeopathic medications to include "Not an FDA approved treatment for X" on the label.
  - lowkey_ 5y ago
    We don't expect books to include "Not guaranteed to make you smarter" on the label. Though we technically expect securities to include "Not guaranteed to make you rich," it's in small text nobody ever reads. I doubt a high school student would be reading it and rethinking their major... If you're American, you already know that liberal arts majors don't go to college thinking "people are going to pay me so much money for this degree in gender studies."
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    Some people think it's part of their 'Freedom' to defraud 17 year olds
Ekaros 5y ago
If you are researching colleges. Maybe we should already expect the students to do some basic research outside it. Or in general on college level education. Finding lot of discussion about loans and employability has been entirely possible for years now. There is no excuse not to do this research for one of the most important decisions in their life.
- gravypod 5y ago
  Throughout highschool I was told by many adults that the internet wasn't an "accurate source for information" and "don't believe what you read online" etc. I obviously ignored them. I was also told multiple times by my guidance counselor in highschool that Software Engineers needed to be very good at math and that I would never succeed in that field and I should choose something more realistic. I also ignored her. I'm now a SWE at a FAANG company. I've helped scale multiple start ups (multiple of which are successful and one of which was just acquired). Society is set up in such a way that people are trained to: 1. Respect authority figures 2. Follow what your parents tell you to do 3. Your education is the most important thing in your life (between 10 and 30 yo) All of these things lead to situations where people are more than willing to take out massive loans because everyone in their life tells them "it will be ok!" and "don't think about the money right now, it's about the experience" which is one of the most disgusting ideas that I think is perpetuated. Basically when your parents, your teachers, your politicians, your peers, etc are doing something it's hard to think "that's a bad idea".
- snakeboy 5y ago
  17 year olds are known to not always act in their long-term rational self-interest.
  - Ekaros 5y ago
    Hmm, maybe then even crazier idea would be to set minimum age for college education. Let's say 25. Simply do not allow anyone to make the decision before that age.

OnlineGladiator 5y ago

Well at least by going to college you can finally understand how they misrepresented the data in order to get you onboard. It may not soften the financial burden, but hey at least you know you learned something!

gravypod 5y ago
That's the one plus but, unfortunately, our CS program didn't have a stats requirement so many of the students didn't even learn about this in college :)
- Ekaros 5y ago
  I'm thankful that we had probability and statistics as mandatory. Which to me looks like on the more useful side of anything math related for CS. Modelling and interpreting data would be useful for many jobs.

lowkey_ 5y ago

Sure, but you can't seriously fault the college for not declaring "Our $LiberalArtsMajor majors are usually unemployed." Graduating high school, it's incredibly clear that studying finance or engineering will give you a higher income than studying most liberal arts majors. That's so universally known in our culture — and I say this as someone from a terrible neighborhood where nobody went to college — that it's almost absurd. Nobody signs up for a liberal arts major, stays through it throughout college (even seeing their low to zero internship pay compared to high pay for other majors their peers are in), and then when they get out, says "wow, I'm shocked!".

gravypod 5y ago
> Sure, but you can't seriously fault the college for not declaring "Our $LiberalArtsMajor majors are usually unemployed." Why not? We expect homeopathic medications to include "Not an FDA approved treatment for X" on the label.
- lowkey_ 5y ago
  We don't expect books to include "Not guaranteed to make you smarter" on the label. Though we technically expect securities to include "Not guaranteed to make you rich," it's in small text nobody ever reads. I doubt a high school student would be reading it and rethinking their major... If you're American, you already know that liberal arts majors don't go to college thinking "people are going to pay me so much money for this degree in gender studies."
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  Some people think it's part of their 'Freedom' to defraud 17 year olds

Ekaros 5y ago

If you are researching colleges. Maybe we should already expect the students to do some basic research outside it. Or in general on college level education. Finding lot of discussion about loans and employability has been entirely possible for years now. There is no excuse not to do this research for one of the most important decisions in their life.

gravypod 5y ago
Throughout highschool I was told by many adults that the internet wasn't an "accurate source for information" and "don't believe what you read online" etc. I obviously ignored them. I was also told multiple times by my guidance counselor in highschool that Software Engineers needed to be very good at math and that I would never succeed in that field and I should choose something more realistic. I also ignored her. I'm now a SWE at a FAANG company. I've helped scale multiple start ups (multiple of which are successful and one of which was just acquired). Society is set up in such a way that people are trained to: 1. Respect authority figures 2. Follow what your parents tell you to do 3. Your education is the most important thing in your life (between 10 and 30 yo) All of these things lead to situations where people are more than willing to take out massive loans because everyone in their life tells them "it will be ok!" and "don't think about the money right now, it's about the experience" which is one of the most disgusting ideas that I think is perpetuated. Basically when your parents, your teachers, your politicians, your peers, etc are doing something it's hard to think "that's a bad idea".
snakeboy 5y ago
17 year olds are known to not always act in their long-term rational self-interest.
- Ekaros 5y ago
  Hmm, maybe then even crazier idea would be to set minimum age for college education. Let's say 25. Simply do not allow anyone to make the decision before that age.