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Vocational Education is now "alternative" education

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
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My daughter and I were going to school yesterday and talking about high schools and colleges and we eventually got to the topic of the fact that virtually every school in the nation is geared toward sending children to college and that will ultimately leave this nation without workers who can actually build something.

In that light I stumbled upon this:

Mike Rowe of Discovery's TV show "Dirty Jobs" speaks to speaks to the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on May 5th, 2011.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h_pp8CHEQ0&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - ‪Mike Rowe Speaks To Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee [05-11-11]‬‏[/ame]

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Rowe's assessment of our country's current workforce and the direction we're headed.
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
That was brilliant and very incisive.

We (our family) in our small way are trying to address this issue. Every year kids graduate from high school and the ones who want to go on to college seemingly get plenty of help and financial aid in the form of grants but our endowment is set up to help those who don't want to enter the four year college mainsteam but rather would try to go trades or other schools to become a mechanic, welder, beautician, nurse, etc. You only have to meet many these kids to realize what a resource that we, as a nation, are wasting and ignoring in our pursuit to foster "the best". I'm very proud of what we have managed to achieve over the past few years.

There is a whole underclass out there that needs our help. Not every one is cut out to be a rocket scientist but we all need a good plumber, electrician, mechanic, etc. And many of these kids come back to their home town to ply their trade once they graduate. If you live in a small town community, what could possibly be better?
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Some employers are facing this problem already. The lack of skilled workers will become more acute in the next 10 years as more folks retire and there are no young ones coming along to take their place.
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/nia-why-americas-college-bubble-next-burst

The National Inflation Association (NIA) is pleased to officially announce that it will soon be releasing its hour long documentary 'College Conspiracy', which will expose the U.S. college education system as the largest scam in U.S. history. NIA has been producing 'College Conspiracy' for the past six months and plans to release the movie on May 15th. NIA members will be given the first opportunity to watch this must see documentary, which we hope will change the college education industry for the better.

NIA expects 'College Conspiracy' to take college education by storm and expose the facts and truth about tuition inflation to prospective college students. Almost everybody applying to college has heard the oft-repeated statistic that Americans with college degrees earn $1 million more in lifetime income than high school graduates without a degree. This is one of those statistics that gets repeated so many times that just about everybody accepts it as fact, but nobody actually does the research to confirm whether or not it is true. 'College Conspiracy' will prove once and for all if indeed this so-called statistic is true or just a myth.

If 70.1% of high school graduates enroll in a college or university, how does a college degree give you an advantage over the rest of the population? Back in the early 1960s, Americans didn't need to go to college. We were a creditor nation with a strong manufacturing base. With an unemployment rate of only 5%, jobs were available to almost everybody. Less than 50% of American high school graduates enrolled into college. For those who did attend college and graduate with a degree, it was actually something special that made you stand out from the rest of the field, because not everybody had one.

American college tuition inflation has been out of control for the past decade. During the financial crisis of late-2008/early-2009, almost all goods and services in America at least temporarily declined in price. The only service in America that continued to rise in price throughout the financial crisis, besides health care, was college education. Despite real unemployment in America reaching 22%, students were brainwashed into believing that if they were lucky enough to be blessed with the privilege to get half a million dollars into debt to obtain a college degree, they will be on a path to riches and have a guaranteed successful career; whereas those who don't attend college are destined to be failures in life.

The current college education bubble is one of the largest bubbles in U.S. history. The college bubble has been fueled by the U.S. government's willingness to give out cheap and easy student loans to anybody who applied for them, regardless of if they will ever have the ability to pay the loans back. Student loan debt in America is now larger than credit card debt, but unlike credit card debt, student loan debt can't be discharged in bankruptcy.

(Bold emphasis mine)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpZtX32sKVE&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - ‪College Conspiracy‬‏[/ame]
 
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Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Thanks Dave, I was not aware of this one but will be looking into it.

I'm a firm believer that college tuition must be supported by some solid economic value that is garnered from the education.

Trade schools have fallen apart over the past 25 years and we need them now more than ever since every kid on the block has a college degree and has moved back home to live with mommy & daddy because they got worthless degrees in do-nothing majors.
 
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