According to Time Magazine, more than 85% of college grads are moving home to live with Mom and Dad in 2011. At the same time, in a seemingly alternate universe, college application rates are rising higher and higher!
You Have GOT to Be Kidding..
No, we aren’t living in Superman’s Bizarro world… we’re living in a fantasy world called Academia. After all, in the normal world when a company like Toyota makes a faulty product (like those bad brakes a few years ago), the public is outraged, the company has to fix the problem, and heads roll. The stock price of the company drops dramatically, there are news stories and major fallout from this lack of performance.
But in the world of Academia, colleges aren’t responsible at all for the product they provide… at all! It’s a wonderful business model… if you own the business.
The Unemployment rate for people under 25 is reported to be as high as 54%, yet people are still applying to school in record numbers even as tuition costs continue to rise.
It’s like people swarming into a burning Best Buy to pick up televisions that explode on contact, then limping around with gaping flesh wounds and wondering “how did this happen?”
It’s a mess. A mind boggling mess. How do colleges continue to get a “free pass” from accountability, and why are people so hell bent on digging themselves into debt to get a degree?
Forget about the insipid cultural assumption that “getting an education” makes you a better person or gives you an advantage in life. Forget about the nonsense that a college degree gets you ahead of other job applicants and starts you on a path to a rewarding career.
It’s simply because colleges are not scrutinized like a normal business. And that’s what they are: businesses.
What if: A major corporation says ”Give me $200,000 over 4 years”, and you say “What for?” And they say “We’re gonna teach you some stuff and give you a nice piece of paper with your name on it, and some calligraphy? It’s gonna help you get ahead in life”
If you say “‘Sure, let me take out a loan!” you’re a fool.
If they accept your money, they’re a crook.
At least, according to the SEC. The SEC forbids companies from making unsubstantiated claims when selling stocks or even in a private offering of a company. They also cannot sell any shares in a private offering to a person who is not a qualified investor, meaning they have enough money to withstand a bad investment.
Colleges are the worst kind of business, and if they weren’t run under the guise of “education”, they would all be shut down. Allowing people without financial means to take out huge loans or invest their life savings in a product that has an 85% failure rate. This is the financial equivalent, for many middle and lower class people of committing financial suicide.
It’s criminal.
But I don’t blame the colleges anymore. I blame people who buy into this myth without looking further, when all the facts are right there over and over again.
After all, the overhwelming “reasoning” people use when sending their kids to school or applying themselves is that they “need college to get a job”, “need college to have a future”, and all sorts of similar nonsense.
How then is it that 85% of college grads are moving home? Is it because they just missed Mom and Dad so much, or is it because they have staggering student loan debt and can’t find a job.
That’s the colleges failing their students. Profiting from a ridiculous dream that is long gone. And students and parents failing to wake up to reality.
Students would be better off skipping college. I’m working on coming up with a course to help guide younger people on what to do instead of college. Travel is fun and good for the soul, but at the end of the day you will have to learn how to make money.
I suggest reading Stephen Gruber’s Never Get a Real Job and learn how to be an entrepreneur. Learn how to create a website. Visit uncollege.org. Think for yourself, and don’t be tricked into thinking that college is an answer. It isn’t. The old days of the “safe route” in life, where the good boy or girl goes to college and gets a regular job is long gone. Entrepreneurship is actually the smarter and more economically feasible path to financial security in the coming years.
Besides, even if your websites or businesses don’t take off at first, you’ll probably have better than an 85% failure rate.
Seth Hymes is the creator of the subversive film school alternative website Film School Secrets. He also blogs about movies, filmmaking, and the best dslr for video.
Check This video out! http://youtu.be/79RtRDf6v28 Here is the website:
http://umagination.org
Hey man. I am a huge fan of your videos on Youtube and this website.
You portray the truth about the reality of the flawed education system that has destroyed our society with debt, lies and false hope.
Every degree is a waste of time and money. This includes Law and Engineering since these career bubbles have burst and there are no jobs left.
But I believe that the fault of why society has failed goes beyond the college system. The education system is outdated and longer works in this day and age. The problem lies with the fact that our parents, teachers and politicians have turned us into a dependent state where everyone has to rely on others to give us a job, rather than us creating our own businesses and own income.
Simple economics formula: Too much high demand (millions of graduates competing for same jobs) but very small supply (of jobs.)
I believe the solution is to create more entrepreneurs and helping to start more businesses. The only problem here is that the banks won’t give out any loans because most people will not have security or collateral.
I believe the government should direct their focus in this area rather than preaching about outdated educational values. The government should order banks to create a microcredit system, where people can pay back after earning over a threshold and require no collateral/security.
The system has been proven to work and the man who devised it was a man from Bangladesh who had won the Nobel Peace Prize a few years back.
Anyway, you’re doing a great job with this website. Keep up the good work!