I had an interesting conversation with a college senior recently. I asked the psychology major what he planned to do for a job after college. He didn’t know.
“Why are you going to college?” I asked.
“To learn,” he said. “To improve myself.”
In a new Pew Research Center survey, “Is College Worth It?”, just under half of the respondents (47 percent) said the main purpose of a college education is to teach work-related skills and knowledge. Thirty-nine percent of those polled said the purpose of college is to help students to grow personally and intellectually. The remainder of respondents said they felt work-related skills and personal growth were equally important.
Interestingly, among survey respondents who graduated from a four-year college, only 55 percent said their college education was very useful in helping them prepare for a job or career.
One of my favorite episodes of the sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris” features a hilarious scene about college. Chris Rock, who co-created the series, guest stars as a high school counselor. He has a candid conversation with Chris, played by Tyler James Williams, about the mission of college. Here’s a bit of the conversation from the episode, which you can view on YouTube:
Williams: “I still don’t know what I want to do for a living, but I do know that my mother wants me to go to college.”
Rock: “College? Why?”
Williams: “To learn.”
Rock: “Learn. You can learn anywhere Chris. But your parents are way too broke for you to go to college to just learn. They need you to go to college to learn how to get a job.”
Here’s this week’s Color of Money question: What’s the main purpose of a college education? Send your responses to colorofmoney@washpost.com. Put “Is College Worth It”in the subject line. Be sure to include your full name, city and state.
Five Myths of Internships
Many college graduates are finding out the hard way that just having a degree isn’t enough in this job market. Many are learning too late that they needed a few good internships. But there are some misconceptions about this job-training path.
In the Post’s “Five Myths” feature, Ross Perlin, author of “Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy” dispels myths about internships.
Here are two myths:
-- Interns enjoy workplace protections.Without legal standing, many interns are unable to claim basic workplace protections.
-- Not paying interns is legal. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act an intern is an employee, however temporary or inexperienced, and entitled to minimum wage.
Trumped By Trump
I told you so.
I said Donald Trump would not run for president. The ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ host announced this week that he had decided he didn’t want to be in the Oval Office.
“I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election,” Trump said in a statement.
Baloney.
I think many in the general public (as a recent poll has shown) always saw Trump’s teasing as a way to boost his television ratings. More than half of Americans say they would not vote for him. As CBSnews.com reported: “There had been widespread skepticism about Trump's flirtation with a run grounded in the fact that he has closely guarded information about his finances in the past.”
Loading...
Comments