higher education?

tacifornia · 06-08-2008, 06:17 PM

how important do you rate higher education? i never studied beyond high school and made a lot of money in real estate. i am now considering going back to school to do a 4 year degree?

CD · 06-08-2008, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tacifornia

how important do you rate higher education? i never studied beyond high school and made a lot of money in real estate. i am now considering going back to school to do a 4 year degree?

Don't know about in the US or other countries but over here in the UK it's CRAZY! They have ruined the whole education system from early years right through to higher education.
You leave at 16 after GCSE's and work or go onto do A-Levels or similar. After A-Levels most people go on to University. This is the problem!
University SHOULD (IMO) be only for those top few % of people who actually NEED to study further for their career.
The government want 50% of people to go to university! That's plain STUPID! Because of this the quality of the teaching the degrees is falling as it has to be lowered to suit the students' level. Basically everything is being made easier.
The next problem is the fact that IMO it's a BIG CON! You get into uni (lots of current students wouldn't have got into uni years ago). You then are left with an incredible bill after 3/4+ years at uni - running into thousands of pounds. As soon as you leave uni you are paying interest on it. The next problem is finding a job. Again years ago if you had a degree you basically got a job. That's not the case now. With so many people at uni employers find it incredibly hard to see a difference between students/future employees. You then have to spend the next X amount of years paying off your student debt.

I'm not sure about this - I'll try and find the exact figures : years ago the average person with a degree earnt £50,000 more a year than someone without. Today it is about £50,000 over a lifetime! (Don't quote me - I'll see if I can find the article online).

Agree with uni for the top few % but 50% is far too many!

One of my pupils is going to uni to study 'Event Management'! Sorry but does this country NEED people with degrees in Event Management? My mate (the one who thought denim is made from animals - WTF!?) studied some course which was sports management or something and would allow him to run Wembley or White Hart Lane! Needless to say it didn't and he's now a teacher! He didn't study English pass GCSE (16 Years old) and he probably got a C or D (so 'average' slightly below average but he is now teaching it to kids aged 9-13. That's the problem we are allowing to many people into uni who get degrees when they aren't good enough and they are therefore passing this onto the next generation. In a few generations we won't have and teachers or doctors - everyone will be too thick!!

My brother left school at 16 and has been in & out of work till about 32 years old! He just wasn't interested in further education (& to be fair - he probably wouldn't have got into uni at 18/19 years old). However he has just finished his degree a couple of weeks ago - aged 35 or 36. This is an example of where it all goes wrong! In his dissertation he had to write 10,000 words. Now my mum used to be a lecturer & has also marked degree work. The candidate is allowed about 10%-20% over she said. My brother wrote 56,000!!!

The examiner should only read 10,000 and upto say 12,000 if they want. If they did that with my brothers then it would be barely past the intro. However he's been told by his tutor it's fine and he should be getting a 2.1 or a first. We'll wait and see - but if he does, it's official uni now is a JOKE!

Justs annoys me that so many people are falling into this 'trap' - which is exactly what it is.

Rant over! By the way I DID go to uni too!

If you are doing just fine in life now - don't change. If you want something different & an 'experience' go for it! Just don't come to the UK to study a Micky Mouse course - save your money or give it to charity!!

MachielS · 06-08-2008, 07:45 PM

in Holland its luckely a little different (as far as i know).
In high school you get seperated based on your level, and only the people who follow the highest level (which is about 5%, i was told) can get into uni. Only other way to get into uni is finish your 'hogeschool' which is kind of the same as the uni, but a lot more practical instead of theoretical.
So, I like to think uni is in Holland for a selected group. And yes i went to uni.

But this is just how they told me and from what i experienced, so correct me if im wrong.

Then back to the point. You hear a lot of people that make lots of money but didnt ever finish anything. But have to say that they are a small group. Generally its easier to find a job if you have a title.

Daveheadhunt · 06-08-2008, 11:08 PM

I went to uni and dropped out after 1st year. I regret it now.

done-diesel · 06-09-2008, 04:32 AM

if you have the time and money for an education just do it!

Candleguy · 06-10-2008, 06:07 PM

This is a particularly sore subject for me, i essentially agree with CD entirely. The problem affects me personally as i do fall into the top 1 % that should benefit form university but have their potential diluted by now meaningless qualifications.
If my oxford application fails i will probably not go to uni.

tacifornia · 06-10-2008, 06:22 PM

why not? if you fail with your application to oxford there must surely be an alternative option for you. will you go straight into employment?

MachielS · 06-10-2008, 08:02 PM

if your good enough for oxford, it would probably be a shame if you dont take any higher education at all.

weed · 06-10-2008, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MachielS

if your good enough for oxford, it would probably be a shame if you dont take any higher education at all.

exactly. you cannot skip your higher education simply because you do not get your first choice uni.

Candleguy · 06-10-2008, 09:37 PM

i feel you may have missed the point, most other degrees are rendered worthless by lax entry requirements