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by throw0101b 932 days ago
> If taxes are paying for the school we should subsidize things that are good for America not individuals.

If all you have access to is a subsidized state school, do you get to learn a different language, examine history, ponder philosophy, experience and make art? Or is that only reserved for folks that can afford to go to fancy schools?

Are citizens who are aware of history, other languages and cultures, know how to create and understand art, not good for America?

1 comments

Not if they’re stuck working at Starbucks.
I truly encourage you to go look at the statistics for history graduates. They aren't stuck working at Starbucks.
Since the data was not provided, here are links to some by the American Historians Association. [1][2][3]

[1] Data List - https://www.historians.org/jobs-and-professional-development...

[2] "Where Historians Work (interactive charts)" - https://www.historians.org/wherehistorianswork

[3] AHA Jobs Report 2022 - https://www.historians.org/ahajobsreport2022

Personal take: One issue I think some people have, is that there's not a "lot" of private sector historian work. As a percentage of the profession, its relatively small. Higher-Ed (Tenure, Non-Tenure, Admin) is close to 70%.

The stats for professional historians are indeed horrible, but this is not the only place where people with history degrees can go. If you asked me "should anybody consider going to a phd program in history, except perhaps at the top five institutions and with some financial backup" I'd say "no." But things are a bit different for undergrad.