Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by chantech 4724 days ago
Article took way too long to get to the crux of the problem:

1. Choose your majors carefully and plan your career early - A degree in communications doesn't really make you employable. . 2. These people aren't willing to relocate to a less than desirable area to get that first opportunity
1 comments
ebiester 4724 days ago
So, let's say that you're getting poor grades in pre-med. You're already 30,000 in debt. Is it better to continue in a degree where you have no chance of further advancement (no medical school will take you), drop out and have absolutely no career leads and a pile of debt, or get a second rate degree?

This is the problem -- we've raised the bar for failure so high because of the cost of going to college. We've made it so that college degrees of any kind are a requirement to advance into white collar work. What's the solution when someone can't hack it in STEM?

link
chantech 4724 days ago
Sunk costs are sunk costs. You quit and move on to something that doesn't incur more debt. One option is joining the military where you can get real-world experience and they'll pay a significant portion of future education. Another is taking base courses at a significantly cheaper community college until you understand what you want to do and whether you have the natural ability for it.

The core problem is taking on 30k of debt without the commitment and/or natural ability necessary to complete the degree.

link
reader5000 4724 days ago
The core problem is exploiting inelastic demand in charging 30k for something that could be provided at 2k.
link
eru 4723 days ago
You are not paying for the education, you are paying for the signalling. And the signalling is basically auction.
link
reader5000 4722 days ago
I 100% agree you're paying for the signalling. But it's not an auction. Unless by auction you mean "the seller gets the government to pay upfront any price the seller chooses, and the government and buyer (student) get to work it out later as they see fit".
link
eru 4721 days ago
Oh, it's an auction in the sense that the students bid for education-signalling. With their money and their (prep-) time.
link