Thread: College Tuition Expected to Soar due to State Budget Constraints

Originally Posted by bg85

i don't think companies have the time to be going over basic calculus and physics with every new engineer they hire.

That's why I said with the "exception" of some industry jobs. There are tons of jobs that can be done on premise. Tons of marketing analysis jobs that would be market or industry specific, sales positions, transportation management, and etc. I'm sure if I wanted to take the time I could come up with a lot of industry job categories that would be better suited for on the job or on site training. However, to be fair, it doesn't work for everything, but I think it would reduce enrollment by a substantial amount, thus lowering the publics burden. More beneficial for all.

Originally Posted by DL-44

Those schools do little but to take money out of the hands of students who are actually looking to learn. I would rather close those schools down and use the saved money to provide scholarships to more serious students.

Puzzled. What evidence do you have that the first part is true? And how would you account for space at the schools that should be allowed to continue in dealing with everyone going to all of these schools now? Or, are you basically suggesting less people need a College education and limiting the schools will lead to more competition for that limited space?

Originally Posted by DL-44

I said low income students in state schools pay very little and sometimes nothing at all

that's not true at all.

Originally Posted by buck84

Tons of marketing analysis jobs...

companies don't have the time to teach every new market analyst they hire basic business and economic principles they would learn about receiving a liberal education.

Originally Posted by bg85

companies don't have the time to teach every new market analyst they hire basic business and economic principles they would learn about receiving a liberal education.

Thats not necessarily true, except for smaller companies. Obviously every business does not have the capacity nor the revenue to do such a campaign, but a lot of larger companies do, and quite a few already have training programs in place. Some of these large corporations can probably expand on such a program to cover some basics, and they could charge basicly a tuition, or enrollment fee so the program can operate itself and not a dead expense. This separates the ones serious about a career from ones who are not. Definitely may not be the ultimate solution to the bigger picture. Nonetheless, depending on what career you choose. A college degree isn't always relevant. 99% of business expertise doesn't come from a course you take but the experience you gain in the field of work your in. Like I said, just some thoughts

Originally Posted by DL-44

A better solution would be to close down community colleges and non-competitive state schools entirely.

I disagree with that.

I did half of my undergrad degree (or at least as much of it as I could transfer) at Hudson Community College and Bergen Community College.

As a middle-class, working adult at the time I began school the option of going the community college route was a no-brainer for me.

I was able to pick up credits for about a quarter of what I would have paid at a four year state school.

Almost more importantly, the community colleges were local. If I'd had to commute to a "competitive" four year state school I wouldn't have been able to swing it while working full-time. Or at the very least I would have had to stretch out my education by a period of at least an additional two years because I wouldn't have been able to take 9 credits a semester, at night, at a school that was a two hour round trip from home.

When I eventuallly transfered to Rutgers I brought 51 credits and a 4.0 GPA with me.

Since neither of the NJ community colleges I attended were residential I fail to see how more "traditional" students would have gotten anything of the "college party vibe" by attending.

I'd agree with you, though my interaction with strictly traditional students was very limited, that they certainly weren't the cream of the educational crop, but by the same token I wasn't especially impressed with the general intelligence or ability level of the vast majority of "traditional" undergrads I met at Rutgers.

Also, more at Hudson Community College (Jersey City, NJ) than at Bergen (Paramus, NJ) but to some degree at both, many of the adult students I attended "night school" with were fairly recent LEGAL immigrants. If you ask me, a man or woman who immigrates to the U.S. legally and then works full-time and goes to school at night is doing it right. I'd be loate to strip them of the educational opportunities that community colleges provide.

Just offering this as my perspective because it seems your opinion of community colleges is formed on incomplete information.