Jeff Selingo is right: Too few college students hold a significant part-time job before graduation. As a result, they struggle with professionalism in the work place. Selingo reports that "the number of teenagers who have some sort of job while in school has dropped from nearly 40 percent in 1990 to just 20 percent today, an all-time low since the United States started keeping track in 1948." Why aren't more students working? Reasons include a poor labor market for teens and the fact that minimum wage earnings don't go far relative to escalating college prices (tuition, fees, textbooks, … [Read more...] about Why more teenagers and college students need to work while in school
Culture
Why Write Another Book for College Students?
After writing Thriving at College, why write another book for students? How does Beating the College Debt Trap differ from Thriving at College? Thriving at College is about making the most of the college years, about using that season in life as a launching pad into all that’s associated with responsible Christian adulthood. But while I briefly addressed money management skills, the whole idea of paying for college is more or less assumed. In the four years since I wrote Thriving at College, the economics of college have continued to evolve. In 2013, a majority of families (57 percent) … [Read more...] about Why Write Another Book for College Students?
The Empty-Headedness of the Million Student March
I have an article in today's Stream about the recent Million Student March. Here's the opening: Amidst the recent potpourri of petulant pouting on college campuses around the country, in “safe spaces” and elsewhere, you’ll be forgiven if you missed the news of a Million Student March. On November 12, these student marchers took to their respective campuses and communities with three specific demands: 1.Tuition-Free Public College 2. Cancellation of All Student Debt 3. $15 Minimum Wage for All Campus Workers Their arguments were not new. As the group’s website reads: “The United … [Read more...] about The Empty-Headedness of the Million Student March
Grade-Changing Dean at Texas Tech Resigns
Moral of the story? Don't mess with the professor's assigned grade. Scott Jaschik, with Inside Higher Ed, writes: Jay Conover, a professor of mathematics and statistics at Texas Tech University, got quite a surprise when he learned three of his former students graduated from the business school's graduate program this year. He was surprised because he had given the students grades so low he thought they wouldn't be able to graduate. It turns out the Business School's Dean, Lance Nail, had gone behind Conover's back to get another prof to set up an alternate exam for a group of five students … [Read more...] about Grade-Changing Dean at Texas Tech Resigns
Colleges Coddle Students, Too
Great piece by Jeff Selingo. The opening: An article in this week’s Washington Post nicely summarized a new book on the failings of helicopter parenting, especially when it comes to preparing kids for college. But parents shouldn’t shoulder all the blame for why college students seem incapable of taking care of themselves these days. In the past decade, college campuses have turned into one big danger-free zone, where students live in a bubble and are asked to take few, if any, risks in their education. Read the whole thing. It's excellent. Students need objective, regular, and (when … [Read more...] about Colleges Coddle Students, Too
Earnings Boost from Major, Not Choice of College
One of the myths I challenge in Beating the College Debt Trap is the notion that it's worth taking on significant debt to attend a prestigious university because the extra earnings you'll reap make it worth the huge price tag. Wrong. Nine times out of ten, that you go to college (and graduate) matters more than where you go to college. In fact, if future earnings were the sole criterion (not recommended), your choice of major makes a bigger difference than your choice of college. That's what a new study from the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program concluded. … [Read more...] about Earnings Boost from Major, Not Choice of College