Do we really need another book about entitled millennials? Or about the helicopter parents who raise these precious darlings? Senator Ben Sasse’s The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis — and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance exceeds expectations. It challenges both parents and our culture, offering compelling and timely solutions. The Problem Sasse has no issue with adolescence. The problem is one of perpetual adolescence — an indefinite period in which youth are passive and aimless. Why is this so common? In part because teens today are used to an unprecedented … [Read more...] about Ben Sasse – The Vanishing American Adult
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Must all Graduates Wander Aimlessly in Their Twenties?
Until recently, a bachelor’s degree was a sure ticket to social mobility and a promising career. But today’s graduates face unprecedented headwinds in the form of declining wages, ballooning student debt, and greater competition for fewer jobs. That’s the case journalist Jeff Selingo makes in an insightful new book, There is Life After College (HarperCollins). “The plight of today’s young adults,” writes Selingo, “is a result of a longer-term shift in the global workforce that is having an outsized impact on people in their twenties who have little work experience.” Selingo presents his … [Read more...] about Must all Graduates Wander Aimlessly in Their Twenties?
Only 11% of employers think graduating students have the skills that their businesses need
How can employers be simultaneously unhappy with the quality of recent graduates and more desirous of hiring people with greater amounts of formal education? Ryan Craig, founding Managing Director of University Ventures, writes: What we’re seeing from employers—the ultimate consumers of higher education—is the result of dissatisfaction with the current level of talent being produced by colleges and universities. Employers are dissatisfied and are flailing about for answers. For many employers, this means credential inflation—requiring certain degrees for jobs that previously didn’t require … [Read more...] about Only 11% of employers think graduating students have the skills that their businesses need
5 Suggestions for Getting a College Degree Without Going Broke
Though it may have gotten buried with the New Year's holiday, I had an article published in Fox News Opinion on how to get a college degree without going broke. I outlined five things every student can do. Here's the opening: The disappearance of low-skilled jobs and a rising earnings premium sparked a dramatic uptick in college enrollment over the past few decades. At first, students could afford it, graduating with minimal (if any) debt, and entering an expanding job market with rising wages. But now? Real median household income is down 6.5% from 2007-2014. Salaries for 25-34 year … [Read more...] about 5 Suggestions for Getting a College Degree Without Going Broke
Low-Income Americans’ Kids Can Go to College for Free
One of the reasons I wrote Beating the College Debt Trap is that it seemed to me that millions of Americans don't know how the whole paying for college thing works. The system is intimidating, confusing, and complicated, so they stay clear of it altogether. A July 2015 study from the Urban Institute confirms my suspicions. As the U.S. News & World Report summarized: "A new study details how college is surprisingly affordable for the lowest income Americans. Yet fewer than half of them enroll in college, and 12 percent of those who do enroll fail to apply for financial aid." Here's … [Read more...] about Low-Income Americans’ Kids Can Go to College for Free
Why more teenagers and college students need to work while in school
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