The Choice blog is taking questions from senior families about making the final college decision. Here’s one from a parent that caught my eye:
“Do you think it is worth spending over $150k on a degree like British literature anymore? BTW, this was my degree and I found it valuable, but not sure it is a valuable degree in today’s work place. It seems to us that college has priced itself out of the 'study what you want/self-fulfillment' days of the past. While we want our daughter to be happy and fulfilled, we also want her employable after she has graduated. What would you advise a teen and her parents about balancing studying what you enjoy and actually getting a job after college?”
It’s a smart question given how much some colleges cost and how tough the job market has proven to be for recent college grads. But here’s my take:
The “study what you want/self-fulfillment” approach is still the one I recommend even for students attending expensive colleges. But today's students run into problems when they pick a major—any major—and just hope that everything job-related will somehow work out when they graduate. You can't take that approach in this job market. Whether you’re a business major or a philosophy major, if you want to get a job when you graduate, you’re going to need to demonstrate what you can do with all that newfound knowledge and personal growth.
Here’s a comparison:
One student majors in British literature, gets average grades, joins a few activities in which she participates moderately, has a lot of fun, and graduates from college.
Another student also majors in British literature, but does very well academically. She gets to know her academic advisor and several of her professors well, all of whom lend advice and offer to write recommendations on her behalf. She spends two years writing for a campus literary journal and eventually becomes the editor. She lands a summer internship at a local newspaper which she parlays into a part-time gig as a copy editor the following summer. Her senior year, she’s offered a slot to write book reviews for her campus newspaper. She’s got a portfolio of all her articles, references from professors and former managers, and a resume full of experience—all while enjoying four years of good college fun.
Which one will have better luck landing a good job after graduation? And perhaps more importantly, which one do you think got the most of her four years of time and money in college?
Your best career plan? Find the right college fit, whether or not it’s prestigious. Throw yourself into the experience and take as much as you can from it. Cultivate relationships with mentors who can advise you. Pick a major that’s going to make you excited to get up and learn every day. Actively work to discover and develop your talents. Use college as a four-year opportunity to learn and do as much as you can to show the work world that you’ve got something to offer, whether it’s the ability to write articles, balance financial books, teach kids or direct plays. If you have something to offer employers, you’re going to get a job when you graduate.
It’s not where you go or even what you major in that gets you a job after graduation. It’s what you do with the opportunities that your college presents to you while you’re there.
P_dovvy says
I thInk this answer begs the question.
No one in the middle class would drop $150K on a pipe dream that made “a nice fit” for them. They’d ask about quantifiable returns on investment like resale value on a house, cash flow etc. Only in the realm of education do we fall into magical thinking.
In past postings you’ve blogged about the coming implosion of the higher ed bubble. Can you address this for students who face the very real possibility of indenturing themselves for a decade to a dream they have only a fuzzy conception of? Are MOOCs the wave of the future and if so, can you save South LA students on a budget a couple of bucks?
And btw, Google “Beware the perfect fit.”