OUR TIME DAILY TRANSLATION
We've heard you say it many times: "Politics is like a foreign language." Well, we agree.
Each week, we summarize, simplify, and interpret different major news stories and how they affect our generation. We'll give you our take, and you can decide for yourself.
HAS COLLEGE-FOR-ALL OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS?
THE FACTS
Robertson Samuelson from the Washington Post argues that constantly pushing young Americans to attend college is not necessarily beneficial; after 4 years of school, 36% of students will not improve their critical thinking skills, and only 31% of available jobs actually require a college degree.
WHY WE SHOULD CARE
For one, college is very expensive and the average grad owes $25,000 in student loan debt. Secondly, Samuelson argues that by focusing so much on college degrees, vocational education has been de-emphasized, even though some students would be more successful in apprenticeships or vocational schooling.
OUR TIME OPINION
In a tough job market, students must plan for their careers (and thereby the training and educational pathways for those careers) much further in advance in order to maximize employment prospects. At times college is the best fit; in other circumstances, vocational training might be better. There is no one-size fits all approach, however, a strong commitment to higher education in the past has led to great strides in American innovation.
