Are There Too Many Degree Programs At Colleges?
The US has more lawyers per capita than any other country. The number of lawyers who do not practice law and have large law school debts is increasing. We could probably close all the law schools for 5 years and still have a surplus of lawyers. But schools keep accepting students and churning out lawyers. I wonder if they give out the statistics of how many of their graduates practice law, what they make and how much student debt they have?
Do we need lawyers, of course. However it has to be a supply and demand and students have to know the risk of it. Students need to understand the risk for all degree areas. School should provide the salary and debt for each degree area.
As with sports within the athletic department, each degree program needs to be run as an independent business. Just because someone wants to study a particular area, a school should not provide it unless it covers costs.
There is a need for research and scholarship on a wide range of areas. Every school does not have to have a department for every area of study. All non-private colleges will require some level of taxpayer funding. If we want an educated society, then there needs to be investment in higher education. We do not need funding for every school to offer the same degrees in all programs.
There are plenty of degree programs that I find have little value. However, I am sure a passionate case would be made by each of them as to their positive contribution. Again, if they can show that graduates are earning a living in that degree field and are not burdened by high debt, then they may have a case for that area of study.
A good place to start is those lawyers…………..
No comments:
Post a Comment