Most parents want the best for their kids and want them to go to college. Most are willing to go without in order to allow their kids to go to college. I have seen many parents just like this. They were all so proud of the fact that their kids were going to college or had graduated. When one looks deeper into the situation, what you will find is that many of these kids and parents have been screwed. A little strong? When you understand my point, I am not so sure that you won't agree.
What I did was to Google what people could expect to earn by college degree. All I checked were undergraduate degrees. One list showed the 10 "lowest" paying degrees. Top on the list was "Social Worker". For comparison, Social Worker is the top Masters degree at the University of Wisconsin. Why don't parents Google data like this when they send their kids off to college and spend all the money that the family has in the bank? Are parents that dumb or trusting in public school counselors? At the University of Wisconsin, the number one degree is Political Science while it is #37th from the top based on compensation. The top degree on the undergraduate list is Petroleum Engineer and Chemical Engineer is second. At one time the University of Wisconsin was the top rated school in the USA for Chemical engineering. It is still very good, but has now dropped to 3rd place. What we have here is the not only are parents and students getting screwed by their choices of degrees, but us taxpayers are also being screwed.
Not only do parents have to "Wake Up" but us taxpayers have to demand that we get better value at all levels in our educational systems.
