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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

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Different Directions

Mike Rowe, who you might remember as the guy from “Dirty Jobs,” has come under some scrutiny for implying college is not all that necessary.

He said in a video on CNN that he doesn’t believe a four-year degree is the necessary path for all people.

The Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board agrees with Rowe. Though education is important for all people, college is not the path we should encourage for all students.

Like many things, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all option for education. People have different goals, different life situations and different passions.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Vocational education, skills-based training, apprenticeships and on-the-job training are all important aspects of education that are often treated as the second-best option when compared to a four-year university.

This simply isn’t the case for many people.

We recognize there are jobs that require a bachelor’s degree or more, and we don’t want to discourage anyone with those passions or goals to not attend college. But for some careers that level of education just isn’t necessary.

An engineer needs a university degree. For a welder or mechanic, it isn’t as necessary.

By pushing so many students into the university system, we’re disadvantaging those students who actually require a degree for their future careers.

Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that “at least 40 percent of full-time students entering four-year programs fail to have their degree in six years.” He also cited a U.S. Department of Labor study that said roughly one in three college graduates have a job that requires less than a bachelor’s degree.

By flooding the market with so many college degrees, he theorizes, we’re decreasing the value of a bachelor’s degree to the point where jobs such as bartending often require a college degree.

Additionally, a report released in 2012 by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce examined how vocational training pays off and found that those with certificates in a vocational field earn more than 24 ?percent of those with bachelor’s degrees.

To break that down, men with certificates in computer and information services earn roughly $72,500 per year, more than what 54 percent of men earn with a bachelor’s degree in those fields.

Women with the same certificate earn roughly $56,664, which is more than what 64 percent of women earn with a bachelor’s degree. Though the editorial board agrees college is valuable and worthwhile for many people, the data supports the idea that vocational education and other non-university job preparation systems are more worthwhile for a countless number of people.

Mike Rowe got it right. We love having people go to college. As college students ourselves, we can’t say college isn’t a valuable asset for us and millions of other ?students across the nation.

We also understand that not everybody can be an accountant, a teacher, a doctor or a lawyer.

We agree there are people who are going to be mechanics or bartenders or construction workers and that those people should not go into debt to get degrees they don’t need.

People should study what they want or do what will help them get jobs they want.

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