The Blue Board

Pretty much. Most people don't even consider cost when deciding whether to attend college, because they can just take out loans. That is a problem, A HUGE PROBLEM. It's the same concept with mortgages and car loans, just because get approved for a loan doesn't mean you can afford it. Half of high school graduates should strongly consider options outside of college.

They certainly shouldn't go to a private university where tuition is $100K a year and expect to ever pay it off.

All the English majors I know either (a) want to go to law school (b) want to teach (c) want to write a novel or (d) some combination of the above. My one friend who is an English major is going to law school at Samford. They serve a number of purposes, no reason to get rid of them. I mean, should Alabama just get rid of every department under Art and Music?

I'm glad you brought up law school, because it's a huge scam now as well. There's about one job position available each year for every 3 law school graduates. On top of that, attorney salaries are at an all time low. Couple that with rising high tuition costs, and you will be lucky to pay off your student loans when you are 60.

Keep the degrees, just don't subsidize the loans for them with public money. Its a bad investment.

But if a kid wants to pursue the degree with eyes wide open, knowing the poor ROI and knowing what he's getting into, then godspeed.

I'm all for that. I refuse to work the rest of my life in a job I hate. That too much time spent doing something that doesn't fulfill me. I don't want to hate my job. And I'm willing to take a pay cut to do what I love. No complaining or demands for hand outs from me. Plus, when I make it to Art Director and higher, I'll be getting paid, so...

No, where did you get that? If their strength is English/Literature, they should be pushed to teach or be a journalist/reporter. If the kid's strength is working with his hands, he should be pushed towards tech school.

It's a pretty simple concept... and it's done in Asia. I'm not sure why I had to spell it out for you.

That's my point. Why would anyone go to law school, when the market is so inflated right now?

Everyone, my friends included, thinks they will go to law school for a few years, get out and immediately make 150K. That's not the case anymore and it probably won't be the case for a very long time.

Let me clarify: I'm not saying that law school is the only thing that would make said example happy. All I'm saying is, don't do something you hate just because it pays well. We all want to be well off but you spend too much time working for you to not enjoy and take pride in it. But that's just my opinion.

Still is the case for most of the top schools.

I would be willing to be that less than 5% of people that graduate from law school start out making $150k a year.

I know here in Missouri, scholarships from the state have been drastically reduced. And at a D2, 12K student school like mine -- There aren't a whole lot of notable alumni shelling out cash for various department scholarships.

I'm fortunate, but part of that is earned. I took a position as a Community Advisor (aka: RA) last year, and will return this year. Saves me more than 8K a year. I'll be graduating with about 40K in debt with my Bachelor's in Business Administration with a Marketing major.

I wouldn't go this far, but I think it says a lot that applying for a job with a degree has minimal meaning now. Unless you've had graduate study, you're likely one of dozens with a Bachelor's applying for a particular job.