

College the Easy Way - DanielBMarkham
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/opinion/05herbert.html

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tokenadult
"But a lack of academic focus has not had much of an effect on grade point
averages or the ability of the undergraduates to obtain their degrees."

Yes, college grade averages have been rising at quite a few colleges around
the United States.

<http://gradeinflation.com/>

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Turino
I can collaborate what the article is asserting about many students "skating
by" with five or so hours a week of study. This is more prominent in the
social sciences than, say, engineering, where I am. I frequently notice
students drinking in the middle of the day or goofing off all day when others
spend the recommended 40+ hours outside of class in the library.

I guess this shows how a college degree no longer means much on its own, and
students need to make sure they are leaving with marketable skills that
employers demand. Some programs, CS for example, arguably allow students to
move directly into a productive position out of university, while others seem
to lack in this aspect.

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noahc
I will second this in the social sciences, I went to a top rated public
liberal arts school and I studied at most an average of probably 1 - 2 hours
per class per week. So that's 5 hours per week for a typical semester.

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Tycho
on my literature course, in the finaly year, more than once somebody read a
'presentation' that was copied straight from wikipedia, indicating they
couldn't even put in more than 5 mins effort when they had an actual
assignment. add to this that the majority of people never say a fucking thing
in seminars, and the 5 hour per week figure sounds about right.

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WalterBright
"Perhaps more now than ever, the point of the college experience is to have a
good time and walk away with a valuable credential after putting in the least
effort possible."

And then they wonder why a college degree is not a ticket to a good job.

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_delirium
In the U.S. at least, graduates do still seem to do pretty well at getting
_some_ kind of job, whether good / relevant to the degree or otherwise.
Unemployment is only 4-5% for people with a 4-year college degree,
considerably less than for other categories:
<http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm>

Of course, just those numbers don't say what the cause and effect are. It's
possible the graduates getting jobs could also have gotten jobs without a
degree. But I suspect having a degree still boosts employment odds.

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anonymoushn
Do we have statistics on how many people with 4-year degrees transition from
"unemployed" to "not in work force?"

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astrofinch
The unstated assumption here is that working hard in college actually pays off
for a student later in life. Many college graduates end up doing work
unrelated to their majors. Even those who do work related to their majors are
required to take classes in things they don't need to know. And many college
professors give assignments that take a lot of time without providing students
much benefit.

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duncanj
Ah, the kids these days...

