not football

The post on South Carolina State and the impending two year shutdown of the school is something that is unfortunate, and maybe not directly related to this post.  I think we can undoubtedly say that college is good, and that education recieved at college in extremely valuable (whether that education is directly a result of the classes taken or more focused on developing as a young adult in the real world, a little more nebulous).

The reality is the system for continued education in the United States is one that is not sustainable, and I think we will see more and more colleges start to disappear.  According to a (most definitely biased) report by McKinsey & Company along with Chegg, 45% of college graduates feel they do not need a degree in their current role.  Over 50% of graduates would have chosen a different major or a different school (some, both) if given the option to go back.

In 1993, the average student left college with roughly $10,000 in student loan debts, as of December of last year, that number has nearly tripled to $29,400.  Only 20% of those loans (in 2014) came from the private sector.  Addditionally, students who were the recipient of a Pell Grant (usually coming from families earning $40,000 or less annually) were much more likely to borrow more, averaging almost $5,000 more in debt than those who were never the recipient of a Pell Grant.

With the increase of online accredited universities, I think we are going to see a period of more college graduates who feel underprepared or feel like they spent a significant amount of money with little return (when you remove the campus environment from the student, you also start to remove some of the nebulous "life skills" development).

Without delving into politics (whether or not there should be federal student loans, how much money should be allocated to universities/colleges by the government), I was just hoping for some other opinions.  As someone who bounced around a little bit during college, and someone who majored in English and is now (going to be) working in software development, I certainly understand how a degree is becoming less of an important step in life and more of a commodity.

EDIT: Link to McKinsey/Chegg Report
Link to Student Loan data

Saturday and/or Sunday around here means its the start of a Game Week. With previews, actual football games, etc. starting up the board is going to have to get a lot less OT. That said, binge and purge on some OT in this thread. Get it out of your system!

Anyone else hit the Woodward Dream Cruise? I saw a Porsche 550 Spyder in person that I'd trade for a whole bunch of money I dont yet have...

Anyone surprise meet their Korean Inlaws? Have issues with their dogs' anal glands?

We're running out of time, if you've got a question for the board ask it now.

EDIT: here are links to the 2 FAQ pages on the blog as well as Brian's official topic policy

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/mgoboard-faq

http://mgoblog.com/content/mgofaq

What's the offtopic policy?

In the offseason, offtopic posts are tolerated. During football season they are discouraged and may be subject to removal depending on how alert the moderators are.

What counts as on- and off- topic?

ONTOPIC

• Anything Michigan sports related

• Anything related to other Big Ten teams or upcoming opponents

• Stuff about the blog itself

• University of Michigan topics that don't relate to sports

GRAY AREA

• College sports in general

• Ann Arbor

UNWELCOME, KTHX

• Politics

• Drew Sharp, Ace Williams, Mike Valenti. Saying stupid and/or false things about Michigan in order to get Michigan fans upset is a tried and true way to phish for clicks. Let's not feed the trolls.

OFFTOPIC

• Pro sports of any variety

• Everything else We will let pro sports topics slide even during football season but "everything else" posts are likely to get the axe.

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-university-of-michigan-athletic-department?p=1&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&sid=82a39e98-95a6-467a-a5fb-c40f472d9a43&division=ann-arbor&user=68776b2719460347eb6e348e8c04af41a16952ae65592e8bd6ce4c9779f91d74&date=20121029&s=body&c=deal_button&d=deal-page&utm_campaign=gl-university-of-michigan-athletic-department 

Hope that link works...just got the email today.  The visiting teams may be iffy, but the draw of checking out the new Crisler and the partially "new" #5 reigning Big Ten Champs is strong...

The seats aren't likely great(there are no bad seats, Crisler just isn't that big), but if you have kiddies like me this is a nice chance to get everyone in for $2.50-$5 per.