Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,874 posts)
Sat Dec 26, 2020, 10:47 AM Dec 2020

More info is available about which college majors pay off, but students aren't using it

Education

More info is available about which college majors pay off, but students aren’t using it

By Jon Marcus
Dec. 25, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. EST

When the University of Texas system teamed up with the Census Bureau to show how much money graduates earn, broken down by major and campus, the idea was to help future students make good choices. ... College is, after all, a huge investment, with costs consumers often criticize and toward which many have to borrow. If they knew that one major results in higher salaries than others — or that graduates from one university earn more than those with the exact same degree from another — wouldn’t they make the higher-paying choice?

Two years after the groundbreaking collaboration began, however, students haven’t seemed to alter course, said David Troutman, the system’s associate vice chancellor, who oversees the project. ... “What we find is that they’re not changing their majors,” Troutman said. “They’re following their passions.” ... He and other advocates stress that they want students to continue following their passions. But they also want them to be aware that earnings vary widely among graduates, even when they have identical majors, from different universities and colleges, affecting not only their quality of life but their ability to repay their student loans.

{snip, including a picture}

Among the conclusions of earnings data increasingly available to consumers is that student nurses from some community colleges make more than some master’s degree recipients from Harvard University. (Terrell Clark for The Hechinger Report)

An analysis by the Georgetown center using College Scorecard data found that nurses with associate degrees from a community college in California make more than graduates of a dozen master’s degree programs at Harvard. Electrical and power transmission installers with associate degrees from a community college in West Virginia earn $80,400 in their first year, or more than twice the median income of bachelor’s degree recipients generally. In all, 27 percent of workers with associate degrees make more than the median salary for their counterparts with bachelor’s degrees.

Earnings vary widely not only by what kind of a degree a student gets, but where. Workers with undergraduate degrees in business administration make as little as $20,000 a year to as much as $100,000 in the first year after college, depending on which institution their degrees are from. Students with master’s degrees in educational administration and supervision from one private college in New York earn more than three times as much as graduates with the same degree from a public university in Georgia.

{snip}

This story about earnings data was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our higher education newsletter.
8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
More info is available about which college majors pay off, but students aren't using it (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2020 OP
You would think people that think they are the smartest ones in the room ... MichMan Dec 2020 #1
Is anyone surprised that "nurses with associate degrees from a community college in Nay Dec 2020 #2
Many years ago I saw Jimmy Hoffa on safeinOhio Dec 2020 #3
This said, my father's Teamster pension disappeared with Jimmy Hoffa's body. n/t. NNadir May 2021 #7
Here we treating education d_r Dec 2020 #4
Another helpful site is... NewDayOranges Dec 2020 #5
Spam deleted by MIR Team johnyboy3 May 2021 #6
welcome to DU gopiscrap May 2021 #8

MichMan

(11,778 posts)
1. You would think people that think they are the smartest ones in the room ...
Sat Dec 26, 2020, 10:59 AM
Dec 2020

Last edited Sat Dec 26, 2020, 12:00 PM - Edit history (2)

would take advantage of the information that is out there before agreeing to tens of thousands of dollars in student loans.

Yet many will act shocked that they are expected to pay them back.

Nay

(12,051 posts)
2. Is anyone surprised that "nurses with associate degrees from a community college in
Sat Dec 26, 2020, 12:02 PM
Dec 2020

California make more than graduates of a dozen master’s degree programs at Harvard"? Going to work as a nurse in CA will obviously be higher-paying than, say, a Master's in English or Art from Harvard. It would be the same, I would think, for the Ed Admin degree from NY -- many of those graduates probably stay in NY because they have lived there for years already, and salaries are higher in NY than they are in Georgia because of the cost of living.

It's long been known that some degrees are more 'useful' in that the resulting jobs pay more, but a student is often not in a position to move to a different state to get the degree that pays more. Often they live with family to be able to pay in-state tuition, for example.

safeinOhio

(32,523 posts)
3. Many years ago I saw Jimmy Hoffa on
Sat Dec 26, 2020, 12:13 PM
Dec 2020

a tv show. A lady in the audience ask how truck drivers could make so much money. Her husband had a PHD and couldn't make that much.
Jimmy told her the Teamsters do not discriminate and if her husband wanted to apply for a job, they would not hold his degree against him if he wanted to improve his life.

I will always remember that show. Thanks to my union, I have been retired for 19 years now and have a great life. I'm 71 years old.

d_r

(6,907 posts)
4. Here we treating education
Sat Dec 26, 2020, 12:18 PM
Dec 2020

As if it is only job certification.

Surprisingly, individuals choose both careers and plans of study based upon factors beyond only potential salary. For example, not everyone has the aptitude or interest to become an M.D.

This also confounds cost of living, which is beside my point.

NewDayOranges

(691 posts)
5. Another helpful site is...
Sat Dec 26, 2020, 01:11 PM
Dec 2020

www.onetonline.org

A site established and maintained by the Bureau of Labor & Statistics...

Response to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Economy»More info is available ab...