Friday, May 27, 2011

Value of educational degrees

I tend to believe that there is often and inverse relationship in this society between salary and the value of ones job.  It seems that day care providers are among those on the bottom ladders of the pay scale, while someone who can sell things to people they don't really need is highly compensated.

Researchers at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce discovered there was considerable difference in the financial values of college degrees. Their study, "What's it worth? The economic value of college majors." indicated engineering degrees were the most profitable degrees, while those in Psychology, Social Work and Education yielded the poorest paying positions.  Not too surprisingly engineering students were predominately male (84%), while females made up the majority of those in Psychology/Social Work (74%) and Education (77%).

While in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls I had an encounter that caused me to question the value of my soon to be masters degree in Guidance and Counseling.  While checking out at an outdoor store the cashier recognized my credit card being associated with River Falls.  He noted that he had graduated from the same university.  I inquired of his major.  Much to my chagrin, Guidance and Counseling was the response.

As many parents reminded us as children... life is not fair. So, study hard kids to become a doctor, engineer or perhaps a lawyer, so hopefully you won't have to come back and live at home after you've graduated from college with your expensive degree. Or, perhaps better yet, become a plumber or electrician so you can save some college expenses and help with your parent's household projects.

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