Essay urges colleges to invest more in placement | Inside Higher Ed

• Essay urges colleges to invest more in placement | Inside Higher Ed

  Its about time colleges and universities owe up to the fact that they owe their customers-students and parents a commitment to securing employment in their field of study more after going into debt by the tens of thousands of dollars colleges and universities have a moral obligation to securing employment if not they should erase student loan or forgive partial student/parent debt. Social media, college websites and blogs should prominently place student success that is the best marketing for any campus. The last thing colleges or universities want are un or under employed students and their depressed parents creating a website/blog or social media that places the college or university in a negative tone.

  tags: education learning placement colleges underemployment unemployed universities

  • When student debt surpassed credit card debt in 2010, exceeding the $1 trillion mark, higher education officials began focusing on how much college graduates owed after commencement — a whopping $26,600 on average, according to the latest statistics.

  • That figure is expected to rise about 5 percent annually

  • That future is challenging for those saddled with lifelong debt before embarking on their careers.

  • putting the emphasis on career over critical thinking, citizenship and lifelong learning, concepts that previously defined the importance of a college degree.

  • This is the hitherto undeclared harm that decades of loan-assisted academic expansion — curricular, technological, architectural and financial — has wrought on recent generations, necessitating that every discipline, especially the fine and liberal arts, emphasize placement

  • Between 2000–11, the cost of undergraduate tuition, room, and board rose 42 percent at public institutions and 31 percent at private institutions,

  • he Project on Student Debt reports that 2011 graduates faced a tough job market, resulting in an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent with many more graduates "underemployed, working just part-time or in lower paying jobs that did not require a college education."

  • The Institute for College Access and Success disclosed that 13.4 percent of student loan borrowers who began repaying loans in 2009 had defaulted by the end of 2011.

  • Hallmarks of higher education — meaningful work and social contributions — are at risk if we in the academy fail to make placement a priority, for without adequate entry-level employment, students will not be able to jump-start careers.

  • Every department, from anthropology to zoology, can help defray burdensome loans by ensuring graduates are prepared for the workplace.

  • Post a transparency page, displaying your placement rates. Persuasive arguments about the importance of your degree no longer suffice. Share facts, even if they are underwhelming. Over time, vow to improve them.

  • Create a career board, listing employment opportunities for your majors. Establish a relationship with companies that hire your graduates, publicize their openings, and direct your students to that site.

  • The best advocates of your programs are ones who have earned a degree that played a critical role in their success.

  • Form an advisory council, including your most prestigious alumni.

  • Engage alumni and industry professionals in curriculum development, especially assessment, ensuring that your pedagogy is in keeping with career trends and cutting-edge methods.

  • Plan a jobs fair with panel discussions from recent graduates entering the work force. New employees can also inform existing students about networking, job shadowing, and portfolio preparation.

  • Recognize faculty with professional experience and contacts who provide career counseling in addition to curricular advising.

  • Require an internship before graduation, helping students connect with future employers.

  • Publicize a list of internships that past students have enjoyed, showcasing the companies that provided such positions

  • Underwrite professorial externships in the summer so that faculty can better provide career advice.

  • Work with your college’s career center, making students aware of your institution’s employment resources.

  • Work with student organizations to host speakers that advise on employment matters.

  • Many of the above recommendations also apply to students earning master’s degrees in nonprofessional fields who may find themselves owing large sums without the means to repay them.

  • It also can be argued that a college degree has retained its value as an investment, as graduates typically earn twice as much over the course of their careers as counterparts with only a high school diploma or its equivalent

  • Nevertheless, making college affordable again will require more than career planning.

  • Those reasons alone are enough to focus on placement so graduates find entry-level positions to help defray debt.

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