$42,700 asscociate degree in cooking

[PrincessPerky]

I have a friend, stay at home schooling mother, youngest is 6. Yet she is going to college....Not that I have anything against education, but just what is she going to do with her degree? So far as I can tell she has no intentions of sending the kids to even highschool and her degree wouldn't really earn her more money than her husband.....so she will one day be a degreed stay at home mother.

Though at least she is not going into debt for it, I don't think. She is using the govt tax money. And there is plenty of that to go around apparently.

Personally I prefer to pursue my learning for free, google is great. (though wouldn't work as well for cooking or a trade...for those hands on helps.

[disneysteve]

In theory, I have nothing against education just for the sake of education. There is always something new to learn and expand your mind. Makes you a more interesting person IMO. Look how many seniors take college courses. It isn't to advance their careers or get new jobs. It is just learning for the sake of learning. Having attended a liberal arts college, I learned a ton of stuff in college that has absolutely nothing to do with my career but I'm not at all sorry I took those courses. You never know when some of that info will come in handy. All of that said, you need to get your education in a fiscally responsible manner. That might involve attending college but it might mean downloading course podcasts from iTunes, attending classes offered for free in your town, watching DVDs or reading books from the library. Lots of ways to learn at every price point.

[markusk]

Yiii. Yesterday I found a piece of paper on my front lawn. It was someone's "Student Proposal for Tuition Payment" to a proprietary cooking school that operates in my city and in another city in the South. I'd seen this place advertise on late night TV, and wondered how big a scam it might be.

The total tuition, books & supplies, registration fees, lab fees, and "other fees" to get an associates' degree there is $42,700.

I happen to know that our community college has a highly regarded program in the same. I know the community college costs nowhere near $42,700. I hope this school really does offer some sort of remarkable resources and opportunities that make it worth what?--- 20 times the cost of the community college. I think I feel sorry for somebody.

Mamas, don't let your children grow up to be people who take career guidance from late night commercials for for-profit schools

A major caveat to going to these types of schools is that if you decide later to transfer to a traditional 4 year college, their credits are not transferable, and so you've wasted time and money in a program that is not recogized by other universities.

In direct contrast, most, if not all credits earned at a community college are transferable to other universities -- there may be exceptions so you do have to do your homework and ask since most community colleges do work with local universities.

[BlackDiamond]

Lets say you are an executive at a large insurance company. You are hiring a person for junior management - entry level position in the corporate headquarters.

You have 3 candidates. One has a general liberal arts degree. Another has a business management degree. The third has a degree in statistics. They are all very well mannered, spoken and have great transcripts. They all seem eager for the job. Who do you hire?

My answer - hire the person with the degree in statistics. They would have a key understanding of the very core of what an insurance company does.

I picked this because I work an insurance company.

My co-workers are from a very broad range of areas. I have 2 degrees, one in psychology and one in sociology. It's funny, because I am autistic I can't really "relate" to people, per se. However I am a very, very good observer of behavior and patterns. Partly because I am naturally just more keen to it, but also because of learning about psychology and social patterns. Being able to observe people, notice patterns, and communicate clearly without a lot of emotional involvement are KEY in my job on a daily basis. Much more so than statistics.

There are people at my work who I am sure do statistic related things. But most of them started on the ground floor, handling minor auto claims just like I did. In fact, everyone in our underwriting team that I am aware of at this time started out in property collision claims. I now handle high fraud scenario injury claims.

In fact, most of the managers started out in entry level too. My unit director refers often to his days in auto property claims.

I think you'd be surprised. Many employers want a well rounded person who is capable of doing many things.

[BlackDiamond]

I have a friend, stay at home schooling mother, youngest is 6. Yet she is going to college....Not that I have anything against education, but just what is she going to do with her degree? So far as I can tell she has no intentions of sending the kids to even highschool and her degree wouldn't really earn her more money than her husband.....so she will one day be a degreed stay at home mother.

Though at least she is not going into debt for it, I don't think. She is using the govt tax money. And there is plenty of that to go around apparently.

Personally I prefer to pursue my learning for free, google is great. (though wouldn't work as well for cooking or a trade...for those hands on helps.

If she is home schooling, maybe she wants to be more well rounded and knowledgeable as a teacher? Maybe she just wants to further her own education? It might not have anything to do with her earning more than her husband. Maybe she wants to make sure she has some level of degree in the event that something happened where she had to get a job and support her family?

[snafu]

Any of the 'for profit' non accredited post secondary schools generally take students with marks lower than what accredited schools accept. Sadly their students do not understand there is a huge difference. HR staff certainly know which schools are acceptable.