The cost of a college education in the U.S. continues to soar and has become unaffordable for most families. With the depressed job market and high unemployment levels, many new college grads and their parents are rethinking the whole college strategy. College grads are saddled with student loans, don’t have a job, and now have to move back home with mom or dad.
The employment market still has many specialized jobs available provided that you are a qualified nurse, auditor, engineer, or other technically trained professional. For those that majored in subjects like Gender Studies- although trendy in a politically forward way at the time, the job opportunities for these majors are obviously less robust. We wonder how the higher education system has managed to remain virtually immune to serious criticism regarding the obvious market failures in addressing the employment needs for our young generation in particular?
We believe there needs to be a reallocation of resources and support toward two year programs for quality technical education. Undergraduate degrees at U.S. colleges will also likely need to be compressed into three years instead of the traditional four years for the bachelor’s degree, thus saving a full year of tuition costs and allow these schools and allow some students to stay in the game. Maybe the college “experience” has to cut out one year of partying.
A good friend recently talked to me about a business school in Europe that is on this path already. The Swiss School of Management is associated with INSEEC in Paris¸ and presents an interesting approach for an accelerated education with an international experience as the School reaches out to the U.S. student market. The School offers separate credentials for a semester for the International Leadership Semester, a one year Diploma program, and a two year Advanced Diploma, a three year Bachelor’s degree, and a one year Master’s degree. The student gets a clearer connection between a tangible credential received- with defined skills within the context of the price paid. However, the Swiss School of Management (“SSM”) is not just focused on business skills and technical knowledge although those are required. A key area of distinction of this School is the “Service Leadership” aspect of the program. “Each student is required to conceptualize, organize, plan, and carry out a community service-related project as part of their “experiential learning” to solidify the concept of sustainability in business.”
Reference: http://www.jobboxreport.com/blog/2012/01/college-costs-too-much-and-the-swiss-school-of-managment/
About the author: http://www.jobboxreport.com/blog/author/pdevitt/