Well, that's really not what an undergraduate education was meant to do.
Most people (or at least, most people I've known) go to college because it's just what you do if you're smart and want to be successful. The problem is that postsecondary education has never been meant to make you employable -- that's what trade schools were and are for -- it's meant to make you educated. One of the side-effects of having a good education, though, is that you usually end up with a pretty good head on your shoulders, which used to mean you were more employable as a result. That was never the design of higher education, though because of the glut of college graduates nowadays, a degree is less a benefit in finding a job and more a requirement.
Honestly, a lot of people would be better off going to trade school instead of college. They largely guarantee employability and a pretty good salary, which is what most people seem to want. However, trade schools are blue-collar work, so they're much less prestigious than the executive or management positions that college graduates traditionally got.
The great tragedy is that so many people who don't really belong in college go anyway, because it's what you're supposed to do to be successful in modern society. The result is inflationary devaluation of the undergraduate degree, higher tuition costs (and a lot of people in more debt than they need to be), and a lack of skilled labor in the work force.
Most people (or at least, most people I've known) go to college because it's just what you do if you're smart and want to be successful. The problem is that postsecondary education has never been meant to make you employable -- that's what trade schools were and are for -- it's meant to make you educated. One of the side-effects of having a good education, though, is that you usually end up with a pretty good head on your shoulders, which used to mean you were more employable as a result. That was never the design of higher education, though because of the glut of college graduates nowadays, a degree is less a benefit in finding a job and more a requirement.
Honestly, a lot of people would be better off going to trade school instead of college. They largely guarantee employability and a pretty good salary, which is what most people seem to want. However, trade schools are blue-collar work, so they're much less prestigious than the executive or management positions that college graduates traditionally got.
The great tragedy is that so many people who don't really belong in college go anyway, because it's what you're supposed to do to be successful in modern society. The result is inflationary devaluation of the undergraduate degree, higher tuition costs (and a lot of people in more debt than they need to be), and a lack of skilled labor in the work force.
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