West Virginia won't be the last one for sure....

[Boom Boom]

Separate state budgets for capital improvements. Universities sometimes get millions for buildings in state budgets, legislators get to brag about their support for universities, but little for regular operating expenses. Electricity for new buildings is often a major expense that comes out of the operating budget.

Fair point, if true for this case. Still doesn't explain cutting a program running a profit, and claiming it's to improve overall finances.

 

[57stratdawg]

That’s the kind of platitude that has awarded a lot of people a lot of wasted time and money. It’s also exactly the type of blue-collar vilification that has helped create a huge skills gap on this country that will take decades to correct.

College is not for everyone.
There’s a lot of degrees that do little for putting food on the table.
We need more tradesmen/women.

You’re thinking about it far too narrowly. It’s one of the only chances you get to change your socioeconomic reality.

Your job is only the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Last I heard, social workers made crap.

They do.

They are arguably the most valuable workforce sector in the state because they do so much to help people who aren’t doing well.

They are generally paid better than blue collar workers.

That means though that folks in both sectors need to be paid more— but then don’t we all need to be paid more?

 

[jethreauxdawg]

"without a working hard"?

Yes, that would be a miserable life, indeed. In fact, there's an entire industry dedicated to helping people going through that exact same problem.

And apparently threads on sports message boards.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

If you wanna know why, you should probably get a degree in mechanical engineering and not a humanities.

If I was starting over, that's what I would do. Technical school instead of college unless I followed a computer science path.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

If you wanna know why, you should probably get a degree in mechanical engineering and not a humanities.

Ironically, my first major at Mississippi State was mechanical engineering. I thought I was talented in mathematics.

Turns out though, I wasn’t all that talented in mathematics so I pivoted.

I’m really good in logic.

I’ve outscored friends in the analytical portion of the GRE and they laughed because schools in my graduate major didn’t take into account the Analytical scores back then generally.

If I was starting over, that's what I would do. Technical school instead of college unless I followed a computer science path.

Sometimes I think about what I would do if I had to start over too.

Part of me thinks it’d been better for me if I went to JCJC for a couple years and then went to Millsaps.

But I would have missed out on a lot at Mississippi State: my friends; the classes I did enjoy and that helped prepare me for what I do; life in Starkville.

 

[Boom Boom]

They do.

They are arguably the most valuable workforce sector in the state because they do so much to help people who aren’t doing well.

They are generally paid better than blue collar workers.

That means though that folks in both sectors need to be paid more— but then don’t we all need to be paid more?

My impression is social workers make maybe $30k, and that blue collar workers make double to triple that.

 

[Dawgzilla2]

Gee moves around the college administration world. He made $6 million annually as president of Ohio State. College administrators make big bucks. Well, upper administration.

Isn't he the same guy who eliminated Vanderbilt's Athletic Department and merged everything with intramurals?

 

[Maroon Eagle]

My impression is social workers make maybe $30k, and that blue collar workers make double to triple that.

Think double that for social workers at least.

You pay too much attention to the right wing soundbites.



Blue collar workers generally make less— but the highest paid of them make more money than the highest paid social workers.

 

[Hot Rock]

You live a miserable life in this country without a college degree. There are always exceptions, but it’s crazy to walk into life without a degree.

I make six figures, own two homes and parts of three others, I have no debt, private pilot and I was married 27 years to a beautiful red head and we had a great family life, she passed from a heart attack, I remarried and am on my 2nd decade with her. I sit here at my lake house watching bonfire facing a cold beer and think this life is **** because I don’t have a degree never enters my mind.

 

[Hot Rock]

Drunken post #545…

 

[dog12]

As I sit here in Aldie, Virginia . . . if I was a high school student around here and had to do it all over again, then I would become a plumber. I'd either go to tech school for it or just work for a plumbing company to learn the job for a few years, and then I'd start my own business. I assure you that I'd be rolling in big money within 5-10 years. So many people around here make lots of money, and very few of them have the ability and/or the time to make even small repairs. The same is true for HVAC. No college degree is required in either of those fields.

 

[mstateglfr]

The only thing more useless than 90% of the college degrees right now is 90% of the professors.

What 90% of MSU's degrees would you like to see eliminated?



Reality is that statistically, a college degree is still easily one of the best financial investments a person can make. The proven wage gap that continues to exist makes your comment seem emotion based and/or politically driven.

There are obviously some degrees that are valued more than other degrees right now. But 90% should be eliminated? Get out with that.

 

[mstateglfr]

As I sit here in Aldie, Virginia . . . if I was a high school student around here and had to do it all over again, then I would become a plumber. I'd either go to tech school for it or just work for a plumbing company to learn the job for a few years, and then I'd start my own business. I assure you that I'd be rolling in big money within 5-10 years. So many people around here make lots of money, and very few of them have the ability and/or the time to make even small repairs. The same is true for HVAC. No college degree is required in either of those fields.

The issue/concern isn't the first 20 years of those careers, it's the last 20 years.
Both of those are physically demanding and you don't see a lot of old plumbers or hvac techs, in part, because of the tax it takes on one's body.
SSDI and work comp claims for physically demanding trades are significantly higher than claims from office jobs. That should be obvious, but it sure seems to be ignored when everyone gushes over how you can pull in 60k at 20 years old without a degree.

And for everyone that says 'once I am older I will just run my own business'...well you know what helps do that competently?...a degree in any number of business related fields.
There is a reason whyhome maintenence based trades are often either a large established company or a single owner/worker. The small business fleet style is brutally tough to manage.

 

[mstateglfr]

I make six figures, own two homes and parts of three others, I have no debt, private pilot and I was married 27 years to a beautiful red head and we had a great family life, she passed from a heart attack, I remarried and am on my 2nd decade with her. I sit here at my lake house watching bonfire facing a cold beer and think this life is **** because I don’t have a degree never enters my mind.

You clearly did really well. Maybe if you got a degree though, you would own more than just parts of those other homes.
^ kidding.

Anyways, a single example doesn't disprove the statistics it attempts to counter. If a tech billionaire drops out of college, does that mean college is a waste of money? Of course not. Exceptions to the rule exist because life is complex.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

The issue/concern isn't the first 20 years of those careers, it's the last 20 years.

Truth.

A couple years ago, the gentleman whose crew took care of the yards in my neighborhood and also did some handyman stuff passed away.

He was only 62.

 

[L4Dawg]

The number of high school grads in Mississippi is projected to decline anywhere from 10-15% by 2029. Better have some good recruiters. The 2008 financial crisis was likely the biggest factor in the decline in the birthrate, something that is national but worse in some states. Nice job letting Wall Street do whatever it wanted and then bailing out them and the world with trillions in U.S. dollars and not prosecuting anyone. We had a budget surplus in 2001 and a national debt of $5 trillion and declining. And 22 years later take a peek at those numbers and ask what happened.

We aren't concentrating our effort on Mississippi's kids for nothing. Overall there will be fewer applicants across the board. That means all those kids from Texas and Georgia that are studying under the Confederacy now, will have a better chance of getting in at home. That's going to kill them. We are the People's university in MISSISSIPPI. That has been our function since our inception, and remains so. We do NOT need to cast aside our identity in pursuit of what we are NOT, and never will be......thank GOD.

 

[Crazy Cotton]

The only thing more useless than 90% of the college degrees right now is 90% of the professors.

I can assure you your professors thought the same thing about you.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

My son who is 21 and barely made it out of HS makes about the same as my daughter who has her Masters and CPA and is a senior tax accountant for a big 4 accounting firm. He spends all of his $ on girls and cars, she spends all hers on rent living in Nashville.