With several economists calling the collegiate Class of 2009 the "Lost Generation", graduating in the midst of a global recession, it doesn't look good if you're at a university that either can't get their grads hired or into well-paying jobs.
So how will liberal arts universities (like my alma mater) respond to the lead of this story in today's Kansas City Star, which purloins a famous country/western lyric advising parents to not let their kids go to liberal arts colleges? The story, citing data from a global database of workplace salaries, reinforces what's been circulating around high school guidance offices and university quads for years: grads from engineering schools on average make a lot more per year than grads from liberal arts schools.
How much more? By this study, driving 90 miles south from Columbia to the Missouri University of Science and Technology results in making 42.9% more than 90 miles in the opposite direction to Truman State, at max $57,300 to $40,100. Mid-career the gap remains percentage wise, with Rolla grads making up to $30,000 more. Of course, engineering careers are typically hi-skilled (energy, construction, transport), while liberal arts careers tend to be around government and civil service (education, nursing, mass media).
The big question that universities will need to tackle, should this recession drag on, is how to attract students who are worried about making ends meet without breaking the bank. Certainly for blue-blood and engineering schools, not too big a problem. But for universities whose graduates tend to go into careers where jobs are evaporating and/or aren't being propped up by government subsidies, some spin might be in order.
Hmm… maybe I should have learned to do my laundry a lot sooner…
05 August 2009
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