Is the 4 Year degree worth anything?

Is the 4 Year degree worth anything?

Recently, I was listening to Mike Rowe (The Creator of Dirty Jobs). He stated that the 4-year degree has become a transaction where people pay money and after 4 or more years they get a degree. The money for degree transaction leads people to believe they are all entitled to an A since they are paying for it. Mike also mentioned grade inflation. Decades ago, the average GPA at Harvard was 2.55 Today, the average GPA is 3.88

As a professor, I believe the concept of education being a transaction is real. It seems well over 95% of students believe they are entitled to an A. Not wanting to argue with the student or have a conversation with the dean, many professors have decided to give out grades like candy. Learning is now about pretending. In this pretend world, students pretend they learn, and teachers pretend they teach. In this world, instead of teaching and learning, things are now check offs. Money is coming in, check. Degrees are going out, check.

Years ago, a colleague who was tired of battling with students told me his newly adapted grading system was pretty simple. Fog a mirror and you get a C. Fog a mirror and have a pulse was a guaranteed B. Submit all assignments and that puts you on the Dean’s list as an honor student with an A. This is certainly the transaction Mike Rowe mentioned. Once money is paid, a degree will be received even if you can only fog a mirror. Nothing about earning a marketable degree or learning is part of the transaction.

As a professor, I will admit to being part of the grade inflation. Most of the grades I hand out are As. There are a few Bs. Every now and then there is a C. Personally, I have no desire to argue or deal with an entitled student. Over the years, I can’t tell you how many students have called me to contest a grade or cry as they plead for a higher grade. “I will lose my scholarship if I get a B.” “I wouldn’t be able to face my parents if I get a B.” “I have always received A’s.” "My employer only reimburses fully for As." This whining has “forced” me to be soft as I grade assignments. My fog a mirror colleague and I now have a similar grading system.

A few years back, a colleague told me he was thinking of grading on a bell curve. I told him I believed he would get a lot of push back. He then asked me about the grade distribution from my last class. I told him in the class of 21 students, 19 got As, and 2 received Bs. He then commented, “That can only be described as, “Wishy washy. Where is the rigor?”

As it relates to rigor, there are the students who are there to learn. They are the ones who hold themselves to a high standard. These are the students who do more than the syllabus requires. These students are a joy to have in class.

I believe employers are now seeing that people with college degrees are not being prepared to add value to their businesses. As a result, many jobs that once required a college degree are now being offered to people without a college degree.

One of the sad realities for many people with college degrees is they can’t find career traction. They have transaction degrees but lack marketable skills. They are stuck in low paying jobs. On top of that many took out college loans for the pretend learning degrees. Unfortunately, many are finding out too late that businesses don’t care about their degrees and transcripts filled with As.

Another sad reality is that many students who received A’s for their work actually believe they earned the A’s. There have been times when I received a paper that is so poorly written I will tell the student I could not grade the paper because it lacked any depth and the attempt at an analysis lacked critical thinking. On occasion, the student would reply, “I spent 10 hours last weekend working on that assignment.” I would then respond, “Were you watching football, movies, etc., while you were doing this assignment?” Quite often the student would confess s/he were multitasking. The delusion of multi-tasking is real.

In the last few years, I had students while attending class on Zoom also attending a football game, attending a wedding party, baby sitting kids, cooking dinner, driving, etc. Now, how do I know all this was happening when the cameras were off. Pretty simple, their contributions to class discussions were often weak or missed the point completely. This is when I would call on the student to see what was really happening. Most often they would tell me the truth as to what they were really doing as they pretended to be engaged in learning.

Some of these folks complain on social media platforms about not getting high paying jobs even though they have college degrees. What they fail to realize is that a business’s primary concern is how employees can advance the goals of the organization in a mutual relationship.

The title of this essay is “Is the 4-year degree worth anything?” We could add master’s and doctorate. I tell my students, it does not matter what your GPA is. What matters is adding value to a company.

So, if a degree does not matter, what matters? Here are 5 things to consider.

?? Acquire skills that are in demand.

?? Be a team player.

?? Take on responsibilities that advance the goals of the department.

?? Be a problem solver. The more wicked the problem the faster your career will progress.

?? Keep acquiring marketable skills.

Best Wishes in your career.

?

Dr. Raj Beekie is an associate professor in the DBA department at Saint Mary’s University, MN. To learn more about our DBA program here is the address

https://smumn.edu/doctor-of-business-administration-dba/

Whether one agrees or disagrees with the thoughts and ideas expressed, he hopes they provide a broader foundation for discussion. Dr. Beekie received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Organizational Communication from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, master's degree in Intercultural Communication from North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, and doctorate in Organization Development from the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN.

Dr. Beekie also consults in the areas of career coaching, leadership development, diversity, emotional intelligence, and effective communication. To offer your feedback or contact me, I can be reached at [email protected]