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Should unemployed grads sue their universities?

Posted by Eudaimonia 10 years, 8 months ago to Politics
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I've been thinking lately about the problem of the glut of unemployed college graduates.

The Marxist non-solution is yet another bail-out: to forgive student loan debt.

However, this does not address the real problem.

Universities are viewed, rightly or wrongly, as the gateway to better jobs.
Students and their families go into ridiculous debt based on this implied promise.
Yet, when at university, students do not receive the training needed to succeed in the business world.
Instead, they are indoctrinated in the ways of anti-business agitation.

Soon, if it hasn't happened already, employers will begin to realize that hiring anyone with a non-tech degree or *any* Ivy League degree is risking hiring an anti-business agitator.

Google has already stated that they prefer hiring people who have not attended college because they are more intellectually curious.

At what point should unemployed grads sue their universities for fraud?

Your thoughts are welcome.


All Comments


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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 8 months ago
    There has to be some element of caveat emptor. It's unreasonable for a school to claim going here will certainly make you able to solve someone's problem.

    These are the OWS people who whined "we did exactly as we were told." If it's not working, they need to do something no one told them to do. Most progress comes from doing stuff you're not told to do.
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  • Posted by $ AJAshinoff 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Both my son and daughter have had me looking closely at colleges and universities for the last 3 years. As it was when I was in college, you have a major and a slew of classes you need to take. Some are core to your subject and others are general core classes. There are also elective classes to fill particular degree requirements. There are usually 2 or 3 electives to choose form and they are at the discretion of the student which one to take to meet their requirement.

    Not to be cantankerous but this is factual based on my own recent experiences with ASU, UofA, Glendale Community College, and others around the country.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    This is not true of today's universities.

    There are core courses which are *required* for graduation: marxist discipline a, b, c, or d.
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  • Posted by salta 10 years, 8 months ago
    Although it is promoted that a degree increases the chances of getting a good job, when you deal in probabilities there is no right or wrong.
    Its a bit like the weather forecast saying there is a 60% chance of rain tomorrow. Whether it rains or not, they are always correct.
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  • Posted by Bowenit 10 years, 8 months ago
    I believe that going to University is like all things a dice roll on the future, and as such you are responsible for it. Not me (Except my own dice rolls), not others, not the government, just you.

    There are no absolute go here and get a job, if it were then maybe you would have a leg to stand on, for contract non-fulfillment. However if you don't land a job, after getting a degree, and it wasn't a part of going to school, then sorry it's your loss.
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  • Posted by $ AJAshinoff 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    If its a philosophy degree its understandable. For another degree path such a course would be an elective course to meet a core requirement.

    The responsibility of someone's success is up to the individual. Choosing which college to attend and which degree to pursue is entirely the choice of the individual. I cant see any school getting sued.
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  • Posted by khalling 10 years, 8 months ago
    It is not only the implicit contract-get your degree and you are more likely to earn more over time, there is the explicit contract of "an ivy league education guarantees..." It is the only industry in the history of the US (through the student loan bailout) where the price has out-paced inflation and the value has become negative. A college education for most graduates who have to pay for it, is the most expensive thing they will purchase in their life. It has become our cartel.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    So, the universities are not engaging in fraud?

    And people who have been taken in by a scam should have known better and have no legal recourse?
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I agree... totally. I hope they do start getting sued...I just would like it to be for the right reasons and that people have an awakening because of it.
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  • Posted by $ AJAshinoff 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Opportunity is not a guarantee, its just an increase in probability.

    We in the US have the right to pursue happiness. This doesn't guarantee happiness only an individuals right to pursue it. What constitutes "happy" is different for everyone and is greatly impacted by the individuals desire to achieve it.

    The same can be said for college degree's. If sally wishes to take courses that only interest her and avoid the prerequisites, then she can obtain the majority of knowledge she wanted (perhaps not the depth) and still make a more informed go of it without the degree. Again, with or without the degree success is not guaranteed (but having the degree does make an impression on potential employers) As for the "potential" of the degree, that is CHOSEN by the individual. The student was free to choose from a multitude of degrees, no one forced her.

    Caveat: If the school promises job placement. But thats not guarantee of success either, just initial placement.

    Incidentally, My son studies classical guitar in college. He has to take math and english in addition to a slew of music oriented courses. Its entirely on him how he carves a living for himself. If he fails to do so, its his own fault based on the choices he made (not the school).
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  • Posted by Zenphamy 10 years, 8 months ago
    There are consequences for every decision made and taken by an individual. No one should be in the business of offering excuses to those that have made bad decisions in their lives, either by forgiving loans or by suing colleges. Even under the craziness in our higher education system today, there still exist opportunities to learn--it's the individual's responsibility to do so.

    For too long, parents have raised their children instilling the belief in the child that it is the schools responsibility to teach and make ready for the adult world. They do the same for higher education, telling the child to just pick the right school and get a degree and their life will be great. Instead of asking the young to work and earn for their education, just borrow, take easy courses, get the degree, etc--everything will be fine.

    Sorry, that's just not how reality works.
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I don't think too many will make that connection though...or the role they played into it either.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Premise 1) "they promise greater opportunity with a degree which is for the most part true"
    Premise 2) "If billy or sally chooses ancient south American philosophies to major in its their own damn fault"

    So, if Billy or Sally choose a major which will not fulfill the university's promise of greater opportunity, it is their fault, not the fault of the school which advertises greater opportunity?

    And when the universities now require "core curricula" such as South American philosophy?
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  • Posted by $ AJAshinoff 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I disagree. The application of knowledge, no matter which field you choose, is the determination of your fulfillment - monetarily or otherwise. The schools do not promise wealth, they promise greater opportunity with a degree which is for the most part true. If billy or sally chooses ancient south American philosophies to major in its their own damn fault if they are driving a cab when they are 40. Wisdom has its place in this conversation and that falls squarely on the individual and his/her parents.
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 10 years, 8 months ago
    I think the students got what they chose. Denying reality is their problem. Believing something because it's what they wanted to hear. There's a price for that. If they sue it should be because they came to their sense and realized the truth about the garbage they were taught...not because they're unemployed.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Today, Cornel West went to Ferguson specifically to be arrested.

    West is a product and representative of our Ivy League system.

    The Ivy League promotes the idea that it produces America's next generation of leaders.

    However, the rest of the country, through efforts of West and his contemporaries, see the Ivy League as the producer of radical, anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-business rabble rousers.

    The value which they advertise to parents is *not* the "value" which they deliver to the student.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The issue is not on how they use their knowledge.
    The issue is on the product which is advertised vs the product which is delivered.

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  • Posted by $ AJAshinoff 10 years, 8 months ago
    The question is absurd. As long as the individual chooses his or her own educational career path - privately or publicly funded, with or without accruing debt, the responsibility for how they use the knowledge to achieve their success is on them.
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  • Posted by Snoogoo 10 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I'm thinking about what this would look like in practice, it sounds like a type of class action. Think about the job the lawyers would have trying to prove liability on the part of the universities. Call me cynical but I don't think it could be done. Also, many universities are funded at least partially by tax payers, and all receive some type of private investment by private foundations or individuals. In the end, you would end up with a lot of wealthy attorneys, and higher liability premiums for universities, which would lead to higher tuition and fee payments for all students, including those who pursue trades such as physicians, dentists, engineers, etc. I've never been a fan of punitive civil suits and this is why, usually the consequences of the suit end up hurting the very people they were set up to protect.
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