plansrme Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I heard a story on the radio this morning about this study. I am fascinated by this approach. I have long suspicious of the supposed success touted by local high-dollar high schools that are ridiculously difficult to get into. My refrain has always been something along the lines of, "Couldn't a trained monkey also successfully educate kids of that intellectual ability, with that solid of a home life?" This study attempts, at least, to control for similar factors among college students. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Interesting study. Even more interesting to me is that Washington State U has a higher value added than Univ of Wash. - just saying out loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 It appears larger schools have an advantage. These schools do have larger alumni networks so that should help a graduate's ability to get a foot in the door towards better jobs over a career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I heard a story on the radio this morning about this study. I am fascinated by this approach. I have long suspicious of the supposed success touted by local high-dollar high schools that are ridiculously difficult to get into. My refrain has always been something along the lines of, "Couldn't a trained monkey also successfully educate kids of that intellectual ability, with that solid of a home life?" This study attempts, at least, to control for similar factors among college students. No trained monkeys can't. But homeschooling moms can do a lot better than schools which are run by people who feel as though the top students will do just fine regardless of the level and type of teaching. IMO what the study does show is that STEM fields generally pay well and schools which graduate mainly STEM students will fare well in this type of study. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 And my older two kids alma mater is near the top -- Washington & Lee University. Since it doesn't do engineering in any way, shape, or form, I attribute its ranking to the amazingly high number of doctors and lawyers and high-powered business people that come out of the college. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 W&L is unique among LACs in having the Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics from which 40% of their students graduate. Yes there are exceptions to the STEM majors, although accounting might be considered STEM and economics seems like a blend and is more or less math heavy depending on the program. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I'm pleased with both locations of my guys' choices (U Rochester and Eckerd) on the list. Covenant is not on the list and I suspect it wasn't a school the author considered since it's pretty small and not so many have heard of it. My son had no problem getting a job in his field with a degree from there though, and he enjoyed it, so no complaints from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 It cracks me up that Prairie View A&M beat Yale. Ga Tech did too, of course, but that's no surprise. :coolgleamA: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Here are the criteria for the study: Completion rates: The share earning their degrees within four years for a two-year college and eight years for a four-year college; STEM orientation: The share of graduates prepared to work in STEM occupations; Alumni skills: The average labor market value of skills listed on resumes; Curriculum value: The amount earned by people who hold degrees in a field offered by the college; Student aid: The average financial support offered by the institution. OK: Everyone can and should select on schools that have high completion rates and offer good financial aid. But, the other three criteria. Well, it's just saying, "These schools offer or push students into high-paying majors" If this replaced the USNews rankings, what would schools do to "move up"? People with majors in art don't earn much. Schools should either drop the art department or maybe add accounting and computer programming to the graduation requirements so that the graduates have more lucrative skills on their resumes. Obviously, 100% of CalTech students are prepared to work in STEM and close to 0% of Julliard Conservatory are. Clearly they need to add a business school over there and stop offering so much artsy stuff. My kids are very different, but neither seems to be on a path to riches. One is off to study art, which obviously isn't a lucrative major. The other is a budding planetary scientist, which means years as a low paid grad student and post-doc. Is it worth parent's money to let kids follow their dreams or should I just not bother to send them to college until they agree on a more practical major? Is following a major that you enjoy and have skills for a luxury only for the rich? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Is it worth parent's money to let kids follow their dreams or should I just not bother to send them to college until they agree on a more practical major? Is following a major that you enjoy and have skills for a luxury only for the rich? Our youngest is currently thinking Theater as a major. He has our blessing. I'm not sure Bio or Marine Science (had he stuck with those) would have paid better anyway. We told him to keep his mind open and choose what he likes. In a few years I'll know if we regret that or not, but right now we don't. We've always wanted our guys to do what they enjoy. If he doesn't find a job using his degree he may end up being a waiter for a living, but he pretty much loves doing that as well so not ALL will be lost. ;) He's enjoying college now too, after a little bit of a rough start. He has made a couple of good friends and has gotten involved in things on campus. Enjoying it AND studying something he loves. Win-win. (so far) The maturity we've seen lately has given me some really good proud mama moments. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Here are the criteria for the study: Completion rates: The share earning their degrees within four years for a two-year college and eight years for a four-year college; STEM orientation: The share of graduates prepared to work in STEM occupations; Alumni skills: The average labor market value of skills listed on resumes; Curriculum value: The amount earned by people who hold degrees in a field offered by the college; Student aid: The average financial support offered by the institution. I think they are saying that these are the characteristics shared by the schools that did well in the study because these factors determine how the students do financially after graduation, not that this is how the schools were ranked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 The world still needs people of all stripes to do all kinds of things. My youngest is going into church music -- hardly a money-maker, but it will provide a decent salary, bring her satisfaction, and hopefully bring joy to many others. What more could you want? My third child is in wooden boat building -- again, hardly the career field for high-tech folks who want to be movers and shakers, but he is having a blast, hanging out with seriously cool people, learning a lot, and during the summer he commutes to work via rowboat. What more could you want? People raise lavender (the plant) for a living. One tutor in NYC gets paid $1000 per hour. Some folks get paid handsomely to do underwater welding. A young woman I know went to college to learn blacksmithing (no, I am not kidding) and she is now a blacksmith with a nice career ahead of her. There are all kinds of wonderful things to do in life. While this list certainly contains useful information, it is hardly a "send your kid to one of these colleges so he can live in a house with a white picket fence and have a happy satisfying life." We are all different and will walk incredibly different paths . :thumbup1: 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I can't decide if this is a comment on how well the universities listed prepare their students or a comment on which are the highest paid/growth industries in the US. Yes, an engineer will make more than a liberal arts grad on average. But what if that liberal arts grad goes on to get a JD or MD? Maybe it is mostly an observation on which schools prepare you best for some professions. (Not that I've dug deeply into their research-this is just my first impression.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Like all studies and like all rankings, it is up to the viewer to decide if it has any meaningful information for them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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