As higher degrees become devalued in the job market, the high school diploma becomes practically useless as a credential. Twenty years ago, graduation from high school qualified you for a job in any non-technical industry. In fact, it was the credential you needed to begin applying for work in the real world; without it, you couldn't even apply for college.  Recently, however, education and industry have begun changing their views on the high school diploma. Early "graduations" provide students the opportunity to move into colleges and begin their breadth requirements as early as their junior year.

This can be of tremendous benefit to students who possess the maturity and focus to devote themselves to higher subject matter, whether or not they have positively chosen a professional field of study. Unfortunately, it is the rare 17 year old student who is prepared for the distractions and responsibilities of college life.  In many cases, the pressures of independent study and habitation are too heavy for teens, resulting in wasted money, regret, possibly emotional distress.

In general, I favor keeping teens and young twenties at home where the comfort of parents, old friends, familiar surroundings and structured learning becomes a safety zone while hormones settle and brains continue their physiological development. Of course, not all environments, whether home or school are safe and conducive to learning. That's the larger issue that we, as humans concerned with both the education and the emotional well being of our children, need to consider and solve.

The most important class for students in any field is Digital Rhetoric. The ability to express your opinions, show off your software skills, create interesting presentations, and show willingness to join in the social networking revolution is paramount to making yourself marketable.

When interviewing for any opening, from night manager Cheeburger Cheeburger to CFO at Wells Fargo, your best shot at holding advantage over your competition is to be fascinating and well rounded.  Hiring managers want to believe that they are not only getting a qualified, educated, socially responsible person for their opening, but they will also look for someone who can add dimension and life to their staff. Creating a personal blog on building tree houses, for example, shows your interviewer that you have interests outside your field of study, that you strive to accomplish goals that are not always financially based, and that you have an active mind - and a willingness to share all these awesome attributes with the world.

Having said that, remember that anything you create digitally is being shared with the WHOLE WORLD.  Not a great idea, then, to complain, whine, shock others, or certainly, dance naked.  Always present your coolest self online. If you're quirky, rock it. Just make sure it's ok for your mom to see your work.

Photo: Brandon Stanton Humans of New York

So, as we produce "higher level thinkers" by sending them to universities, are we producing a more enlightened society? The cost of higher education often first produces massive debt, which needs to be paid in the most expedient way possible, i.e., by taking the first employment offered. Because our economy is based on material retailing, marketing, and purchasing, our most creative thinkers find themselves happy to be the night manager at Costco.  It pays pretty well, and hey, health insurance.

Independent thinkers who might set up businesses find themselves going ever further into debt on the off chance that they will be able to compete with the giant corporate retailers, Starbucks, for example. What's left for critical thinkers to find an independent and useful occupation that might benefit society or at least their community? Maybe the blog is the answer.

Writing an attractive, interesting and useful blog can frequently draw advertising. Remember, a sociopathic college student started facebook. The internet is still wide open for entrepreneurs. The key to success is the same in cyberspace as it was in New York in the 40s. Present a unique perspective that people feel can somehow benefit them, something they want to be a part of.  Market it well using all your rhetorical device (logos, pathos, ethos, kairos)....and work hard to make it irresistible.

Photo courtesy of Humans Of New York, a photographer's fb page with millions of likes. :)

Having said that, it is difficult to teach philosophy to students who can't read past a Dick and Jane level. Students are admitted to colleges and universities, presumably to gain higher knowledge, who can not understand the texts supporting higher thinking skills. We are failing our students by allowing them to pass through elementary levels inadequately prepared to meet the challenges of progressively difficult materials. This leaves them behind; at some point, they can never catch up.
While we have an undervaluing of the educational degree, we also have lower requirements for awarding it, further degrading the system and its rewards. If a high school graduate can not read with comprehension past a sixth grade level, they can not be expected to perfect this skill in the newly accelerated curricula, yet they will be officially granted the sanction of governing educational bodies. Passed again to the next higher level, without actually achieving the intellectual growth their diplomas represent.

Possibly the first five years in education should be spent in nothing but reading, art and music. These are the foundations for all critical and creative thought. Science, math, social studies and all other traditional school subjects are all dependent on reading and skills in accessing abstract reasoning, therefore these subjects can wait until reading is not an issue or impediment to their study. Only when we have produced a fifth grade of excellent readers who honor their creative thought and impulses can we expect our universities to produce higher thinking graduates.

One issue we're facing in the U.S. is the devaluation of the college degree. Jobs that kids used to take right out of high school are requiring bachelors degrees and certificates. For example, in Chesterfield County, a bachelors degree is required to be promoted to an officer in the fire department, and it is preferred on hiring. This has put lots of people who would make great firefighters in the position of having to spend time and money getting a college degree, when they could be out in the work force, gaining experience. Elementary school teachers are now required to continue their education to an MA, and high school teachers are no longer hired without one.

What this is producing in our society is a gap between good, well rounded higher education and the need to produce graduates as quickly as possible. When the ultimate goal of university becomes job attainment, the university becomes merely a training ground for a particular industry, and any "superfluous" knowledge, such as art history, the study of culture and philosophy, or health education, is pushed aside. Students who are versed in liberal arts must continue to increase the number of years they stay in school to compete with the rising numbers of more specialized graduates. In addition, student loans and default is growing exponentially as more job seekers desperately borrow money to get their degrees.

Job training could be more effectively handled with much less cost by growing the private sector's internship programs.  Government subsidies to companies that offer low paid internships would allow better, more specific training for students who would not only learn their trade, but make professional contacts and get real on-the-job experience, too.  Instead of coming out of training in debt, they would provide a service to industry and make a small salary.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internship

Extra curricular knowledge

Technical universities can provide high levels of training and preparation for entry into the rapidly changing job market. Unfortunately, the focus on practical, marketable learning is often responsible for graduates whose intellectual cache is limited to their field of study.

Through field trips, discussion groups, clubs and other extra-curricular activity, especially when supported by faculty members, our students can become more than trained job-seekers; they can become well rounded individuals who are capable of critical thinking. Our main goal as educators must be to develop the whole individual, turning out creative, forward thinking graduates that can truly contribute to the future of the world economic and cultural sphere.