Comments for Job Training That's Cheap, but Not Necessarily Useful at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://www.cepr.net Mon, 20 May 2013 13:52:12 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/job-training-thats-cheap-but-not-necessarily-useful#comment-15286 There are actually certain online degrees and certification that many individuals can access online at the comfort of their own home, at very affordable price ranges. - Alexander P. Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:28:01 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/job-training-thats-cheap-but-not-necessarily-useful#comment-15142 Community colleges, the institutions featured in the Times article, face a dilemma. They offer training programs that prepare students for immediate employment and in some cases job advancement. They also offer a fairly broad spectrum of education courses that are not training directly aimed at employment. Typically a two year degree requires some training courses and some education courses. Both are reasonably necessary to produce a well-trained graduate. They also offer education programs that prepare students for degree completion at four-year colleges. Many offer some four-year degree programs as well. The number of faculty involved in teaching the education programs is much greater than the number of faculty involved in teaching the training programs. Finding and hiring a teacher for a training program is often challenging because talented practitioners have great employment opportunities in the corporate world. The administration, at most of those institutions, is comprised primarily of persons with backgrounds in education programs rather than in training programs. The cost of training programs is much higher than the cost of the education while the tuition charged per credit hour is almost always equal. Those institutions compete for state funding and legislatures tend to favor the competing institution serving the higher numbers of students. The community college face a dilemma. Should they emphasize and fund education or cutting edge training. They usually lack the funding to do both. The result is all too often the starving of training programs and the watering down of education programs. One example of training programs that are very costly is the training of machinists, tool makers and robotic machinery technicians -- their skills are very much in demand. However, the cost of the equipment, power and consumable supplies is very high in comparison to the classroom training in say mathematics that these students also require. The equipment used to train students is not merely obsolescent but frequently antiquated in comparison to the equipment used by nearby corporations. All too often local corporations are unable or unwilling to offer internships that would enable student to train on state-of-the-art equipment. The dilemma can be solved but not by the institutions acting independently. We must learn that the training and education that enables students to prepare for a rewarding career is a social necessity worthy of collective action. - Ron Alley Sat, 03 Mar 2012 02:33:49 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/job-training-thats-cheap-but-not-necessarily-useful#comment-15141 Reading some of the comments following the article brought to light an interesting point. Why should the U.S. spend money to educate its citizens to become scientists and engineers when we could simply import them from other countries where the cost of their education is cheaper? This is in fact another way of restating a point you (Dean) make regarding physicians and lawyers et al (in the context of protectionism). Carried to its logical conclusion one would be prompted to ask, "What is the point of Americans at all?" Since being a human is cheaper in so many other places in the world, why bother with Americans? They're too expensive to support and nurture. So face the bitter truth, fellow citizens. You're not worth preserving. You can be replaced by and with a cheaper alternative. You are fungible. Console yourself with the knowledge that in accepting your personal meaninglessness, you have acquiesced to the eminent judgement of a Supreme Being--the faultless Market--maintaining the frictionless functioning of which is more important than the well being of any of its constituents. - diesel Sat, 03 Mar 2012 01:15:09 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/job-training-thats-cheap-but-not-necessarily-useful#comment-15139 As Americans, we seem more interested in the appearance of finding solutions than actually finding solutions. It certainly seems that way for our government. This is how we got ever harsher criminal penalties and the federalization of drug laws. This is how, after 9/11, we got a lot of activity that [i]looked[/i] like it would make us safer but only made us more spied upon (and pepper-sprayed). And this is how we got the ARRA, so stuffed with tax cuts, it minimized the utility of the money spent. I don't see this as the fault of the government; we get the government we deserve. In the case of the students in the article, one would think they would not go to colleges that don't offer computer science and engineering departments, although I am aware that people are often limited to colleges they are near to and can afford. In the end, until the country starts valuing facts, we are lost. With one political party committed to an anti-science philosophy, I don't see that happening any time soon. - Frank Moraes Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:24:19 +0100