Long-time readers of Machine Design may recall one of our editorials wherein we pointed out that many kids at four-colleges probably don't belong there and, in fact, would be better off getting vocational training:
http://community.machinedesign.com/forums/thread/1468.aspx
Now comes a confirmation of that viewpoint from higher education experts. In a recent article on the Chronicle of Higher Education Web site, Marty Nemko, an Oakland, Calif. career counselor, contributes the following:
"All high-school students should receive a cost-benefit analysis of the various options suitable to their situations: four-year college, two-year degree program, short-term career-prep program, apprenticeship program, on-the-job training, self-employment, the military. Students with weak academic records should be informed that, of freshmen at "four year" colleges who graduated in the bottom 40 percent of their high-school class, two-thirds won't graduate even if given eight and a half years. And that even if such students defy the odds, they will likely graduate with a low GPA and a major in low demand by employers. A college should not admit a student it believes would more wisely attend another institution or pursue a noncollege postsecondary option. Students' lives are at stake, not just enrollment targets."
The rest of the exchange is equally illuminating: