What Is The Value Of A College Degree?

Is a College Degree Worth It? Interventions Are Needed to Enhance the Practical Relevance of Higher Education.

Many young people around the world struggle to find jobs despite having obtained university degrees. Asit K. Biswas and Julian Kirchherr outline what needs to change in order to boost the practical value of higher education. Recruiting academic staff with work experience outside of academia could provide richer teaching experiences and a more developed understanding of which skills are needed, even essential, in the job markets.

Asit Biswas and Julian Kirchherr | May 23, 2016

Approximately 290 million young people worldwide are neither studying nor working – that is almost a quarter of the global youth. Unemployment rates even top 50% in many countries for those between 15 and 24. For instance, Greece’s youth unemployment rate now stands at 54%, Spain’s at 58%, South Africa’s at 53% (World Bank). Policy-makers have claimed for many years that education would be the best insurance against unemployment. Indeed, the OECD has repeatedly lobbied that countries ought to maximize their tertiary education rates. Even Germany – supposedly Europe’s model student nowadays with its vocational education system – was criticized for not producing enough university graduates.

"Tertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including universities as well as institutions that teach specific capacities of higher learning such as colleges, technical training institutes, community colleges, nursing schools, research laboratories, centers of excellence, and distance learning centers." (Wikipedia) Source: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/05/23/is-a-college-degree-worth-it-interventions-are-needed/

<more at http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/05/23/is-a-college-degree-worth-it-interventions-are-needed/; related articles and links: http://www.economist.com/news/international/21576657-around-world-almost-300m-15-24-year-olds-are-not-working-what-has-caused (Generation jobless. Around the world almost 300m 15- to 24-year-olds are not working. What has caused this epidemic of joblessness? And what can abate it? April 27, 2013) and http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/how-we-help-clients/mckinsey-center-for-government (+Video) (McKinsey Center for Government. The McKinsey Center for Government is a new global hub for research, collaboration, and innovation in government performance. 2016)>