I am constantly amazed at our assumptions in life that are wrong. The biggest surprise is how few people have a college degree. Back when I was young and Ohio was one of the most business friendly states in the union, Governor Jim Rhodes…the greatest Ohio governor of all time…decided that all Ohioans should have a state university within driving distance. We benefited from his vision right here in the Mahoning Valley as Youngstown University was absorbed into the state university system becoming Youngstown State University.
There are numerous state universities within 60 miles of Youngstown, including University of Akron, Cleveland State, Kent State…it is almost an embarrassment of higher education riches. And what’s really impressive is that Akron, Kent and Youngstown are within 40 miles of each other. During my lifetime I have seen Ohio move from the top of business friendly states to the bottom, and from the lowest of taxed states to the third highest. But I always assumed we were an educated state.
Imagine my surprise when I saw an article relating to student debt that also listed the percentage of adults with college degrees. In Ohio, only 16.6% of the adult population has a Bachelors degree. Just 16.6%! Compare that with New York’s 22.9%; Alaska’s 24.4%; and Vermont’s 29.2%. Massachusetts and Maryland are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 respectively with around 36%. In fact, Ohio is ranked only 40th in the union with adults with college degrees.
What happened to Jim Rhodes vision of a highly educated population driving economic growth? I have my suspicions. Ohio’s greatest strength may also have been its Achilles heel. As Rhodes was expanding the university system, wages in manufacturing went up. Ohio still had a large manufacturing base during the late 1960’s. In the Mahoning Valley, General Motors built its Lordstown plant which had the effect of raising blue collar wages across the area, and eventually contributed to the shutdown of the mills in the late 1970’s. Even as the mills were closing down, Youngstown was still ranked as having among the highest per/hour wages in the nation, which nobody wanted to pay!!!
So the Mahoning Valley got the double whammy. As late as the early 70’s, you could graduate from high school and still get a good manufacturing job paying good wages. Then just as the mills started to close, the cost of a college degree began its rapid ascent state institutions notwithstanding…and folks couldn’t afford it.
Today, the worth of a college education is under scrutiny. Certainly those in the liberal arts have always had a hard way to go in the job market…even in the best of times. Those degrees associated with a skill fare much better, especially those that involve a high degree of math or science skills. But the cost is so high, students are graduating with massive amounts of student loan debt making for a difficult life launch. People are now DOING the math…calculating whether debt sometimes exceeding $100,000.00 is worth it.
I have questioned for a number of years the value of a college education. My family believed that education for education’s sake is a good thing. Granted! But I taught my son that a college education is no ticket to guaranteed success. It should be viewed as one more tool available to help you with one’s life goals. In my law practice, outside of physicians and such, my most successful and wealthiest clients do not have college degrees. These folks have vision, street smarts, and are willing to work very, very hard.
Vocational training in things like plumbing, electrical work, cooking….all of these things can also be useful tools in achieving a great life, and for too many years have been looked on as the poor relations in educational endeavors. Have you tried to get a good electrician these days? Seriously!
Add to the problems the students coming out of high school with less than stellar academic knowledge and/or talent, the nation is in a real pickle. Even the valedictorian of one of this area’s top high school’s had to take some remedial classes in college. Not a good thing.
I think it is time for the nation to re-assess what college education means, and to up the ante on the value of the trades and vocational training. Even in a high tech world, the nation needs good mechanics, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, masons, draftsmen, tool an dye guys, chefs…you name it. And all of those vocations lend themselves to self employment.
Those that have the inclination to go to college should…but with both eyes open as to what is available at the other end of a very expensive education. And those that are talented in other areas should be encouraged in every possible way to follow the vocational path. All contributions to our society are greatly appreciated.
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