Probably because the colleges still want their money.
Absolutely... colleges would go out of business if they discouraged people from following their "dream majors."
I'm certainly not suggesting they talk people out of, say, an elementary education major or stop accepting candidates. As you said, that would just cost the college money, as those applicants would simply go to a college that encouraged them to follow their dream.
But the poster to whom I was replying teaches education classes in a college. How wonderful would it be if the prospective teachers in her classes graduated with a realistic view of the field they were about to enter. Not to discourage them, but to adequately prepare them.
So many kids graduate, thinking they'll apply only to their "dream job." (Note: there's a reason they call it "work." I LOVE my job, but it's still work.) They envision a world where they'll download a generic cover letter, apply to one district, and snag that ideal job teaching Kindergarten to a polite, anxious to learn, well fed and well dressed and well prepared group of 18 kids, while being carefully prepped by a mentor who wants nothing in the world but their success.
The reality is frequently very different. Elementary Ed majors on Long Island NEED to apply to every one of the 125 districts, all the private, charter and religious schools, and frequently NYC as well if they're to hope to land anything. They have to expect to sub for a few years if they're to have a shot at a full time job. They have to have something special in that letter that differentiates their application from the thousands (no hyperbole there) in the pile. That class of 18 may very well be closer to 30. (My district has a rule that no class can be smaller than 16. So my daughter just graduated from elementary school with a class that hovered around 30 for 6 years.) That mentor is likely to be so wrapped up in his or her own job-- particularly in these days where Common Core results are tied into teacher evaluations-- that the new teacher is expected to be a full professional from day one. (Though I do need to add in a disclaimer: I teach high school math. I had no problem at all finding a job the two times I looked-- as a new graduate and returning to the workforce 20 years later after a few years as a SAHM. But Math isn't the typical job market. What I described has not been my own experience, but the experience of a typical elementary education major.)
Had these realities been pointed out to new candidates before they applied, the vast majority-- those who really do want to teach-- would adapt. They wouldn't spend years spinning their wheels, trying to break into the system without the knowledge of how to do it.
None of that would have discouraged me as a college student. I knew I wanted to teach from the age of 8. If it would discourage a college kid, then all the better-- he or she can change their major and find a job where the realities are more to their liking. Prospective teachers spend a LOT of time doing observations. It's a pity that more of them aren't clued in to the realities of the job.
