What is your highest level of education

[counselormom]

Yes, I do think it is chicken and egg....people who plan Disney trips tend to have disposable income....people with disposable income tend to be formally educated

I think that is partly the case, but I think the high percentage has more to do with the fact that you are more likely to choose to take this survey if you have an advanced degree.

 

[Tinijocaro]

BA in Music Education
MM in Violin Performance

Both are a requirement of becoming a teacher in New York State and I am currently teaching so yes, I definitely use my degrees.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Yes, I do think it is chicken and egg....people who plan Disney trips tend to have disposable income....people with disposable income tend to be formally educated

I have disposable income but no degree its not a chicken and egg situation at all. Its also having the motivation to go places.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I think that is partly the case, but I think the high percentage has more to do with the fact that you are more likely to choose to take this survey if you have an advanced degree.

sure.....a little sampling bias goes a long way


I do find the thread interesting, we are a diverse group.

 

[DawnM]

I have two MAs. The first is in TESOL and allows me to teach ESL to pre-K through college level. The second is in School Counseling.

DH has an MA in Business Taxation. He is an accountant.

Was it worth it? YES! We both are in jobs that we love doing.

I am not currently working but did work in a public high school for over 16 years and plan to go back someday.

Dawn

What is your highest level of education? (poll)

Do you use your degree.

If you have a graduate level degree - was it worth it???

 

[kamik86]

I put a Bachelors since I don't have my masters yet but I'm working on it now.

I do use my degree (Software Engineering) and will use the masters (Computer science) at work. (which is why work will pay for it!!)

For the reason for so many advanced degrees I agree that those with higher degrees are more likely to take this survey. For example I am not sure my husband would have been as likly to click this link and type that he only has a high school education... or maybe other because of his certificate program he doesn't use.

 

[Robinrs]

Yes, I do think it is chicken and egg....people who plan Disney trips tend to have disposable income....people with disposable income tend to be formally educated

I think that is partly the case, but I think the high percentage has more to do with the fact that you are more likely to choose to take this survey if you have an advanced degree.

I agree with both.

I think the vast majority of DISers are family people 30-40. Of course, this excludes me but I'm not a part of any majority!! Of that group the one with advanced degrees will jump on a thread like this. So the sampling is way skewed!

 

[mhsjax]

I just like seeing what people have degrees in. I find it very interesting.

 

[MrsPete]

If you pick "All Americans" that statistic is probably close since 1/2 of the Americans are too young for a BA/BS . I think if you look at the age group here you will find that far more then that have a college degree, especially considering the number of baby boomers in the country right now and the older end of that generation did not go to college at the rate the say 60 and under crowd did/does.

I know in our county, 60% of adults over 24 have a college degree according to the county website.

The US Census website says that the breakdown of age groups /bachelor's degrees earned looked like this in 2008:

US population 18-24 years of age: 9%
US population 25 - 34 years of age: 29.2%
US population 35 - 44 years of age: 30.4%
US population 45 - 64 years of age: 28.8%
US population 65+: 19.4%

Website address: http://factfinder.census.gov/servle...501&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-redoLog=false

The 18-24 year old figure was lower than I would've expected.

I looked at a couple other sites, and I could find no site that didn't specify adults only. So they're not including the kids. That would certainly be poor -- even deceptive -- methodology.

I do think you have a point when you say that the older population had less opportunity to earn a college degree -- and that shows in these stats. I'm sure that if you could see the 65+ group broken down into smaller categories, you'd find fewer degreed individuals among the 80-year olds and more among the 60-year olds. Remember, though, that college became an affordable goal for middle class individuals with the GI bill -- and the 60-somethings were among the first to take advantage of that benefit.

You also have a point when you specify your specific county. If you were to come to my area, you'd find a higher percentage of degreed individuals right here in my immediate area. Why? Because we're a suburb of a big city that employs many people in banking and because we have a regional hospital just a few miles down the road, which employs many highly-trained medical professionals. However, if you move north one county you'll find factory workers, if you move south one county you'll find small family farms, and if you move east one county you'll find inner city ghettos -- none of those areas have large numbers of degreed individuals. If you travel a few hours east, you'll reach the Triad area, which houses many research firms and several major universities -- I'm certain you'd find more PhDs in a 25-mile radius than in the whole state put together. Pinpointing an area will absolutely change the results.

I don't doubt that your specific area can boast that 60% of its population is degreed, but it's not true of the country as a whole.

 

[MrsPete]

I think that is partly the case, but I think the high percentage has more to do with the fact that you are more likely to choose to take this survey if you have an advanced degree.

I think you've hit the nail on the head here.

 

[walden]

OP here


I asked because I am always just curious. I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. I also start my MBA program in January.
I definitely use my Bachelor's and will use the MBA in my position as a Civil Rights Investigator.

Thanks for answering.

I must have been feeling sensitive because I recently had a discussion with avery bright young man who doesn't want to go to college because he thinks that "degrees are useless" and he wants to get rich quick! I was trying to tell him that education is important for personal enrichment not just money-making -- and that not everyone is going to be as successful as Sir Richard Bransom without a college degree.

I have a BA in English literature, a BS in education and a Masters in Social Work. I find them all useful even though I switched careers after a few years teaching. My DH has BA in religious studies, 2 masters degrees, and a PhD in Social Science. He says that the first MA was fairly useless (it was in Peace Studies!) but the rest were obviously used in his career.

 

[Judy from Boise]

this kid may be bright, but he has a way to go to be wise!

 

[kamik86]

US population 18-24 years of age: 9%
US population 25 - 34 years of age: 29.2%
US population 35 - 44 years of age: 30.4%
US population 45 - 64 years of age: 28.8%
US population 65+: 19.4%

Website address: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...-redoLog=false

The 18-24 year old figure was lower than I would've expected.

I'm not surprised the 18-24 figure is that low. Most people would not graduate with a BA until at LEAST 21 (if you graduate hs at 17 and do the degree in 4 years). So right away I would expect no more then 50% even if 100% of people pursued a degree. Then you have the 5 year programs (either planned programs do to co-op or the student doing it slower) those that didn't graduate until 18, or those that took a year off. Of course you also have those that never go to college at all.

When you figure all of that it isn't surprising that the number jumps so much when you get to the next group. By 25 everyone who started within a year or two of high school has the degree so if you use that 30% as a base for the number of people that started within a year or two and had the capacity to graduate, 9% seems really reasonable.

 

[MrsPete]

I must have been feeling sensitive because I recently had a discussion with avery bright young man who doesn't want to go to college because he thinks that "degrees are useless" and he wants to get rich quick!

Rather than "get rich quick", my degree allowed me to "move into middle class at a moderate pace and stay there" . . . but my other choice was to remain in poverty, so I think I chose well.

I know lots of "bright young people" who genuinely think they've got it figured out, and they're going to make better choices than all the others around them. The world tends to put them in their place. If getting rich quickly were easy, a whole bunch of people would be doing it.

I'm not surprised the 18-24 figure is that low. Most people would not graduate with a BA until at LEAST 21 (if you graduate hs at 17 and do the degree in 4 years). So right away I would expect no more then 50% even if 100% of people pursued a degree. Then you have the 5 year programs (either planned programs do to co-op or the student doing it slower) those that didn't graduate until 18, or those that took a year off. Of course you also have those that never go to college at all.

When you figure all of that it isn't surprising that the number jumps so much when you get to the next group. By 25 everyone who started within a year or two of high school has the degree so if you use that 30% as a base for the number of people that started within a year or two and had the capacity to graduate, 9% seems really reasonable.

I turned 18 weeks before high school graduation, and I was 22 when I finshed my first degree. I thought that was rather average. Even if you're in a five-year program (or if a four-year program takes five years), a person who started right out of high school would be done before 25.

However, your logic is sound. It takes into consideration all the people like my husband who weren't convinced that a degree was all that important, and who worked a couple years before deciding that college would be a pretty good choice after all.

 

[kamik86]

I turned 18 weeks before high school graduation, and I was 22 when I finshed my first degree. I thought that was rather average. Even if you're in a five-year program (or if a four-year program takes five years), a person who started right out of high school would be done before 25.

Exactly so although most people finish before 25 the survey didn't ask 18-25 year olds if they would have a degree by the time they are 25. It sounds like the survey just asked if they had one already done. Which means anyone from 18-21 is likely to say no. So even if everyone who ever got a BA started right out of high school you would still see a big jump in percentages from the 18-24 group to the next group up.

I wonder why they made the groups like that... I would have started at 22, which is generally considered the "normal" age for graduating college.

 

[CruisinEars]

I have a BA in Elementary Education and used it for 4 years as a substitute teacher right out of college. I then let my teaching certificate lapse and got a job as an admin asst for an insurance company. I could not have even interviewed for the job without the degree.

Currently, I work in the travel industry as a Reservation Agent (fancy name for working in a call center) with a major cruise line. This is a job a person could get without a degree and the pay is quite low, but I am in it for the travel benefits too.

My dh has a BA, MA and a PMP cert. and does use them. Especially since his company paid for the last two. He is also bucking the trend and has been with his company since he graduated from college 20 years ago.