The idea that a college bachelor’s degree is the new high school diploma is widespread in today’s society. From a young age, students are told that they need a college degree to obtain any kind of meaningful employment. Although 88% of employed 20-24-year-olds have taken that idea to heart, that doesn’t mean that college is vital, or helpful, for everyone. Let’s look at a few facts:
As of 2015, 9% of traditionally aged college students fail to persist to degree completion annually. The cost of tuition and the difficulties associated with going to school while working at the same time are top reasons why students abandon their studies. If students are struggling financially, it may be best for them to wait until they are confident in their ability to finance a complete education before beginning one.
In a similar vein, college loan default rates are declining (10.7% in FY 2017), but that isn’t reassuring to those who are still unable to pay their debts. Students who default on their college loan repayments suffer a low credit score as a consequence. This low credit score may go on to affect their ability to get loans in the future, inhibiting their abilities to be independent.
Simply put, not all students are suited to the classroom learning that occurs on college campuses. Rather than attend a vocational training program as has occurred in the past, these students are attempting, and, unfortunately, often failing, to pursue traditional 4-year degree programs. Because of the stigma associated with attending vocational training programs, less students are entering into them. Instead, they are attending 4 year college programs and finding that they are unable to complete them. After only having earned a few college credits, they are ineligible for the more lucrative positions that a vocational training program might have prepared them for.
In light of these facts, perhaps it is time to emphasize career paths that are accessible outside of university halls. When a student has the potential to earn more and contribute more meaningfully to a vocational position, it would seem to make more sense to destigmatize the industrial sector. Let’s start looking at all types of degrees and certifications as having the potential for growth and success instead of merely those with a $100,000 price tag.
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Think back to your carefree days of life as a college student. Loans and grants may have financed your education so you could concentrate on studying. You didn’t have to worry about living expenses. All you had to do was go to class and get decent grades.
University students today have similar experiences. Many students live off campus in luxury apartments, unwilling to delay gratification in the pursuit of maintaining a lifestyle similar to what their parents enjoy. Co-eds share expenses with roommates, and they enjoy deeply discounted amenities during their time in college.
College life gives students an unreal sense of living expenses.
What college costs
Average college costs are $24,610 per year at a moderate four-year public university and $49,320 per year at a private school. Those estimates include tuition, books, fees, room, and board. Students still must factor in the cost of purchasing personal items, having a social life, and maintaining a personal vehicle. These expenses can cost an additional $250-$500/month.
University students are spending an average of $41,165 per year of study.
What students do not realize is that this standard of living is subsidized – by the government, the university, and often, by the students’ parents.
The real cost of living
Multiple those yearly costs by four and college students will see how much it costs to replicate their current standard of living. Leaving university life will be costly as well as eye-opening.
The lifestyle enjoyed in college would cost, on average, $160,000 per year. That estimate does not take any indebtedness into account. Many students consider going into debt as much a part of the college experience as attending football games. They know they won’t face that debt until they graduate.
They have unprecedented levels of debt without understanding the consequences of creating that indebtedness and delaying repayment. The average undergraduate has $37,172 in student loan debt and will take 21 years to pay it off.
At an annual average salary of $49,785, recent college graduates entering the workforce will not be able to maintain the lifestyle they enjoyed in college.
A new lifestyle
The shocking difference between college life and living as an adult on ones own is what has caused one-third of college graduates to move back in with their parents, a significant other, or friends.
It may be one way to avoid the sticker shock that comes from having an unreal sense of living expenses.
If you’ve ever found yourself reciting the phrase, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, you’ve likely observed older coworkers, and family members refuse smartphones and tablets. As a professor, this kind of attitude is unacceptable. Your students need an education infused with technology, and it’s your responsibility to become a tech-expert yourself.
We’re breaking down the top 10 habits of tech-savvy professors! Implement these in your professional life and regain control of the classroom.
They Invest in Personal Development: If you’re new to the world of tech, do everything you can to invest in yourself. Invest time in trips to the library for reading material, invest money in online courses that offer advanced instruction and speak to higher-ups at your university about opportunities for additional training. Remember: great schools make internal professional development a priority!
They Practice, Practice, Practice: Sometimes this means investing in new equipment or speaking to the school board about implementing new classroom resources. After all, to learn how to use technology, you must have technology that’s easily accessible. Once the physical resources are available, anyone can master an unfamiliar digital landscape by taking the time to practice, practice, and practice. We recommend having an iPad or digital device at home that mimics tools students use in the classroom for additional, at-home practice. It’s better to make mistakes in the privacy of your own home than a lecture hall filled with 200 students.
They Listen (To Their Own Students!): Let’s face it. Unless you’re Steve Wozniak, the students in your classroom can handle a tablet better than you can. As a professor, it’s difficult to feel like your students know more than you. But don’t be afraid to ask them questions and listen to their advice. Get the perspective of students who love online learning and figure out how their minds adapt to new tools. Your students can be your best tech resource if you allow them to be.
They Have Confidence: The less certain you feel handling technology, the less motivation you’ll have to continue mastering new resources. The more courses you take, the more materials you read, and the more Google searches you navigate through, the more inspired you’ll feel to continue educating yourself. Build up your confidence through practice and don’t let little mistakes discourage you.
They Focus on the Purpose: Every edtech tool implemented should be applied with a particular purpose in mind, whether that’s to address students struggling with dense material or inspire students to improve their research skills. Likewise, every tech-savvy professors understand why they’re learning what they’re learning, whether that’s to improve their ability to navigate classroom web pages or understand how to pull information from an online database quickly. If you don’t understand why it’s important for you to master a particular program, you’ll never successfully communicate that information to your students.
They Create Their Own Web Presence: Create your own blog, website, or social profile. You’ll be amazed how much you can learn navigating a web page that you’re responsible for managing and updating. You’ll learn to troubleshoot, you’ll master the principles of digital design, you’ll figure out how to communicate effectively with other influencers online, and you may even learn basic coding.
They’re Fearless: Like anything else, don’t be afraid of failure. Don’t be afraid to troubleshoot and, when things get especially tough, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even professionals who’ve mastered tools like Adobe Photoshop and Avid Media Composer have, at one point, doubted their ability to do so. Once you have a little experience under your belt, technology begins to feel less frightening and more enjoyable.
They Communicate: Communicate with fellow faculty members who’ve been in your shoes, communicate with higher-ups who’ve recommended resources to other professors and communicate with your students. If you’ve got a classroom full of tech pros, figure out how they’ve learned to adapt quickly and implement their advice.
They Stay Up-To-Date on Tech Trends: Read articles about software updates, follow the launch of new products, watch news stories on cutting-edge technology, and subscribe to blogs outlining digital trends. Once you’ve got an understanding of the modern tech landscape, mastering specific tools becomes much easier.
They Love Change: This takes serious practice. The tech world is constantly evolving, and the minute you revert back to old resources, you’ll stop learning. Accept software updates with open arms, listen to fellow professors who’ve implemented tools in their classrooms that you’re unfamiliar with, and make an effort to shed stubborn habits. Otherwise, the modern world will leave you behind.
Technology is a part of the professional landscape. It requires knowledge of digital citizenship, and it allows for effective communication and collaboration. Not to mention, many schools that have implemented tech programs for students have witnessed incredible student growth, increased efficiency, and higher test scores. Like it or not, technology is here to stay. It’s your job as an educator to prepare students for the dangers our digital landscape presents while instilling essential habits for healthy tech consumption. For that to happen, you as the professor must master technology and become savvier than those who’ve grown up with an iPad glued to their hands.
Most people agree that our current schools are severely outdated. Many instructional designs are still organized around the antiquated, inefficient and ineffective factory model.
School design doesn’t have to be that way, and some innovators are already creating visionary schools.
If you want to create the school of the future, you must incorporate these ten keys:
Use tools, not programs. Edtech is a whole lot less about the program and more about the tech tools. Technology can give students access to experiences. Schools of the future, like the C.T. Academy in McKinney, Texas, give kids the access they need to tech tools. Designed as a learning center of the future, the Academy relies on more than edtech access alone. It uses edtech to build experiences.
Take collaboration beyond walls. Students in a school of the future will capitalize on peer learning in new ways. Learning groups will go beyond classroom walls and the school building’s boundaries. Schools will be global learning networks.
Focus on clicks, not bricks. Great schools were never about the building itself. They’ve always been about instruction design. Designers of future schools will optimize connectivity and minimize classroom space.
Allow flexible hours. Students have peak learning times throughout the day. A flexible schedule allows students to be in school when they learn best, not necessarily when it’s best for the adults working with them.
Permit remote learning. Students living in remote areas can have access to premier schools through remote learning capabilities.
Offer self-paced learning. Students customize their education plans, and they move ahead at their own pace, similar to how the Steve Jobs School in Amsterdam facilitates instruction.
Move beyond the status quo. Socioeconomic status or political platforms won’t hold students back.
Create experiences. Authentic learning comes about as a result of hands-on experience. It’s holistic, like the internship projects at Big Picture Learning.
Include more STEM activities. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics instruction is hands-on learning, and STEM lessons engage students by using a variety of instructional modalities.
Be open to change. Our collective knowledge is doubling every two years; that time frame will decrease to 12 months. Learning and unlearning must occur as we drop past practices that no longer serve.
There’s no way to be certain of everything the school of the future will include, but technology will be at the center.
If you’re looking at enrolling in a higher education program in the coming months or years, it is important to consider a wide variety of factors. While many people really just look at the academic reputation of a facility, there are many other elements that are just as important and should be weighed up carefully. Before you spend the time and money on a course or program, here are some things you need to look into.
Location
First, it’s important to think about how far you will have to travel from home in order to attend a facility. While students just out of school may be keen to get as far away from their families as possible, doing so does up the costs involved because it takes away the opportunity of still living (and eating) at home. You should also investigate if the campus you’re keen on is actually close to anything else, such as places where you might be able to get a job to help with expenses, or food outlets, accommodation options, nightlife, bookshops, transportation choices, or other resources relevant to your needs.
Location is important for older students, too. If you have a job that you’re trying to fit studying around, it can make a big difference if you find a nearby educational institution and don’t have to add in many extra hours of travel each week. Also, if you have a family and need to be close to home to organize school drop-offs, pick-ups, extra-curricular activities, and the like, you would also likely need to consider the distance a facility will be from your home.
Flexibility of Courses
Another thing to think about when comparing educational providers is how flexible they are. For example, are the programs you’re interested in flexible enough that they will allow you to study all the topics you want or need to learn about, or would you be locked into having to complete many units that aren’t so suitable?
If you need to fit studies in around a job or other commitments, the flexibility on offer at an institution is also key. For example, you may need to find a continuing education program that can be studied online, at any time of the day or night; or you might want to select a course that can be accelerated and finished in, say, two years rather than three. If overseas study is important to you, you should also look into the availability of spending a semester or more abroad during your studies.
Career Support Provided
Something else that a lot of students don’t consider enough when deciding on a campus is the type, and amount, of career support provided by the facility. After all, you’re not just enrolling in a course for the fun of it, but rather to land a promotion, your dream job, or the kind of work experience that will help you to build a successful business. As such, choosing an education provider that is dedicated to helping students find work and build connections is of particular importance.
When comparing institutions, find out if they have a robust careers services center on campus or via an online portal; and try to find out specific information about the number of students per career counselor, and the availability of meetings. You should ask about job fairs, on-campus interviews, networking and alumni groups, internship placements, and the like. It pays to find out about the professors or teachers you will be working closely with too — that is, have they worked in the field themselves, and do they have connections with relevant employers that could be helpful?
University Culture and Facilities
Lastly, take the time to find out about the type of culture you would find yourself amongst if you choose a particular education provider, and the facilities that will be provided. For example, does the campus have a positive school spirit and a sense of community? Is there diversity on campus? Examine whether there seem to be students from many different backgrounds and cultures attending programs, that you could get to know and learn from; and ask yourself whether you would likely be happy and fit in if you attend there.
If you need particular facilities or services in order to be comfortable and/or prosperous at an institution, make sure these will be provided, too. You might need, for instance, to ask about disabled bathrooms, ramps, and parking spots on campus; the safety record of the area and the security provided; sporting facilities and groups; other extracurricular clubs; financial aid and scholarship opportunities; or on-site housing options.
It isn’t difficult to find online articles casting doubts on MBAs. A typically American degree program designed to prepare the ambitious for careers in business leadership, the MBA has been a useful tool in securing high-profile jobs for more than a century. Yet, recently, the proliferation of the two-year business school degree amongst job applicants has convinced many so-called experts that employers simply aren’t wowed by MBAs any longer.
Of course, this is far from true. In fact, a recent study performed by the Graduate Management Admissions Council found that more than 86 percent of employers around the globe are eager to hire MBA grads. That rate rises above 90 percent in the United States and Far East, including China and Japan. Not only is their unemployment rate remarkably low, but MBA-holders also enjoy higher salaries than their less-educated, less-experienced peers: Nearly half of all MBAs report a base salary of nearly $125,000, and another third of MBAs earn between $100,000 and $125,000, while the national average for income hovers around $30,000.
It should be obvious that MBAs remain valuable in the job market. Though the cost of living and tuition prices have increased in recent years, education is more available than ever before. Now, workers can apply to top online MBA programs and while maintaining their full-time employment — bettering their career prospects without creating a two-year gap in their work experience. Plus, MBAs continue to be the best way for workers to prepare for higher-level positions because the programs provide students with the skills and knowledge they’ll need as business leaders, including:
Business Strategy
How does an entrepreneur begin a business? How does a business leader create growth? These questions and others regarding business strategy don’t have intuitive answers. Because every business situation is unique, prospective leaders must be equipped with the right knowledge and experience to create an effective strategy under specific circumstances. During MBA studies, students are programmed to approach scenarios strategically, considering all variables and options before solving problems; therefore, MBA grads are more effective long-term leaders in business.
Communication and Collaboration
Communication is the most important skill for any relationship, but business leaders must master written and verbal communication strategies if they expect to successfully manage their teams. Though the abilities to communicate and to collaborate are often seen as innate, the truth is only thorough practice makes a person great at expressing ideas and working with others. Fortunately, top online MBA programs teach future leaders effective communication methods, especially business jargon and writing techniques mandatory for upper-level managers.
Research and Analysis
Big data is becoming such an integral tool for modern businesses that all potential leaders must have some experience compiling and using data before they find employment. MBA students spend much of their time researching and analyzing all sorts of business data, from descriptive and diagnostic sets to predictive and prescriptive sets. By the time they graduate, most MBAs are near-experts in using data to make informed decisions, and many feel comfortable accumulating and organizing data, as well.
Networking
Though not a hard business skill, the ability of a business leader to see potential benefit in every relationship is a significant boon for employers. Hiring a worker with many business connections gives businesses greater access to high-quality resources, including funding, vendors, and even new talent. If nothing else, MBA programs are mills for tight-knit, exceedingly successful networks, and grads inevitably make links with peers, professors, and successful professionals, which they can take advantage of for future business success.
Project and Risk Management
Business is inherently risky, but experienced and educated business leaders understand how to mitigate the worst risks while achieving success. Properly organizing projects and assigning priority to certain tasks is a primary method for lowering risk. MBA students receive theoretical and practical training in risk and project management: Within their courses, they learn the correct strategies, and in balancing their course loads, they receive sufficient experience applying those strategies.
Technical Ability
While excellent business leaders have plenty of strong soft skills, to be effective in their jobs, they must also have the technical skill to use common business tools and methods. MBA programs — especially the online variety — compel students to use the devices and software they will most likely manipulate in their future careers. Being familiar with such tools dramatically reduces a leaders’ training time and makes them more effective, sooner.
_This article is a part of The Conversation’s series on unique courses. For other articles in this series, read here and here. _
Today’s college students may benefit from an exciting array of subjects to study. But they seem to miss the most important education of all: how to relate their specialization to others in an increasingly interconnected world.
The National Academy of Engineering has categorically stated that today’s engineers need to be more than individuals who simply “like math and science.” They must be “creative problem-solvers” who help “shape our future” by improving our “health, happiness, and safety.”
And in 2001, the engineering accreditation body ABET added a new criterion so as to ensure that students get “the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.”
The point is that the connections between humanities and science have been lost in today’s separation of disciplines. Indeed, a recent report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences discovered that humanities and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) training majors largely dwell in different silos.
So, where and how did we lose our way? And how can educators and institutions change things?
If the interdependence of science and the humanities were more generally understood, men would be more likely to become masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants.
These founders, hailing from leading universities as well as the US Atomic Energy Commission, IBM Corp and New York Life Insurance, knew that connecting the humanities and sciences helps us make informed judgments about our control of nature, ourselves and our destiny.
Connecting the humanities and science helps us make informed decisions. Phillip Barron, CC BY-NC
But, since the 1980s, political rhetoric has emphasized the need for less humanities and more STEM education. STEM is painted as a more profitable investment, in terms of job creation and research dollars generated.
A notable example is the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” initiative, which both isolates and prioritizes the STEM disciplines from the humanities, arts and social sciences.
This rhetoric is also evident in the creation of separate political education organizations such as the bipartisan STEM Education Caucus founded several years ago by congressional representatives to strengthen STEM education from kindergarten to the workforce.
This separation of disciplines actually hurts education, and it also hurts our ability to innovate and solve big problems.
Connecting STEM with humanities doesn’t just provide the well-rounded education today’s employers want. As the American Academy of Arts and Science’s 2013 “The Heart of the Matter” report observes, connecting these fields is necessary to solve the world’s biggest problems such as “the provision of clean air and water, food, health, energy, universal education, human rights, and the assurance of physical safety.”
So, separating and prioritizing STEM from humanities ignores the fact that we live in a complex social and cultural world. And many different disciplines must combine to address this world’s needs and challenges.
Bringing the disciplines together
To address this gap, four years ago the faculty from materials engineering and liberal arts at the University of Florida began working with the Materials Research Society. We wanted to put together a new course on “materials.”
Why did we choose materials? Because everything is made of them, every discipline studies them and they are tangible (quite literally) to the average freshman.
An interdisciplinary course on materials prepares students for the challenges of the future. Internet Archive Book Images
After all, grade school students still learn about the Stone, Bronze, and Iron ages. The Industrial and Information revolutions revolved around new uses for steel, aluminum and silicon. The human past has been shaped by harnessing and consuming materials and energy.
Materials will be important for our collective future as well. So, we thought, this is the future for which we should be preparing students.
And thus our course, The Impact of Materials on Society (IMOS), was born. Taught by a team of nine faculty from engineering, humanities and social sciences, the course explores the close connection between the “stuff” in our lives and our experiences as social beings.
Students discuss how materials benefit global trade and communication but also risk resource exploitation and political conflict. For example, we depend upon rare earths for our cellphones, iPads and wind farms, but accessing these rare earths from limited sources is not sustainable.
So, some of the questions that the course raises are: what materials do we depend upon in our daily lives? Does this dependence have social consequences? What social relationships form around the production and use of these materials? And how do our current uses of materials affect our ability to discover new uses for them?
Students also discuss the ethical and social aspects of using certain materials. college.library, CC BY
Students are also asked to consider how our values shape our willingness to adopt new technologies. For example, Earl Tupper may have invented Tupperware, but it was Brownie Wise and her home parties with other women who first made his polymer famous!
Each week covers a different material (eg, clay, glass, gold, plastic), its scientific properties, demonstrations, and its past and present impacts.
Working together in multidisciplinary groups, students then contemplate the development of future materials. These include flexible electronic materials that can be used to create wearable sensors that can transmit important information, such as body hydration levels during athletic training. New polymer (plastic) materials made from renewable sources instead of petroleum may have fewer health risks and are more sustainable than today’s plastic cups and bottles.
At the same time, they discuss the ethical and social considerations that might affect the successful production and adoption of these new materials in different contexts.
Gap in education
The course is different from other freshman-oriented courses. It is not a “history course for engineers.” And it is not an “engineering course for humanists.”
It is an interdisciplinary course that uses multiple perspectives to understand materials innovation. A wide range of departments including engineering, anthropology, classics, history, English, sociology and philosophy participate in its teaching.
Students refer to IMOS as a “bridge course” that provides the “connecting dots” between different classes.
And the responses come from students across the different majors. For instance, one engineering major noted, “This class just further proves that you have to understand different aspects of how our world works and not just engineering to be a great engineer.”
Meanwhile a history major observed, “This class gives me a leg up in my other history courses because it reminds me to think about the properties of materials and how they shape our lives.”
These experiences point to a gaping hole in modern education: discipline-specific and general education courses provide important knowledge, but “bridging courses” are needed for students to capitalize upon that knowledge.
To engineer useful technologies, we need to connect scientific study with the cultural competencies of the humanities and social sciences.
Challenges of 21st-century learning
The “Renaissance” ideal was to produce elite men whose broad training prepared them for any endeavor. Thankfully, 21st-century education is more inclusive.
But it still requires intellectual and cognitive flexibility to harness large amounts of data.
This doesn’t mean simply knowing everything, even though we live in the “Age of Google.” Today, students need the ability to make connections across disciplines.
Celebrated innovators such as Einstein, Ada Lovelace and Steve Jobs credit the intersection of disciplines for their inventive thinking.
More boundary-crossing opportunities in higher education can break open the disciplinary silos. And that alone will unleash critical thinking and innovation.
Additional contributors to this article are University of Florida faculty Sean Adams, Marsha Bryant, Florin Curta, Mary Ann Eaverly, Bonnie Effros and Ken Sassaman, and Materials Research Society Outreach Coordinator Pamela Hupp.
Students are bombarded with an array of competing opportunities during college, all with the promise that each will lead to a better job or higher earnings upon entering the “real world.”
One such option is the double major, in which a student earns two bachelor degrees at once, sometimes in entirely different disciplines. But will doing so lead to a higher-paying job? Is it worth the “lost” time that could have been spent in other activities such as internships or student government?
In college, I earned several degrees, which led to a broader education that I believe enriched the quality and creativity of my thinking and improved my career prospects. As an economist-in-training, however, I wanted hard data to back up my anecdotal experience.
To do this, I crunched some numbers from the Census Bureau on over two million full-time workers and analyzed them to see if there’s a connection between earning multiple degrees and financial gain in the years following graduation.
Double-majoring on the decline?
While double majors have been a popular way to balance a deep study of the humanities with traditional degrees in the sciences, basic tabulations suggest that the percent of workers with a double major has been roughly constant, or even decreasing, over the past six years depending on how one restricts the sample.
For example, looking at all individuals between ages 20 and 29, only 12.5 percent of the population had a double major in 2015, which is down from 14.2 percent in 2009, according to my calculations from the American Community Survey (ACS) Census data. At the same time, the percent of workers within the same age range with any kind of college degree grew from roughly 23 to 36 percent.
On the one hand, double-majoring can help students avoid becoming overly specialized, exposing them to new ways of thinking and communicating with others outside their primary area. On the other, it creates a trade-off with other educational opportunities.
In 2013, the National Commission on Higher Education Attainment went so far as to urge universities to “narrow student choice” to promote degree completion – perhaps by restricting or even banning the completion of double majors.
While the number of college graduates in the workforce is growing, the number of double majors is shrinking. Francesco Corticchia/Shutterstock
What existing research says
Previous research on whether a double major pays off has shown mixed results.
A 2011 paper found that a double major, on average, yields a 3.2 percent earnings premium over a peer with only one degree. The paper noted that the premium ranged from nothing at liberal arts colleges to almost 4 percent at “research and comprehensive” universities.
A more recent study, published in 2016, concluded that liberal arts students who tacked on a second degree in either business or a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) field earned somewhat more than their single-major peers. But the authors noted that there was no premium when compared with a single STEM or business degree.
Both of these papers, however, are based on relatively small cross-sections of individuals, which makes them less representative and limits their statistical power. In addition, they focus on single years – 2003 and 2010, respectively – which means the results may be affected by any transient economic conditions that occurred that year.
What my research showed
In my own analysis, I examined data on over two million full-time workers aged 20 to 65 over a six-year period (2009-2015) using Census Bureau data. The bureau provides the largest source of publicly available information on individuals and households, helping to ensure that the analysis is both representative and detailed. The data set included information on each individual’s earnings, occupation, undergraduate degrees and a wide range of other demographic data.
My results showed that liberal arts students who take on a second degree in a STEM field earned, on average, 9.5 percent more than their liberal arts peers with only one major, after controlling for individual demographic factors, such as age, years of schooling, marital status, gender, family size and race. Students who combined a liberal arts degree with a business major earned 7.9 percent more.
You might be thinking that this isn’t really a surprise. Of course STEM majors will earn more than their liberal arts counterparts. While my analysis already controls for the fact that STEM and business majors generally earn more than their counterparts, I wanted to dig a little deeper. So I restricted the sample to compare STEM-liberal arts double majors with those with a single STEM degree. Although the premium shrinks, engineers and scientists who take on an extra liberal arts degree earned 3.6 percent more, on average.
I also wanted to see if the premium exists when comparing people in similar occupations. For example, consider two journalism school grads, one with a single degree, the other with a second in engineering. Naturally the one who becomes a working journalist, which generally pays poorly, will earn less than his classmate who decided journalism wasn’t for her and got a job at Google.
So, controlling for occupation, I found that the returns to double-majoring in liberal arts and STEM were 5.2 percent, and 3.4 percent with a business degree. In other words, even when we look within narrow occupational categories, those who double-majored across fields tended to earn more than those with a single degree.
So should I double major?
So for those of you about to head to college, should you go for a double major? Or should you advise it to your kids?
As with anything, it depends. I tried to make my analysis as robust as possible, but it’s still not entirely clear whether the connection between the double degrees and higher earnings is causal. However, my results do suggest it’s more than mere correlation.
Furthermore, an association with higher earnings doesn’t mean the double major is right for everyone, particularly since the premium varies based on an individual’s own career path and preferences. Every college student needs to weigh the pros and cons of every potential opportunity, from picking up a second degree to joining student government.
My research suggests, however, that students who are eager to expose themselves to more frames of thinking and disciplinary knowledge may well be investing in the very foundation that prepares them for a successful and innovative career.
Virtual Reality (VR) is changing the way people see the future. As with video games emerging into the classroom in the early 2000s, this new technology will soon be making its way into classrooms as well. Many teachers are receptive to working with this technology, but some of them are not quite aware of the effect VR can have on a classroom environment. It can change the way students learn in the long run.
Student Motivation
In an age awash with ever-growing and changing technology, students are become more difficult to motivate in the classroom. Instead of learning what they need to know for graduation, they are more fascinated with their Smartphones and tablets. They would rather chat, take selfies, and play games than pay attention to what their teachers have to say. There is a suspicion that VR use in the classroom can alter that motivation. It can take students’ love of technology and refocus it to be directed at curriculum instead of their social lives outside of school.
Collaboration Opportunities and Independence
VR offers chances for students to interact with one another and classrooms around the world in ways that traditional classroom technology has never before seen. Students can create their avatars for use across many applications and platforms that are unique to them. Therefore, they feel a sense of independence and autonomy in their VR lessons because they feel fully immersed in the technology. When collaboration takes place, though, they do not have to fear speaking or to interact directly with people if they are a little sky. The avatar does the interaction for them in the long run. This aspect also allows students to work on their social skills in a way that is not so isolated.
Accessing the Abstract
Some curriculum aspects can be difficult for students to learn. Many abstract concepts in math and science can be very difficult to learn for students because they cannot visualize what is going on. VR experiences help to make those abstract concepts a reality. They become interactive to the point that students can almost reach out and touch them, handle them in a way that could never have happened without VR technology.
Entertaining While Educating
Because students feel as if they are being entertained with VR technology, they are more likely to immerse themselves into curriculum concepts. They can take a journey into parts of the body, for example, in ways that make the systems and their functions real life. They can reach out and interact with certain organs and make things like cells move from one area of the body to the next. They are surrounded by visual and audio aspects that cannot be taught in a standard classroom.
Effect on Learning Retention
Students are more likely to remember experiences where more than one sense is involved. Therefore, more concepts can be branched together while new connections are formed in the brain through different senses. Instead of only reading and hearing about a concept, they are able to lay their hands on something through VR. They do not necessarily feel weight or texture, but their imaginations are activated in a way that makes a personal connection to them during the learning process. Therefore, they are enjoying the experience more, so retaining this information becomes easier in the long run.
Conclusion
Learning with VR is becoming more and more a reality for some classrooms. It does not matter what the cost of this technology is financial. The benefits students reap from using it in the long run with motivation and retention alone outweighs those costs considerably. Students will be able to change the way they learn with VR easily since they can adapt to this technology in ways that previous generations never thought to.
If you’re looking at enrolling in a higher education program in the coming months or years, it is important to consider a wide variety of factors. While many people really just look at the 
Something else that a lot of students don’t consider enough when deciding on a campus is the type, and amount, of career support provided by the facility. After all, you’re not just enrolling in a course for the fun of it, but rather to land a promotion, your dream job, or the kind of work experience that will help you to build a successful business. As such, choosing an education provider that is dedicated to helping students find work and build connections is of particular importance.
It isn’t difficult to find online articles casting doubts on MBAs. A typically American degree program designed to prepare the ambitious for careers in business leadership, the MBA has been a useful tool in securing high-profile jobs for more than a century. Yet, recently, the proliferation of the two-year business school degree amongst job applicants has convinced many so-called experts that employers simply aren’t wowed by MBAs any longer.
Though not a hard business skill, the ability of a business leader to see potential benefit in every relationship is a significant boon for employers. Hiring a worker with many business connections gives businesses greater access to high-quality resources, including funding, vendors, and even new talent. If nothing else, MBA programs are mills for tight-knit, exceedingly successful networks, and grads inevitably make links with peers, professors, and successful professionals, which they can take advantage of for future business success.
Additional contributors to this article are University of Florida faculty Sean Adams, Marsha Bryant, Florin Curta, Mary Ann Eaverly, Bonnie Effros and Ken Sassaman, and Materials Research Society Outreach Coordinator Pamela Hupp.
My research suggests, however, that students who are eager to expose themselves to more frames of thinking and disciplinary knowledge may well be investing in the very foundation that prepares them for a successful and innovative career.