Makes sense. My understanding is that loans are down and financial aid is down (there was apparently a whole round of aid cancellation this fall), meaning that you end up even more poor as you're going through grad school. Then you walk out with six figures' worth of loans that you can't ever declare bankruptcy on, into a market that not only doesn't guarantee you a job, but has a mismatch of degrees to available jobs. Furthermore, there are a lot of places that having too much education is a hindrance that makes it harder to get hired, because they'll have to pay you more. (I have a friend who has applied to 120+ jobs at this point, and the most common rejection she gets is that her prospective employers think that her job will be too boring for her, or they're afraid she's going to jump ship for something more in her chosen field as soon as she gets the chance.)
As much as everyone supposedly goes back to grad school in an economic downturn, it seems like a really poor strategy right now--you walk out with a huge amount of debt, no guarantee of a job in your field, and less marketable outside of your field. Also, you run the risk of losing funding halfway through and having to quit with nothing to show but debt.
Also, blogs are really bringing grad school disgruntlement to the fore; there are a lot of people who have been vocal about how lame grad school can be. Nothing like having your soul crushed *and* go into crippling debt with no job to show for it.
I think you're dead right. Actually, the article mentions the first two issues. I hadn't thought about the impact of blogs, though. I'm glad my daily record of grad student misery is doing something to impact the economy.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-12-09 03:39 pm (UTC)Actually, that is strange.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-09 04:24 pm (UTC)As much as everyone supposedly goes back to grad school in an economic downturn, it seems like a really poor strategy right now--you walk out with a huge amount of debt, no guarantee of a job in your field, and less marketable outside of your field. Also, you run the risk of losing funding halfway through and having to quit with nothing to show but debt.
Also, blogs are really bringing grad school disgruntlement to the fore; there are a lot of people who have been vocal about how lame grad school can be. Nothing like having your soul crushed *and* go into crippling debt with no job to show for it.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-10 02:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-09 08:11 pm (UTC)Times like this, I'm really glad for my unrelenting optimism and self-confidence.