Credentials Matter

Posted on January 7, 2014 // Leave a Comment

Degrees are important. They matter to both employers and students. Markets confirm that it is not just about what you learn. It is also about what your learning communicates to others. In many cases, having known credentials are required to even be considered.

BUZZ Today Source: Georgia Tech Announces Massive Online Master’s Degree in Computer Science While courses related to OMS CS (Online Masters Degree in Computer Science) will be available free of charge on the Udacity site, only those granted admission to Georgia Tech will receive credit. Degree-seeking students will pay tuition based either on individual course or the entire degree program. Georgia Tcch and Udacity also will develop a separate credential for those who successfully complete courses but do not qualify for full graduate standing. Source: Harvard University faculty member blog on Computer Science CS50x MOOC: CS50x’s “completion rate” is (defined as submission of all work with scores of at least 60%) was .9% out of 150,349 who registered. By contrast, 702 out of 706 students (99.6%) “completed” CS50 on campus this past fall (2012).

The experiments with MOOCs are revealing some important information about how students are viewing the MOOC value proposition. Let’s look at the Georgia Tech Masters degree in computer science. With help from AT&T this innovative and highly cost competitive master’s degree will cost $7,000 to the student. This cost for a master’s degree from a highly prestigious university is rightfully being hailed as a real break through in the cost of an accredited degree. The development has been praised as true innovation. It is.

But what is interesting for the discussion here, is how the students admitted to the degree granting program view the MOOC. As with CS50 at Harvard, the MOOC will deliver the exact same content to both admitted university students and anyone who desires to take the program content. In both the Harvard and Georgia Tech situations, students enrolled in the credit granting activity (CS50 in the Harvard University case and OMS CS admitted students in the Georgia Tech case) have the option to take the same course as a free MOOC. They could have the same content without paying any tuition whatsoever.

So if it were just about the content of the courses, why wouldn’t every student qualified to be admitted and paying tuition simply take the free MOOC instead? The only plausible answer, is that the students with the choice value the credential associated with the tuition. In the case of the Georgia Tech master’s degree, the value of the credential is at least $7,000. This is a bargain compared to traditional master’s programs, but relatively expensive when compared to free. The same thing can be said about CS50x at Harvard where the cost for the CS50 degree related course on campus is at least several thousand dollars. Credentials matter.

A couple of conclusions are immediately evident. The first is that to be a true substitute for the existing traditional higher education model MOOCs will have to address the credentialing issue. The specifics in BUZZ Today tells us that simply issuing a separate certificate is not sufficient to give the student the value gotten in an accredited degree program. To be truly viable alternatives, it is likely that the MOOC model will have to incorporate some of the attributes of accredited degrees. Some of these attributes will no doubt include selectivity and admission qualifications, faculty support, infrastructure support including mentoring, coaching and advising. These, along with investment in content development, will require a revenue model for investment funding. As a result, it is highly likely that at least a portion of the current MOOC phenomenon will become MOC (Massive Online Courses) with non-zero cost to fund the services that are part of a market valued credential. Another implication is that valued higher education requires more than prestigious course content.

The other dimension of the Credentials Matter conversation is the role that employers play. Job position postings overwhelmingly specify accredited degree credential requirements. The qualifications segment of those job postings do not typically say: “The following MOOCs required: _____, _______,______” They most often state:

“Bachelor’s degree required with 3-5 years experience in the field.” Credentials matter to employers too.

Filed Under: Adult learning, Career, College degrees // Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Three Things You Need to Know to Have a More Prosperous Life

Posted on November 12, 2013 // Leave a Comment

Having a college education is by far the most important thing you can do to have more income than your parents. This is especially true for those who come from families in the lowest income group.

Buzz TodayOnly 5% of children born into the bottom quintile who don’t graduate from college end up in the top quintile. By contrast, 30% of bottom-quintile children who graduate rise to the top quintile. But only 7% of those born to parents in the bottom-quintile get a college degree. Source: The Federal Reserve bank of San Francisco “College graduates were over 5.3 times more likely to leave the bottom rung than non-college graduates.” Source: Research by Pew Trust

With all of the attention on the question “Is College Worth It?” it is easy to become confused about what to do. The research in the Buzz Today is unambiguous. If you want to have the best chance of improving the economic well being of your family you need to get a college degree. The confusion sets in when the question becomes: “Does a college degree guarantee a better life for me and my loved ones?” The answer to this question is that there are no guarantees in life. Having a college degree vastly increases your chances of a better income but it is not a sure thing.

So the three things of importance to you are:

1. Earn a college degree

2. Earn the right college degree that has good employment prospects

3. Earn a college degree for the lowest cost possible

These three things are all possible for anyone committed to their own future. But to take advantage of this opportunity, the first thing you must have is the motivation to get an education – to earn your degree. Without motivation you cannot reach these goals. My main reason for sharing this data on earning power from a degree is to create the motivation you need. Having a goal always helps provide guidance on a long journey.

In addition to motivation, you need good information on careers and college costs. For career choices, you can go to a government site titled O*Net where there is great detail on employment prospects. For objective data on what it actually costs to go to various colleges and universities go to College Navigator

But it is not sufficient to merely have the data. You need to know how to find the specific information that fits “who you are”. You also need to know how to navigate your way through these massive data bases. You can get that specific guidance from my book Your Future is Calling. Learn and prosper as the data in Buzz Today shows.

Filed Under: Adult learning, Career, College degrees, Social Mobility // Tagged: , , , ,

How To Determine If College Can Help You and Improve Your Life

Posted on July 9, 2013 // Leave a Comment

College is not for everyone. The question for you is whether college can help you have a better life.   Successful billionaires who dropped out of college are a popular topic these days. But these are less than a dozen people out of the tens of millions of us mere mortals trying to figure out how to create a fulfilling life for ourselves – what I call in Your Future is Calling, doing what fits who you are.  The odds are overwhelming that learning and earning a degree will improve your chances of having a better life.

Let’s look at scientific research for answers that can help you improve your life.       Buzz Today Source:  American Economic Review:  …estimate the returns to schooling by contrasting the wage rates of identical twins with different schooling levels.  The research takes monozygotic twins (from the same egg) which means that the twins are genetically identical and have similar family backgrounds.  What the researchers found was that an additional year of schooling increases wages by 12-16%.

The challenge you face is to determine the best course of action for yourself, not what has worked for someone else, including the billionaires cited above.  One way for you to think about this is to ask yourself if you are likely to become a  billionaire by not going to college.  Here I am not talking about winning the lottery.  Winning the lottery is a chance outcome not a plan.

On the other hand, you can make the odds of success work in your favor.  Here I am sharing three pieces of research that show how, on average, learning substantially improves your earning power.

Improve Your Life Item #1   The Twins research cited in BUZZ Today shows that for each year of schooling wages are increased 12-16%.  This is a truly amazing opportunity and is highly consistent with the data we see in Item #2 below.

Improve Your Life Item #2  For the American population as a whole, holders of bachelor’s degrees make 1.97 times the wages of a high school graduate.  This spread has actually grown over the past forty years.  The ratio was 1.44 in 1978.  What this means, is that a college degree has become even more important not less than important over the years.  You can see this data for yourself on page 13 of my book Your Future is Calling.   What you will also see is that the multiplier stays through recessions as well as good times.  Note also that the 1.97 for a four year bachelor degree is very consistent with the twins research in Improve Your Life Item #1 above.

Improve Your Life Item #3   The California Community System, with 112 campuses, are collecting data about the financial success of their graduates.  Details for 266 degrees and certificates are listed in tables at SalarySurfer.  The important information in this data is that it shows what the graduating students were earning 2 years before their schooling, then the wages of these same graduates earned 2 years and 5 years after graduation. As an example, graduates with a two year paramedic degree the data is:
2 years before:   $19,510
2 years after       $52,774
5 years after       $64,298
Under any scenario, these results represent a significant improvement in the lives of these graduates.

Some are able to improve their lives without formal education but for the vast majority of Americans, an education vastly increases the chances for an improved life.  It is up to you to determine which of the hundreds of careers best fits who you are.

Filed Under: Adult learning, Career, College degrees // Tagged: , , , ,

Five Important Items You Need To Know About College

Posted on July 7, 2013 // Leave a Comment

The college you pick is one of the most important decisions of your career but it needs to be last not first. This is backward from the way that most students decide. Most pick the college first.  Here is how you can make this decision work for you.
     Buzz TodaySource:  COLLEGENavigator      The list and actual tuition cost for every accredited American college and university is available online in a searchable data base.  Data elements include: Tuition, Fees, and Estimated Student Expenses,  Financial Aid, Net Price, Graduation and Retention Rates. All are available in great detail.  The site is maintained by the US Department of Education.

Important Item #1     Colleges compete to enroll students.   Harvard University has the luxury of rejecting about 95% of the applicants.  But the good news is that you were not going to be able to go to Harvard even if you were accepted.  There are literally thousands of other universities.  From that long list you can find a college that fits who you are but you need to do your homework before you get into serious discussions with any of them. Being assertive can save you tens of thousands of dollars in the cost of your degree.  My advice is to do your homework before you engage them in an enrollment conversation.

Important Item #2      Professors are very smart, well educated subject matter experts but they know little about what career is best for you.  The most important education decision you have to make is not about classes and majors.  The most important decision is to make sure that you select a career that fits you.  Some people go through their entire life trying to figure out what they need to do to be satisfied in their professional life.  It is far better to face this important choice before you get your degree, not after.

Important Item #3      Online education is at least as good, if not better than traditional higher education.  A Department of Education research project “Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning” states: “A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning….The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed modestly better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”  The Implication for you is that you do not have to give up a quality degree to attend an online college.

Important Item #4    Credits do not automatically transfer even when earned from an accredited university.  The college that you plan to attend determines what  parts of your past education apply to their degree.  This is one reason why selecting the right college is so important.

Important Item #5    Some employers recruit for young graduating students exclusively only at the most prestigious universities.  But this characteristic of hiring applies most to on campus visit by company recruiters looking at recent graduates with no work experience. In this case, the prestige of the college is a way to deal with the fact that the graduates have little or no work experience.

The right experience trumps the credentials of the college.  Once you have been out in the work force for a period of time, the college you attended (attend) is much less important than it is for traditional college undergraduate with no work experience.  Look at a sample of job postings.  Software bots are making the initial screening of resumes and job applicants.  The bots function by matching key words in your resume with key words in the job description.  I have never seen the name of a college listed in the key words of a job posting.   Once you have work experience, where you went to college is much less important than what you studied and your work experiences.

Don’t get me wrong.  What college you decide to attend is an important decision but it needs to be made last, not as the traditional first as I explain in Your Future is Calling.   Start your search by deciding on what you want to study to position yourself for the career that fits who you are.

Filed Under: Adult learning, Career, College degrees // Tagged: , , , , , , ,
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