Graduate School, As We've Known It, May No Longer Exist In America

 The debate used to be: Is getting an advanced degree - that is, post-BA/BS - worth it? According to the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, 43% yield a negative return. The Wall Street Journal published a series of articles showcasing the financial folly of many types of elite graduate degrees.

Now. as the policies of the Trump administration kick in, that kind of talk may become irrelevant. As Ian Bogost documents in The Atlantic, universities may no longer be able to fund graduate programs. Bogost mentions:

"The Trump administration has frozen, slashed, threatened, and otherwise obstructed the tens of billions of dollars in funding that universities receive from the government, and then found ways around the court orders that were meant to stop or delay such efforts."

Soon that situation can worsen if there is a tax on endowments. 

When I was matriculating for a Ph.D. in the humanities during the 1970s, some crusty professors warned us that such higher education was a "luxury" in society. So, treasure the opportunity to be able to do one's studies versus being out there laboring for a traditional living.

We laughed that off. After all, all those hoops to jump through generated so much stress. 

Well, my particular group turned out to be The Generation of Lost Scholars. The market for university professors in our discipline had collapsed. Employers outside of academia were critical of what they perceived as "overeducation." It took about three years to get an alternate career on-track. That luxury item turned into a delay in the necessary rite of passage of developing a menu of marketable skills.

Since then, in my career coaching I warn clients about graduate school. Now, that might not be necessary. Such an option could no longer be available in America. 

Is the life you’ve known collapsing? As your intuitive career coach/tarot reader I guide you to what could be next. One door closes, another one can open. Free confidential consultation. If we work together, fees are what you can afford. To connect: Jane Genova (text/phone 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). In-person and remote.