Issue 673 College Cartel: Credits September 8, 2015

Colleges require not just specific classes to get your degree, but a specified amount of credits.  These credits are a scam to make you spend more money.  Here is my reasons as to why.

College credit scam:  You are going to college to get your degree in your particular field, but you are required to earn a certain amount of credits toward not only that degree, but a series of other fields like life sciences, math’s, and others.  Then on top of this, you need to earn whatever remaining credits in whatever classes are open that you can take.  I had to earn a total of 124 credits just to get graduate, but I was only allowed to take maximum of 45 credits toward my degree (I took 43) and if I went over, I would be penalized $1,000 per credit I go over.  Of course the degree also required additional credits to be taken in various classes with the idea of expanding our world view.  This was sound reasoning and these credits crisscrossed with those needed to graduate as well.  Problem, when I tried taking a minor, the credits, including the core ones for the classes I needed for the minor, did not count toward any of the minors I could have gone for.  I would have to take the same class twice in some instances just to achieve a minor in any field (The total number of minors I could have gotten if the system allowed for it was three minimum including European studies, domestic policy studies and finally foreign policy studies).  All the additional minors I could have taken would require me to take another year (money which me and my parents did not have, or would have had if not for the credit requirements and restrictions).  In short, the credit system, gypped me of my being able to become more marketable with respect to my degree (basically my college was charging $1000 per credit taken).  Also, I could have graduated a year and a half early if it was not for the credit system as well.  Can you imagine saving a year and a half’s worth of money toward a college?  I came in wanting to study politics, so I dived in and got all my requirements and the main course load done in the first year and a half leaving just basic requirements like language just to graduate.  But no, I had to stay, and wait to get the rest of my credits when I could have been applying for jobs over a year earlier.  I think you understand what I am getting at when I say, just give us a series of required classes for our degrees so we can get in and get out with a job as fast as possible.

Conclusion:  I may have come off as preachy, a or even standoffish here, but when you then compare the college degree to ones you can make yourself with online courses and certificate classes that are equivalent and cost significantly less, you begin to see that colleges with credit requirements force us to stay longer than needed.  It forces us to spend more than we should for a degree that we need to get a good job.