Rick Scott questions value of liberal arts degrees in workforce

[BridgeTheGap]

(He must be ignorant of the fact that most CEOs have liberal arts degrees - btg)

If you're not studying science, engineering or technology, Gov. Rick Scott may not think your degree is worth funding.

In an interview with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Monday, Gov. Rick Scott laid out his plans for higher-education reform - one of his top priorities for the state legislature when it convenes in January.

In addition to rethinking faculty security, Scott said he hopes to move more funding to programs that promise the best job opportunities after graduation, namely the science, technology, engineering and math departments, or "STEM" disciplines. This would ideally draw more high-tech companies to the state, thereby increasing job opportunities.

The governor cited liberal arts degrees like anthropology and psychology as examples of those with poor job prospects, saying he hopes to come up with more ways to incentivize students to pursue the STEM disciplines while discouraging them from liberal arts tracks.

http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_a00d28cc-f558-11e0-bb01-001cc4c03286.html

[antigop]

1. What's the value of a "STEM" degree if those jobs will just be offshored? n/t

[LibDemAlways]

4. Or taken by people in the US on an H1B visa who are willing to

work cheap? Rick Scott is an idiot.

[RKP5637]

2. Scott's a damn fool, over and over. I would expect no less. n/t

[Enrique]

3. Rick Scott majored in money grubbing

he was a star student.

[Gman]

5. Having a BA in Political Science, I do question the value in the workplace

especially considering I sold life insurance for 3 years after I graduated which has nothing to do with politics, or science for that matter. 15 years later I received my MBA and went to work in a mid-level management position from which I was laid off in a large management layoff, which was 9 years ago. Having the MBA, I was able to do free lance consulting which got me by, but at my age now I know I'll never have a decent job again. Had I not gotten the MBA and stayed non-management I would probably still be working due to the union. But I got the MBA because I was concerned about my skills if I did get laid off. All I was really qualified to do at the time was answer a phone and give a political opinion.

But I am not arguing that liberal arts degrees shouldn't qualify for grants or loans or that they have no value. It would be an extremely boring world without them. There is money to be made if you also have the talent. But I always steer young folks away from such degrees when asked my opinion because of my own experience.

On edit......

I have mostly done consulting with small and medium sized businesses. I put together an industry analysis, and write a business plan they can take to the bank and use it to get a loan. Which is why I know first hand about the banks not loaning a damn thing and how the meme about small businesses being the job creators is in theory true, but it's also BS when the banks won't loan likely because they might actually create jobs and Obama gets reelected. I boil because my business background also gives me the insight to see exactly what they are doing.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. Florida Governor Rick Scott is a Medicare/Medicaid criminal... (need I say more)?

In 1987 he helped found the Columbia Hospital Corporation with two business partners; this merged with Hospital Corporation of America in 1989 to form Columbia/HCA and eventually became the largest private for-profit health care company in the U.S.

He was forced to resign as Chief Executive of Columbia/HCA in 1997 amid a scandal over the company's business and Medicare billing practices; the company ultimately admitted to fourteen felonies and agreed to pay the federal government over $600 million.<4><5><6><7><8>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Scott