I really don't like the idea that education is a thing you do once in your late teens/early twenties and then finish. There are good reasons to do something then, but there's no good reason to stop.
A lot of the industries that do require continuing ed, it's often at best a rubber stamping process, or an excuse for junkets - at least from what I have seen from friends and family in education, law and medicine. What doctors do to get their continuing ed credits blows away even the fat old days of tech shows like Lotusphere.
With software, you can't just stop learning, but I'm not convinced that formal education is of much use. An RSS reader and a curated Twitter list would probably be a better investment of time.
But just the idea of going back to school to sort of "retool" or expand your toolset for 3 months full time, or 6 or something and get something worthwhile IMO could be the future. The question is if employers will support it.
Granted going back for a more traditional school experience could be a very legitimate route too.
Just no. Schools shouldn't be selling jobs. They should be selling education.
To that end, what I really want to see is more schools than just community colleges allowing you to take classes without being enrolled in a degree program. Once upon a time I contacted a university to see about taking some additional classes to fill in some gaps I didn't manage to fill while I was getting my bachelor's, and they told me that I couldn't just take a few classes; I'd have to enroll in a bachelor's program, become a major in the school, and go through earning a second bachelor's degree in a field for which I already held a bachelor's, just to get access to one or two classes.
That's ridiculous. And anachronistic. It's a model that's designed for an era when postsecondary education was primarily reserved for children of a privileged elite class, and a very few people who were trying to break into the wealthy elite class. There's a huge gap between that model and what we actually need nowadays. In failing to adapt, the orthodox educational establishment is doing society a huge disservice, because the only other people to address it are a bunch of for-profit organizations who see the demand, first and foremost, as an arbitrage opportunity to exploit.
I think that is what we have now... the education is disconnected from the jobs in the sense that the price makes no sense.
I think a lot of what you describe is what happens when an education system thinks they're just selling "an education" without consideration that their student's are can't afford it.
- What program the student chooses
- Is said program at the University recognized
- If recognized does the program provide a proper mix of theory and application
- What opportunities does the program actively provide for the student
- Is the student willing to be an active participant in their education
- Is student and active participant in what resources the program offers
If yes to all of the above, then student really receives a proper well rounded education practical knowledge, and the resources to find a job. Along with that they have the tools to continue to be a competitor in the market and in their current employment.
Far too often it seems that a degree just implies employment and competitive salary. If properly used and taken advantage of it really implies being a much better competitor when all else is held equal.