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Comment by trgn | Hacker News Reader

The 100k basket weaving liberal arts student barely exists and is a meme to generate rage clicks.

The modern versions are usually gender studies, communications, or English.. As an engineer, it's difficult to accept any non-engineering degree as legitimate :-)

So my nephew is getting his degree in "expeditionary studies":

https://www.plattsburgh.edu/programs/expeditionary-studies-m...

I'm jealous..

I haven't got any idea if that degree will lead to a worthwhile career for your nephew, but that looks like a lot more fun than the four years I spent getting an engineering degree I don't use :)

There is a Career Opportunities section on the same page.

The 100k in debt grad student becoming an adjunct and needing food stamps not to die of starvation in poverty is a pretty stark reality. One would have to be tone-deaf to pretend it does not exist.

Sure. But I said the basket weaving liberal art student. The 100k grad student can be everything from a CS major to a soon-to-be-tenured ivy league history professor. These are not the same people, and it's not what I said.

Pick a major which ensures your financial survival. Spending 100k on a degree which cannot ensure survival is a hell of a way to learn that lesson.

I don't disagree with you, but when that cost is underwritten and inflated by nondischargeable, government-guaranteed debt that's the product of a decision made by folks scarcely old enough to vote or serve in the military -- it just feels wrong.

There are other options, not all require college. The world needs tradesmen/women. Some of their pay is on par with my data scientists.

I also have a few on staff who do not have a degree but perform solid work and manage the same tasks as my degreed team members. There are options with college or military.

I think that's exactly why this kind of a loan product existing is wrong in the first place. Why is it okay to directly profit off of the debt interest of selling hopes and dreams of class mobility to impressionable youth who will be in an even worse position after taking that loan? If we abet it, are we intrinsically taking a dim Darwinian view and saying that they deserve to be exploited?

That's probably some of it, but the underwater basket weaving meme predates the internet and has embedded wisdom.

Essentially a cautionary tale about taking on debt for something unlikely to be able to pay off that debt.

Agreed, attacking degree programs is a red herring. Also, what kind of society would we be if the only subjects available to pursue were a select list of STEM programs?

> Also, what kind of society would we be if the only subjects available to pursue were a select list of STEM programs?

It's a sacrifice. I love art and music and spent many years pursuing both. I'm an old man now and many friends spent years seeking that out and unable to ensure their own survival years later.

"Basket weaving" may be a meme.

But English, psychology, history, music, etc. are in fact very real.

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