[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H4525-H4526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 SOME COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES PERFORM A DISSERVICE TO AMERICA'S YOUNG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Inglis of South Carolina). Under a 
previous order of the House, the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Duncan] 
is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, some of the colleges and universities in 
this Nation are performing a real disservice to our young people.
  They are encouraging them to get--or at least not discouraging them 
from getting--degrees in fields in which there is almost no hope for a 
good job.
  This is particularly true concerning many graduate programs--
especially in the field of law.
  My wife recently had her groceries carried out by a young man who had 
received a law degree but who could not find a job.
  Many law schools are perpetrating a fraud. They tell their students 
``Yes, there are too many lawyers, but there will always be room for a 
few more good ones.''
  Well, everyone thinks they will be the good one.
  Only after spending a small fortune and devoting several years of 
hard work to the task, do they receive a very rude awakening.
  [[Page H4526]] Except for a very few of the top graduates from the 
most prestigious schools, or the very few who have good family 
connections, most find out they could make more money managing a 
McDonald's or driving a truck.
  We possibly should require colleges and universities to put warning 
labels on some of their degree programs such as ``There are currently 
almost no jobs available in this field'' or ``This degree will do you 
absolutely no good whatsoever in obtaining employment.''
  If you think I am exaggerating, listen to these two letters in the 
April 24 issue of U.S. News & World Report:

       Thank you for including ``Gypsy Profs'' with your rankings 
     of liberal arts programs. It should give pause to anyone 
     misinformed enough to think a graduate degree will guarantee 
     a chance to teach. Like those in your article, I have a 
     Ph.D., which entitles me to drive 480 miles each week to 
     teach five courses for two community colleges. Each semester 
     is an employment uncertainty. But I love what I do--something 
     not true of most people--and I don't see a great deal of 
     employment security anywhere. I knew what I was getting when 
     I entered graduate school. Still, I dearly wish that the 
     future looked more promising. There's no dignity in being a 
     mercenary teacher-for-hire; last week my father-in-law 
     described me as ``unemployed'' at a family gathering.
                                                Michael J. Booker.
       Knoxville, TN.
                                                                    ____

       I received my Ph.D. in history from the University of 
     Chicago in 1993, and after two years in the job market and 
     well over 100 applications for employment, I have yet to be 
     called for my first interview despite my teaching experience 
     and track record of publishing in professional journals. The 
     time I spent working toward my doctorate would have been 
     better utilized in almost any other career, where I would 
     have been earning money and accruing seniority. The ``gypsy 
     profs'' may not realize it, but they are the lucky ones in 
     the fraud America's graduate schools are perpetrating on 
     their students!
                                                 Jonathan R. Dean.
       Crawfordsville, IN.

  Now, I hope I will not be misunderstood. A college education is a 
good thing.
  I am not saying people should not go to college.
  I am saying that many college graduates cannot find jobs today, 
particularly in fields like law and in teaching school.
  There is a huge surplus of lawyers--and a huge surplus of teachers--
and a huge surplus of people who want jobs in law enforcement or other 
Government jobs.
  All I am really saying is that we need to do everything possible to 
encourage young people to go into fields where they are needed more--
where the future is brighter.
  We should also do a better job promoting what used to be called 
vocational education, but which in most places today is called 
technology education.
  We need more young people today with technical training.
  It is sad to see so many young people today getting college degrees, 
and particularly graduate degrees, which really do them no good.
  It is just wrong to continue perpetrating fraud on our Nation's young 
people so some universities can make more money or so that some 
colleges can continue to employ professors who are teaching in fields 
in which there are almost no jobs.
  Fortunately, our unemployment is low; but our underemployment is 
great and, unfortunately, is growing. Many colleges and universities 
are helping to make this situation worse.


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