The City University of New York (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) has helped many more students earn degrees, but according to this article, "a recent 14-year study finds that those additional degrees haven't translated into higher earnings." The rest of the article considers possible explanations: associate degrees aren't valued, maybe, or too many of them are in the humanities. I thought that maybe the economy in general was a pretty good reason. Or it could just be that the study is fatally flawed: "the averages include people who are unemployed or working outside of New York state (counted as earning zero)." This seems like a study determined to undermine the program. For though "CUNY says ASAP's mission isn't simply to maximize earnings, and there may be other personal and societal benefits to finishing a degree that wages cannot measure" Jill Barshay nonetheless writes "if taxpayers are spending tens of millions of dollars on an intensive intervention, earnings are one legitimate outcome to examine."
Today: Total: [Direct link] [Share]
