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Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 05:37 AM Mar 2019

FACT CHECK: Parson right about people with degrees in Missouri

Gov. Mike Parson used his first State of the State address to announce his goals for Missouri, one of the primary ones being job force development. He’s allocated $22 million toward a new scholarship program called Fast Track that can be used by Missourians at community colleges, technical schools and universities.

The program is for ages 25 and older and is intended to help fill jobs in “high-demand” industries, though Parson didn’t clarify what these jobs are.

"And I want to be clear too: We are always going to need architects, doctors, we’re going to need professionals with four-year degrees. But 65 to 70 percent of the people in Missouri don’t have degrees," Parson said in an interview on KCUR on Jan. 24.

We wondered if he is right that about two-thirds of Missourians don’t have a college degree.

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/politifact_missouri/fact-check-parson-right-about-people-with-degrees-in-missouri/article_927343ea-4c12-11e9-8907-cf1a5cb81b03.html

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FACT CHECK: Parson right about people with degrees in Missouri (Original Post) Sherman A1 Mar 2019 OP
Am glad that Parsons is going to step up state involvement UpInArms Mar 2019 #1
my first guess was that a lower % have degrees rampartc Mar 2019 #2
IMHO ... UpInArms Mar 2019 #3
Greitens was a real piece of work Sherman A1 Mar 2019 #4
Interesting. logosoco Mar 2019 #5
I hope that this program will be of help Sherman A1 Mar 2019 #6
Yes AI is going to be big for workers! logosoco Mar 2019 #7
It will also replace a lot of workers Sherman A1 Mar 2019 #9
This is not actually true...for the most part... SWBTATTReg Mar 2019 #10
I'm an old Retail guy that Sherman A1 Mar 2019 #11
Absolutely understand and respect 100%. It depends on what side of the fence one came ... SWBTATTReg Mar 2019 #12
Across the USA only 33% of adults have a 4 year degree. rgbecker Mar 2019 #8

UpInArms

(51,808 posts)
1. Am glad that Parsons is going to step up state involvement
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 06:01 AM
Mar 2019

After Nixon left office, the state discontinued his programs ... it was a travesty ... Greitens was slashing our educational funding everywhere

From your link:

Parson said, “65 percent to 70 percent of the people in Missouri don’t have degrees.” His number is accurate, according to census data and the Missouri Department of Higher Education.

We rate this claim True.

UpInArms

(51,808 posts)
3. IMHO ...
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 06:18 AM
Mar 2019

A part of the problem ... stems from the rural composition of students

The small rural schools ... with graduating classes of 25 to 40 students ... are under preparing students for college ... they are big on clubs and sports (small communities love their football teams) and do not have adequate academic instructors for science and math .. or even basic language skills.

I had a conversation several years ago with a (then young woman) who had graduated from a nearby university with a master’s in business... she had approximately $100,000 in college debt ... she had a part time secretarial position and I asked about her education and how she felt about it ...

Verbatim, her response:

“If i’d knowed then, what I know now, i wouldn’t’ve went there” ...

I silently shook my head and wondered how her instructors had ever let her pass a class.

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
4. Greitens was a real piece of work
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 06:20 AM
Mar 2019

Happily he is gone from the governors mansion and I hope he never returns to politics.

logosoco

(3,209 posts)
5. Interesting.
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 06:56 AM
Mar 2019

My 29year old daughter who started working in senior living communities when she was 18 and worked her way up the ladder there has recently started looking for a new position because she does not like where the company she is working for now is heading. She is finding a lot of positions that ask for a Bachelor's degree.

This program is a great idea, says a person who got their Associate's strictly through Pell grants (over the course of many years!). But, she works full time and has two kids who are busy with hockey and baseball plus regular kid stuff. I try to help them out as much as I can, taking care of the kids before and after school, etc. I am not sure when she would have the time, even on something called "fast track", to go to school. Also, between her and her husband they make fairly decent money, especially for their ages and location, so they probably would not qualify for this program. They already have a mortgage and a student loan debt would not be a good thing to take on right now.

I would like to think her years of experience and how she worked her way up would help her get a job. I wonder if the folks who want a BA/BS for their job openings know how few people in this state even have that?

Edited to add: My son, who got his BA right here in Missouri has spent his time since graduation working in Africa with the Peace Corps and then with Americorp where he has done work in many places in the country and Puerto Rico, some in Missouri. He has paid off his student loans.

But it is nice to hear Republicans are interested in education and investing in people. (yes, I did just say something nice about Republicans, but I am a Missourian, so they have to show me that they are really doing this and that it is what is good for the people!)

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
6. I hope that this program will be of help
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 07:04 AM
Mar 2019

to people like your daughter. The coming of AI is seriously going to disrupt the workforce in many ways and the more education the better.

logosoco

(3,209 posts)
7. Yes AI is going to be big for workers!
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 07:12 AM
Mar 2019

I tell my grandson, who seem to enjoy science and are mechanically inclined like their dad and grandpa, that they need to learn to work on robots!

SWBTATTReg

(24,116 posts)
10. This is not actually true...for the most part...
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 10:41 AM
Mar 2019

When technology takes over a field, there has to be people on the IT side to support the IT infrastructure, the IT programming, and industries will spring up too, from the resulting consolidation and / or industries that will spring up. On the IT side also, because of rump's policies, a lot of companies hired/brought in workers from India/etc. to perform a lot of their IT work. Now, a lot of these people can't get their visas extended and thus are leaving the US (where rump is a hypocrite, he still uses foreign workers), thus the IT work may go to US workers here in the US or subcontracted out overseas.

Other disciplines will spring up too, as the IT components (cpus/hardware, programming, etc.) continue to get developed with more capabilities such as being merged with sensor technologies (wide open field) and other fields not even visualized 5-10 years ago. AI will help a lot, believe it or not, coming from an IT guy like myself, as the demands in programming exceeds the ability of programmers to keep up. The AI component will help satisfy 80% of programming requests that current IT programmers can't keep up with (the workload on IT programmers has been jumping by massive percentages, we can't keep up), so AI will help offset/offload some of the maintenance component of IT programming demands while freeing up critical manpower so that IT programmers can concentrate on continuing to think, to develop better programming languages, to code better programs than what is currently out there today (that is, 80% of most coding is mundane, typical, the 20% left is hard, logic-wise, coding that probably never has been done before).

Remember, a lot of coding has never been attempted or coded before. Thus, it's not like you can grab a manual and code it by the 'book'...it's never been coded before. A lot of the fields when I first started coding didn't even exist...the internet as it is today didn't even exist. Part of my overall work was to facilitate the development and marketing of the internet in my company to the commercial marketplace, and this required a whole new methodology to handle the concept of data vs. voice.

Some disruption will of course occur in areas where the jobs are 'mechanized' (the term we used). Mechanization occurs all along the entire chain from the customer first calling in for a service to the very tail end of billing the customer. It also supports the (mechanization) ongoing maintenance of the network and other support functions as well as developing better functions since so much cpu power is available, e.g., in short, I'm saying here that new systems, new programs, etc. will have to be established to take advantage of these new features, etc.

Enough. I am sorry I wrote too much and too long...I'm an old IT guy from almost the beginning, so ...

Take care.

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
11. I'm an old Retail guy that
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 10:46 AM
Mar 2019

Has seen a lot of jobs lost through consolidation, out sourcing, technology advances and alike. So while I appreciate what you are saying and won’t disagree completely, my experiences are telling me different.

SWBTATTReg

(24,116 posts)
12. Absolutely understand and respect 100%. It depends on what side of the fence one came ...
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 10:58 AM
Mar 2019

from (me on the IT side of the fence VS those on the other side of the fence that lost jobs as a result of IT mechanization).

In my company's case, we had a career path for those whose jobs were declared surplus or not needed, so most either moved to new jobs (same kind of job, or different job, via career path). Sometimes unfortunately we had to have buyouts/early retirement packages for some areas.

Retail has borne a heck of a lot of changes over the last 30 years or so. My sister has worked at Walmart since the mid 70s. Finally able to retire a couple of years ago so I was happy she finally got away from them.

Take care.

rgbecker

(4,877 posts)
8. Across the USA only 33% of adults have a 4 year degree.
Tue Mar 26, 2019, 08:16 AM
Mar 2019

A quick Google search yields:

Just over a third of American adults have a four-year college degree, the highest level ever measured by the U.S. Census Bureau. In a report released Monday, the Census Bureau said 33.4 percent of Americans 25 or older said they had completed a bachelor's degree or higher.Apr 3, 2017
Census: More Americans have college degrees than ever before ...
https://thehill.com/.../326995-census-more-americans-have-college-degrees-than-ever-be...

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