Future of College Tuition post Covid 19

[monchevy]

But the general ed requirements are all things you already just passed in high school. Right now, the first year of college is essentially Grade 12 all over again. Which is extremely profitable, but if the student passed those subjects already, that should be enough. If they didn't pass, they should still be in high school until they do. And for some of us, we passed it decades ago, have never used it, and are at the point in our career where we don't need to go back to the drawing board and relearn stuff we already passed and will never use... just to have a piece of paper that supposedly means we're not complete dingbats. 

The thing is... the student may have taken the class and may have gotten a passing HS grade and was able to graduate but that does NOT mean anything in the US like it does in Europe. There are literally students graduating who are illiterate not because they have a learning disability but because the school/teachers didn't care enough to teach them. And it's not a modern thing either. My mother (a bit older than you) told me about how she took Geometry in HS. The teacher spent class showing off his vacation pictures with his hot young girlfriend rather than teaching math. The students loved it because it was an easy A in the class. But if any of them went on to college then I'm sure that they struggled mightily.

But how many jobs are actually available in those fields you listed? In many areas, there are literally no jobs available in these fields. Newspapers and magazines nationwide are shutting down every week. 

One woman I know who earned her BA in English from a well respected local university could only find a job as an administrative assistant. yup. Barely making over minimum wage with a bachelor's degree. She had had enough of not being able to find a job using her degree in the metro she lived in and went back to school to earn another degree in graphic design so she had a useful skill. Guess who had no problem landing a decent paying job, with full benefits, and promotional opportunities after completing her graphic design degree?

There are a lot, actually. It's going to vary depending on the area, of course, but that doesn't mean it's a worthless degree. There are still areas of the country that are technologically behind enough that a CS degree isn't going to land you any jobs either. That doesn't mean a CS degree is worthless.

One big area for people with English degrees is getting a job as a technical writer. You write and/or proofread instruction manuals for all kinds of things. Technical writers get paid good money for what they do, too. And if you're only looking local, then you're missing out on huge sectors of the job market these days. Plenty of companies allow you to work remote for things like this, even before the pandemic, because they can't find enough local people to do what needs to be done.

Websites have copy. So does advertising. I have freelance clients such as universities, self-publishing authors, independent book publishers and content marketing agencies, on top of my copy-related day job at an ad agency. These types of jobs require editors, proofreaders and writers. Then there's legal and medical/pharma proofreading, which is another area entirely. (And where all the money is.)