<p>Unfortunately in today’s economy/world, most students who attend expensive, prestigious schools need to go out and make a living to help pay for that expensive education. Those who study philosophy, psychology, religion, etc. may have greatly honed their thinking skills, but will have a difficult time landing a job interview in today’s market. Are the law students who just spent three additional years honing their intellectual skills not even better thinkers than those with a four year undergrad degree? If you need someone just for their intelligence, you can probably find an unemployed lawyer to fill your opening and you get the bonus of a JD degree at the same time.</p>
<p>Are there weak, bad programs out there in every single discipline? You bet. Will those students struggle to find jobs regardless of their degree? Yes.</p>
<p>When I looked at the new U.S. News rankings a few weeks ago, Notre Dame’s undergraduate business program was ranked number one for the third year in a row, above Wharton and Sloan once again. The Kelly school at IU was not far behind either.</p>
<p>The big banks and big four accounting firms come to these top tier schools and hire undergrad business majors because they have the knowledge and skill set that business is looking for. If venture capital firms want to hire chemical engineering majors for their analytical skills, they will and do.</p>
<p>Large employers are smart and will gravitate to the schools where they have the most success with hires. In a free market, students will matriculate to those institutions, hoping to be hired by these employers.</p>
<p>Personally, I would hire those individuals with the ability to think 100% of the time. Unfortunately, if they do not have the rudimentary business skills necessay to compete, I cannot afford to train them in those skills like a large, international employer can.</p>
<p>Hence, for 90%+ of the students, knowledge for the sake of knowledge in the hopes of being a philosopher king is just not financially feasible.</p>