A Job or an Education? What are you paying for?

Given the costs of higher education, parents and students often think of college as a means to an end: the job. Students tend to choose (or are pushed into) majors promising immediate and tangible monetary rewards. Such choices obviously make sense, but they can lead to short-sightedness, especially when students look upon the liberal arts or general education courses skeptically as "fluff" or "obstacles" to graduation.

Research shows that vocational skills learned in job-oriented majors quickly become obsolete. In order to succeed over the long term, other, less tangibly marketable skills are required.

Career advising expert Sheila Curren argues that the humanities are best suited to transmit the lifelong career skills the market will be needing over the next few decades. She lists some of them here:

http://curranoncareers.com/careers-the-college-grad-whats-a-liberal-education-got-to-do-with-it/