Should Colleges and Universities Prepare Students for the Workforce (co-Op)?

Should Colleges and Universities Prepare Students for the Workforce (Co-op)?

While it is important for colleges and universities to enrich the minds of their students, a more well-rounded education includes hands on experience, which proves to be a helpful in preparation for the work place. Every college or university should have a mandatory co-op program as it helps students face reality, develop experience and network. A college or university should live up the expectations of both students and future employers by including these job readiness programs.

By focusing on preparing students for the workforce, colleges will give their students a competitive edge when entering the workplace. When the United States economy crashed in 2008, many employers were left with the difficult task of trying to rebuild or save their businesses. In order to do this many executives were forced to lay off a number of employees. Since then recent college graduates have had difficulty finding jobs. Many college graduates are confused as to why they were unable to find jobs after spending so many years studying and preparing themselves for life after graduation. If the college curriculum focuses on preparing students for the work force, the students will have a better chance of getting a good job in their chosen fields. The majority of jobs today that are considered “good jobs” require a college degree. According to the Washington Post a “good job” is described as “one that pays a minimum of $37,000 yearly, provides health insurance and has some retirement benefits (Plumer, 2012). These jobs in the 1990s were easy to obtain with only a high school diploma. However, now a day even with a college degree these jobs are very difficult to find. Most individuals have no desire in obtaining jobs that don't come with these attributes. As a result, many people choose to go to college and get a degree because it promises better job opportunities. Therefore, colleges and universities should recognize this and afford students the option of focusing on hands on training.

Focusing on preparing students for the work force according to Peter D. Hart’s research survey, both employers and college graduates agree that “students should be allowed to put their academic skills to practice through hands on experiences that would assist them in the real world” (Hart, 2005). One Milwaukee Business Executive even went as far as saying “Theoretically... I think, you know, they don't come out with [a lot] of common sense or what you would need them to do to be productive in your business” (Page 10). Most employers when searching for new employees require some sort of work experience in the particular field. This can be a burden on recent college graduates if they are coming out of school with no hands on experience.

On the other hand there are people that say colleges and universities