ISSUE #33.41 • • SCHOOLED

Schooled!

[August 22nd, 2007]

Hot for Teachin'

You're never done with school. I have a recurring nightmare in which, thanks to some bureaucratic glitch, I am forced to return to my podunk high school to retake sophomore algebra lest I lose my diploma. Sometimes it's a Spanish class, sometimes the SAT, but the basic plot is always the same: If I want to keep the respect of other adults, I have to do time in a tiny desk.

My dream doesn't make any real-world sense, of course—why should a college grad worry about a high-school diploma?—but it makes a decent metaphor: In this city, sooner or later, you'll probably have to go back to school.

For some reason, it seems like it's harder for college grads to find jobs in Portland than in other cities. Maybe it's because so many of us are educated (38.8 percent of Portlanders have bachelor's degrees or higher, over 10 percent more than the national average), or maybe it's because young people are moving here at an astonishing rate. Whatever the cause, you don't have to look far to find a frustrated barista with a master's in sociology.

So what do you do when your liberal arts degree isn't good enough? Head back to school! Whatever your level of education, be you a high-school dropout or an out-of-work Harvard grad, a little specialized training can't hurt. Figuring out where to get that advanced degree is a pain, though. That's where we come in.

We've gathered the goods on just about every higher-education option the city has to offer, complete with tuition and contact info, so you don't have to. On top of that, we have profiles of five local students, a report from Mike Thelin on the University of Oregon's new Portland campus, and an exploration of the more esoteric areas of learning from Ethan Smith.

That's all. Now start studying.

Course Catalog: Suffering from diploma deficit? We're here to help.
Old Town Education: The University of Oregon's move to West Burnside is bigger news than you think.
Student Lives: Five not-so-typical Portland college kids.

Publisher: Shawna McKeown
Editor: Ben Waterhouse
Contributors: Elianna Bar-El, Annie Bethancourt, Adrian Chen, Lance Kramer, Andrew Kryza, Paul Leonard, Paige Richmond, Alistair Rockoff, Rachel Schiff, Ethan Smith, Mike Thelin, Ryan White
Art Director: Molly Bedford
Copy Editors: Kat Hyatt, Hanna Neuschwander, Matt Buckingham
Ad Designers: Erik Blad, Brian Brown, Cari Vander Yacht

Comment on this article

Mindy C writes on Nov 15th, 2007 1:48pm

Comment 1 | Respond

Color me silly - but maybe instead of folks going back to get a third and fourth degree...they try an internship or to actually gain some real world experience that fits with their degree to get a job. I know - sheer lunacy, right? You might, get this - have to start out doing some really lame entry-level job before making your millions. College degrees do not equal instant success? Who would have thunk it?

As a NATIVE Portlander (born and raised) who has had to work since age 16 and try to juggle school at the same time...I tend to find employers are more interested in my EXPERIENCE than my BA degree.

And yes - there are far too many liberal arts Reedies here in Portland now - sucking up the oxygen and jobs of those of us who are not trust-funded from the Mid-West or East-Coast. My NP status (and the fact that I deal with these folks on a daily basis through my job) has made me more-than-slightly bitter about their presence here.

Thank you WW for encouraging them to go back to school. They can stay in school forever!! It'll be a painful realization in four years that they are too over-educated and under-experienced...yet again. Zing! *ouch*

Much Love, Mindy C

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