{"id":2044667,"date":"2023-09-26T04:33:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T08:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mississippi-state-auditor-calls-for-overhaul-of-college-funding-of-garbage-fields-to-address-brain-drain\/"},"modified":"2023-09-26T04:43:41","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T08:43:41","slug":"mississippi-state-auditor-calls-for-overhaul-of-college-funding-of-garbage-fields-to-address-brain-drain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mississippi-state-auditor-calls-for-overhaul-of-college-funding-of-garbage-fields-to-address-brain-drain\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi State Auditor urges college funding overhaul to tackle brain drain caused by &#8216;worthless fields&#8217;."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmississippi-state-auditor-calls-for-overhaul-of-college-funding-of-garbage-fields-to-address-brain-drain%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2044667&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<h2>Mississippi State Auditor Advocates for Funding Shift in Degree Programs<\/h2>\n<p>Mississippi State Auditor Shad\u2063 White is pushing for a significant change\u2062 in funding for degree programs at public universities.\u200b He aims to redirect resources away from what he\u2064 refers to as &#8220;garbage fields&#8221; like women&#8217;s and African American studies, which often result in graduates leaving the state.<\/p>\n<p>A recent report from the Mississippi State Auditor&#8217;s Office has highlighted this call for change, emphasizing the \u200dimportance\u2063 of aligning college majors with \u200bworkforce needs\u200c to address Mississippi&#8217;s &#8220;brain drain&#8221; issue. This problem arises when college \u200cgraduates leave the state in search of better\u200b job opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>The report reveals that taxpayers invest the\u2063 same\u2064 amount in educating both electrical engineering and anthropology majors. However, graduates in electrical engineering earn over $71,000 \u200cannually in\u200c their Mississippi jobs, \u2062while anthropology graduates earn less than a third of that amount and\u2063 often\u200b leave the \u2064state \u2062without \u200bcontributing to its economy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Related Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n    <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/education-secretary-cardona-considers-options-to-discourage-legacy-admissions-in-college-5497496?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/p>\n<h3>Education Secretary Cardona Considers \u2063Options to Discourage\u2063 Legacy Admissions in College<\/h3>\n<p>    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>9\/24\/2023<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n    <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/floridas-new-college-a-social-justice-battleground-as-washington-launches-civil-rights-probes-5491829?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/p>\n<h3>Florida&#8217;s New College a Social Justice Battleground as\u2063 Washington Launches Civil Rights Probes<\/h3>\n<p>    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>9\/15\/2023<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>&#8220;Some programs\u2014like Women\u2019s Studies, African-American\/Black Studies, German Language and Literature\u2014placed so few graduates in Mississippi jobs \u200cthat analysts could not calculate a statistically significant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/minneapolis-teachers-federation-says-their-fight-is-against-capitalism-and-patriarchy\/\" title=\"Minneapolis Teachers Federation Says Their Fight Is Against Capitalism and Patriarchy\">median salary<\/a> for those graduates. Yet \u2063the state \u2062invests just\u200b as much, per student, in these programs as in Electrical Engineering or\u2064 Registered Nurse programs,&#8221; the report stated\u200d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.osa.ms.gov\/documents\/Special_Reports\/Brain%20Drain%20Report%20Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>The state auditor&#8217;s report states that by aligning educational programs with workforce \u2064demands and promoting fields with strong \u200cemployment outcomes in Mississippi, &#8220;our state \u2064can maximize the billions of dollars Mississippi taxpayers\u2064 spend on\u200d higher education.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Garbage Fields&#8217; Are Bad for the \u200bEconomy<\/h2>\n<p>Mr. White has been vocal about his views, stating that \u200d&#8221;garbage fields&#8221; are detrimental to both students and \u200cthe\u200b economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>&#8220;Degrees in garbage fields are terrible\u200d for students,&#8221; \u200bhe <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/shadwhite\/status\/1702714482844107071?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> on X on Sept.\u200c 15. &#8220;Kids graduate\u2062 with debt they can&#8217;t \u2064repay. It&#8217;s the reason U.S. student debt has\u200b doubled\u2063 in the last 20 years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He also contends that \u2063degrees\u200b in &#8220;garbage fields&#8221; are bad for the economy, producing graduates &#8220;who offer no real skills.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He goes on to \u200bcriticize universities for offering \u200bprograms with \u2063questionable employment \u2064prospects.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You know who loves degrees with cheap \u2063professors who specialize in \u2063sexual \u2064identity or urban stand-up comedy? Universities,&#8221; Mr. White writes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They can run these programs for nothing. It\u2019s way cheaper to send you through \u200bsociology than aerospace\u200c engineering,&#8221; he charges. &#8220;If you sign up for\u2062 one of these useless \u200bmajors, &#8216;I call that getting tricked by\u200b a business,&#8217;\u200b to borrow a phrase.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But by \u2063all means, go take that Latinx Environmental Justice class in Urban Studies.\u2062 Just don\u2019t ask taxpayers to pay for it,&#8221; he adds.<\/p>\n<p>The report highlights the\u2063 need to focus on degree programs that yield \u2062strong\u200c employment\u200b outcomes\u2063 within Mississippi, particularly in critical sectors like health care and business. According to\u200b the U.S. Chamber of \u200cCommerce, Mississippi is facing a labor shortage in such sectors.<\/p>\n<p>The State Auditor&#8217;s Office\u2064 suggests that public universities in Mississippi could provide\u200b better value to both\u2063 taxpayers and graduates by aligning educational\u200c programs with the \u2063state&#8217;s workforce needs. The report emphasizes that retaining more graduates in Mississippi, especially those from high-earning degree programs, \u200bcould significantly boost \u200bthe state&#8217;s economy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019m not sure\u200c why a plumber who pays\u2063 his \u200ctaxes \u200cshould have to finance a degree\u2063 in gender\u200b studies\u200d in Mississippi,&#8221; said Mr.\u200b White. &#8220;Frankly, some of these programs seem like they\u200b exist just\u2063 to warp the minds of young people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Ranking Degrees by Value<\/h2>\n<p>The report shows that graduates in the health care and education fields tend\u2062 to stay in Mississippi and earn good \u200dmoney. For example, nearly 76 percent of \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mississippi-state-auditor-calls-for-overhaul-of-college-funding-of-garbage-fields-to-address-brain-drain\/\" title=\"Mississippi State Auditor urges college funding overhaul to tackle brain drain caused by 'worthless fields'.\">registered\u200d nurse graduates found jobs<\/a> in the state \u2063with \u200ca median\u200b income of $55,590\u2014higher than the average\u2064 household income.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Education graduates also earned more and graduated in larger numbers.<\/p>\n<p>However, some well-paying programs, like engineering and business, struggle to keep \u200bgraduates in Mississippi. Only about \u200b36 \u200bpercent and 42 percent of their grads respectively\u2064 remained by 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Producing \u200cand keeping more of these high-earning graduates in Mississippi \u2062could bring in millions of\u2063 dollars, the report \u200bstates. \u2062If just over half of graduates stayed and worked \u200cin Mississippi,\u2064 it could boost the state&#8217;s economy by more than $75 million annually.<\/p>\n<p>But not all programs do well.\u200c Some, like anthropology and sociology,\u200c have lower incomes and graduates who often leave Mississippi. For example, anthropology graduates earned nearly $17,000 \u200cless than\u200c their peers, and they were among the least likely to stay in the \u200dstate. Sociology graduates faced a similar situation, earning nearly $12,000\u2064 less than their peers, with few from the 2015\u20132017 cohort \u2063choosing to remain in Mississippi.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s part of my job as State Auditor to show you how your taxpayer\u200b money is spent and whether it\u2019s being spent \u200bwisely. In this case, it is not,&#8221; said Mr. White.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What are the\u200d economic implications \u2062of investing \u200dthe same amount \u200cper student in degree programs with significant\u2064 differences in\u2062 earning potential?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Ional programs\u2063 with workforce \u2062demands. This would involve reallocating resources \u2064away from degree programs that have low employment outcomes and\u2062 instead investing in\u200d programs that have\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/canceling-student-debt-doesnt-fix-the-problem\/\" title=\"Canceling Student Debt Doesn\u2019t Fix the Problem\">strong job prospects<\/a> in \u2063the state.<\/p>\n<p>The report from the Mississippi State Auditor&#8217;s Office\u2063 highlights the disparity in\u200d funding \u200dbetween different degree programs. \u200bIt \u2062reveals that the state invests the same amount per student in \u200cfields like electrical engineering and anthropology,\u2064 despite the significant difference\u2062 in earning\u200d potential for graduates. Electrical engineering graduates earn \u2063over $71,000 annually in Mississippi jobs, while anthropology graduates \u200cearn less than \u2064a third of that amount \u200band often leave the state without contributing to its economy.<\/p>\n<p>The report further states that certain programs, such as women&#8217;s studies, African-American\/black studies, and German\u200c language and literature, have\u2064 placed so few graduates in Mississippi jobs that the \u200bmedian salary for\u2064 these\u200d graduates could not be calculated. Yet, the state \u2062invests the same amount per student in \u2064these programs as it does in more lucrative fields like electrical \u200dengineering \u200bor\u2064 registered nurse \u2063programs.<\/p>\n<p>By aligning educational \u2062programs with workforce demands, the state can maximize its investment in \u200bhigher education.\u2063 This would not only\u200d benefit taxpayers but \u200dalso\u200c help address the\u200c issue of &#8220;brain drain&#8221; \u200din\u2063 Mississippi. Many college graduates leave the state in search of better job opportunities, resulting in a\u2064 loss\u2062 of talent \u200dand potential economic\u2063 growth.<\/p>\n<p>State \u2064Auditor Shad White has been vocal about his\u200c stance\u2064 on this issue. He refers to these programs as &#8220;garbage fields&#8221; that are detrimental to both students and the economy. According to\u2064 him, degrees in these fields saddle students with debt they can&#8217;t repay\u200c and produce graduates \u2062with no real skills. He criticizes universities for offering programs with questionable employment prospects and highlights the cost-effectiveness of running these programs compared to more specialized and lucrative fields.<\/p>\n<p>The auditor&#8217;s report underscores the importance of focusing on degree\u2064 programs that\u200d have strong employment outcomes within \u2063Mississippi. It suggests that public universities in the state can provide better value to both taxpayers and\u2063 graduates \u2063by prioritizing critical sectors like\u200b health care and business. With Mississippi facing a labor shortage in these \u2064areas, aligning\u200c educational programs with workforce demands would not only benefit students but also contribute to the state&#8217;s economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, Mississippi State Auditor Shad White advocates for a funding shift in degree programs at public universities. By redirecting resources away from \u200dfields with low employment outcomes and investing in programs that \u2064align with workforce demands, the state \u200dcan maximize its investment in higher education, \u2063address the issue of \u2062&#8221;brain drain,&#8221; \u2064and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-multi-trillion-dollar-spending-bills-will-reduce-inflation\/\" title=\"Biden: Multi-Trillion Dollar Spending Bills \u2018Will Reduce Inflation\u2019\">promote economic growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mississippi State Auditor Shad White seeks to redirect funding for degree programs at public universities, urging a shift away from fields like women&#8217;s and African American studies. He believes these programs often result in graduates leaving the state. A recent report by the Auditor&#8217;s Office emphasized this concern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":618,"featured_media":2044668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2044667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/618"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2044667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2044668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2044667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2044667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2044667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}