[DeltAlum]

This is a bit of a digression, but I think related thought which may reflect somewhat on the question -- and perhaps a reason that colleges work the way they do.

I had an English Lit professor (very young PHd) in college who went off on a real tangent one day in class talking about his theory that the real reason for college as we know it in this country is to keep "us" off the real world job market for four years. (or more)

His thought was that high school graduates, by and large, lack the skills to participate in industry, etc.

He felt that there should be a mandatory four year government service -- be it military, Peace Corp, etc. Considering that it was the middle of the Vietnam War, this was not a particularly popular thought on campus.

His contention was that during those four years of maturing, we would all learn a lot about life, ourselves and how to organize our time, which would make us much better students and more ready to learn.

I must say that "non traditional" students who had come back from Vietnam did have a maturity and sense of purpose that many of us didn't seem to. That is not to say that they didn't do their share of hell raising.

Personally, I dropped out of school to take a job with only a quarter left, and when I finally returned to finish several years and much experience later, I found it much easier to study and finishing the degree did seem more important to me.

Having said that, with the experiences (life and professional) I had at that time, the degree probably was not necessary. It just seemed like a sentence in my life that didn't have a period at the end, so I felt compelled to finish.

Finally, as I've said before, what I learned in my major area of study, even at a recognized leader in that area, didn't teach me much of how the broadcast industry really was/is. Many people will tell you that you will learn more in your first few months on the job than you learned during your entire college career.

That's the way it was with me -- and when I finished my degree, the honest professors actually told me that they had learned a lot from me.

And I'm not that bright.