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Comment by takk309 | Hacker News Reader

I have two Civil Engineering degrees (BS and MS) and have been working in the field for some time now and I think the opposite, CE should be a minimum 5 year program. The people I see as fresh undergraduates do not know enough to do the job but those with master's degrees do. I guess it is forcing those that do the hiring to select for those who have more schooling.

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A fresh graduate also isn't going to be able to walk out with a PE until they've held some kind of industry role. I would think that this is a good indicator that a fresh graduate isn't supposed to be ready-to-go but ready to be trained.

It seems more like it's those doing the hiring who are slacking on their responsibility than the school.

Right now it is 1 year, plus another 3 years of filler. We could make it 5 with another year of filler, but I don't think that would help. Suppose we mandate another year worth of classes: Ancient Mesopotamian Art, Intersectionality in Sports, Flute Performance, Zoology, Sexual Development in the Infant, Ballroom Dance, French Existentialism, Phlebotomy, Astronomy, History of Jazz. Does this help? We already have 3 years of it.

Chains of prerequisites are long enough that we might need 2 years by the calendar, but there is only 1 year worth of material. Going half-time for 2 years would provide the same benefit as the modern American 4-year degree.

This, I dropped out of college after doing the majority of the "core". I do well and can easily afford to finish without loans, but finishing requires a bunch of general education credits that I see no benefit from.

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