Why do so many people in the military have useless degrees?

Because any degree is worth promotion points. It doesn’t have to be a practical or useful degree. It’s called “gaming the system”

Online “Degree Mills” are not worth the paper they are printed on as they are not accredited. Online Degrees from an accredited college or university, regardless of the field of study, all have value. Each one you mention, all have value as they are a step to further studies. Interdisciplinary Studies is usually only at the Associate Level at Community Colleges to help those still working on a Major for when they transfer to a four-year college for the advanced Degrees. My advice as a former NCO to you is to pay a visit to the Education Center. I showed this post to mine. They, with the representative from the University of Maryland, provided my response.

I see most degrees as ticket punching most of the time. Leaders are born, not made, and the military is full of those in positions of leadership who shouldn't be there!

A degree is far less about the subject and more about the ability to learn, commit to something, concentrate, pay attention and understand. Only about 50% of Students finish their degree, which results in those with a degree earning thousands of dollars more then their pears who did not finish their degree. Everyone has the ability to pull themselves up by their boot straps, but not everyone can with or without a degree, however a degree gives them a head start.

It's not just the Military, hundreds of thousands of people have useless degrees that contribute nothing to their livelihood apart from the fact that they can say they have a college degree. I know a man who ended up with a degree in "Ancient Chinese History" from USC, after graduation he had to attend a trade school, (computer programming), to learn something to make a living. Being a USC alumni helped him get his first jobs, but the degree subject has never made him a dime!

Because that's what military wants you to know. Because someone's MOS requires it. Because the military needs someone who can read things that are more complicated than a Sunday comic section in the newspaper, mostly that. There are more, of course. Back in the day, anything that is more than aim and pull tricker must have pictures on how to use it. Look at LAW for example or AT-4.

On a serious note, those are some MOS needs to know. Just because you can sign up doesn't mean it is for you. Tell me, what can you learn in a foxhole? You only have what you can carry in the backpack and a duffle bag.

On the other hand, for example, psychology degrees, can be useful if you know how to apply it. For example, PsyOps, where do you think they got their doctrine and methodology from? Without torture, by knowing human nature and distinguishing that from an individual characteristic, we can get a lot of information out of the bastard. I have a minor in psychology, (it would have been my dual major, but that's another story) I learnt to deal with myself and understand what is norm and what is not, what I can improve and what I cannot. I was a little messed up after deployments. I was almost go to jail so many times. Nonetheless, I have Computer Engineering degree, and I can tell you that neural network is modeled of human nerve cells network.

Bottom line is, knowledge is just information, we have to grow the wisdom to use that knowledge. There is a Thai saying, "A diamond to a monkey is nothing but a useless pebble." (not a literal translation, of course). Unless one finds a diamond as big as a palm size rock, he would be gratefully for he can crack more nuts that an average rock, and it was lighter than a granite.

In my opinion there are no useless degrees. A university or college education comes with an entire set of required courses to balance the graduate's set of skills and knowledge. For example an English major will probably take science courses, history and other arts and communicative courses such as speech and foreign languages. All of these add up to a more flexible and trainable graduate. We often associate college and university degrees with the officer corps, but many enlisted members, including NCOs, are degreed as well. A military member has a wealth of opportunities to further his or her education, either through service schools or tuition assistance programs. Also, each service has schools to help develop the knowledge and skills required for the service member's military specialty. Education, whether formal or through experience, is a lifetime enterprise, and the more one is educated the better prepared he or she is to continue to develop as a service member or in any other enterprise. Each service has a set of criteria needed to be a soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or guardian--or Coast Guardsman. The broad set of backgrounds strenthens each service.

Most degrees are like military jobs in the civilian sector: the belief that they're not valuable reflects your own inability. Just because you don't know how to use a tool doesn't mean the tool is inherently useless.

My degree is in History. Narrow minds are constantly confused to learn I don't want to be a history teacher -or any kind of teacher. I spent four years learning and refining skills in computer usage, research, communication, logic and reasoning, pattern recognition, formatting, and time management. I currently use those skills in a VA hospital and plan to continue doing so for the rest of my career, not to mention the enrichment of my personal life.

A degree shows you should have the ability to read, analyze and develop to a higher level. It shows you can diversify. Most people do not wind up in fields of their degrees Once they go to that field in occupation they often have more limitations than if they work in that field. A degree is a different thing not an actual degree that lays the basis for being able to perform work. Like anything else an a degree done the correct way shows ability to do work on your own and to a higher quality.

Most of what you get from college has little to do with academics. You should learn how to get along with people from different backgrounds. Unlike high school, you will have to grow your self-discipline and study, or you will flunk out. If you have to work, are in sports, or have numerous activities, you’ll learn time management skills. You’ll learn independence by doing your own laundry, creating a budget, and cooking your own meals. Hopefully, no matter what the courses are, you will improve your writing and speaking skills, which are critical for the military. Most importantly, you will learn how to learn. I took the minimum required math and science courses in college. However, as a field artilleryman in the Army, I was trained on half a dozen computer systems. I learned physics by firing artillery rounds miles down range and hitting a target. None of that was taught to me in college.