Mysteries of J-School

Gawker offers a tip for journalism schools, based on its blogging report on orientation this year at the program at Columbia University: Don't have an outside speaker tell the students to avoid debt, when they borrowed a lot of money to enroll and may need to borrow more later. According to Gawker, there was an "audible response" when the debt-laden students were given the advice that they avoid borrowing. Journalism schools continue to be popular with students and universities, which promote them. But as Editor & Publisher reported last week, the latest data suggest that a bad job market for j-school grads has gotten worse, salaries for those who land jobs are stagnant, and job satisfaction is falling. (Not at Inside Higher Ed, of course.)