This'll sure get the young folks to stay in Mississippi

By most measures, the state of Mississippi ranks at or near the bottom. Health. Wealth. Education. You name it...

Not surprisingly, they suffer from a brain drain, with many of their educated young fleeing the state to find better opportunities elsewhere. Anywhere elsewhere. 

Sure, the state (like most states) enjoys a low unemployment rate. But the largest employer (among companies with their HQ in the state) is a poultry processor.

So, many young folks flee.

But some don't, even when they get the opportunity.

One such person is Shad(rack) White, who is the State Auditor. 

A graduate of the University of Mississippi, he's a Rhodes Scholar who earned a master's degree from Oxford, and a law degree from Harvard, where he headed up the HLS chapter of the Federalist Society. These are the sorts of credentials that provide a golden ticket to everywhere else. 

But Shad White wanted to come back home, where after some work on the political front and a stint in the private sector (law firm), he was appointed auditor, a position he was later elected to.

As auditor, I'm not saying White hasn't done some good.

He's gone after corruption/fraud in the program that was supposed to administer funds to needy families. (Among others swept up in this investigation: local hero and football great Brett Favre. He has not, as of now, been criminally charged.) 

White also went after corruption among pharmacy managers, netting a large settlement for the state.

So Shad White does some good things.

It would certainly be no surprise if he ends up in Congress, or in the Senate, if one of Mississippi's less than impressive senators decides to pack it in. 

But Shad White is also positioning himself on the frontlines of the culture wars with a recommendation that the state defund some degree programs that he dubs "indoctrination factories."

White said there should be no taxpayer funding for “useless degrees" in “garbage fields” like Urban Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, German Literature, African American Studies, Gender Studies and Women's Studies. (Source: ABC News)

As a Sociology major, I'm affronted that White considers this a "garbage field." I will note that his undergraduate degree was in Economics and Political Science, which was my minor. I suppose someone can argue that Economics, that dismal ol' science, is rigorous. But if Shad White wants to explain to me what's scientific about Political Science, I'm all ears. 

Anyway, he wants the state to focus its educational investment on what the Mississippi workforce needs.

Too many college graduates are leaving Mississippi, and aligning degree programs with labor market demand might stem the tide, White said.

...One way to stop the outmigration is to have the state increase funding in degree programs with higher earning potential right after graduating, such as in engineering or business management, according to White's report.

There's certainly nothing wrong with "aligning degree programs with labor market demand." Many states do this, particularly when it comes to the curricula in community colleges. I'm all for opening up economic opportunities.  

But I'd like to know what degrees were pursued by those graduates who fled the state? 

I'm sure that Sociology and Gender Studies majors may have decided to get the hell out of Mississippi. But I'm also pretty sure that graduates with more superbly aligned degrees like engineering and business aren't letting the door hit their asses on the way out, either. 

White's recent report somewhat acknowledges this:

"Some high-paying degree programs were not likely to produce graduates who work in Mississippi, and this represents a missed opportunity for the state’s taxpayers," the report said. “Producing more of these graduates and then retaining even a small number of them would inject millions of additional dollars into Mississippi’s economy.”

Looks like they're only expecting to retain a few of their "high-paying degree programs" grads. They really do get that a lot of those grads want out of Mississippi. Which is the real problem, not the fact that there are a couple of German Lit majors at at Ole Miss. 

So, what's the real point here, other than taking pot shots at degree programs Shad White doesn't like so he can polish his MAGA cred.

I know, I know. Many colleges and universities - both public and private - are evaluating their offerings, and coming down on the side of more practical courses of study. But I'm sure hoping that, even if you can't major in one of Shad White's "garbage fields," there are still plenty of liberal arts courses for all those accounting and computer science grads.

Why shouldn't a student be able to take a course where they read Heinrich Boll's brilliant fiction on war? Why shouldn't a student be able to study other cultures? 

Why shouldn't someone be able to learn about the Great Migration of Blacks from the Deep South to the North?

Those folks went North for economic opportunity and in hopes that life would be better elsewhere for their kids. 

Sure, it didn't always pan out. The North didn't prove to be any Nirvana for Black folks. (Plenty of racism, but far less likelihood of being lynched.) 

But the young folks leaving Mississippi - Black and white - are looking for the same thing those internal migrants of the Great Migration were. And getting rid Urban Studies isn't going to change that calculus any.

Maybe there's a better way to get Mississippi's college graduates to stay put. Better health. Better housing. Better education. 

Shad White's a pretty smart fellow. I'm sure he can think of something. It just might not garner the attention that taking a rabid bite out of the liberal arts does.