Tonight, Stan explains why your bachelor’s degree is worthless in a segment we like to call Not Quite News with Stan Sundel.

Not too long ago, I went to see the musical Avenue Q at the PPAC. It’s a great show that uses a combination of puppets and human actors to explore such topics as racism, pornography and homosexuality. Think Sesame Street for adults. The opening number of the show is a song entitled “What do you do with a B.A. in English?” If you think about, that question couldn’t be more dead on. Seriously, what can do you with a B.A. in English?

Now, I don’t have a B.A. in English. I have one in history. But let me tell you, it’s equally worthless. Look what happened to me. I ended up working at WBRU. If that doesn’t tell you something about this, I don’t know what does.

But really, what can you do with a B.A in English these days? Or a bachelors in anything else for that matter? Because let’s face it. You’re not just screwed if you have a B.A. in English. If you’ve got a degree in Philosophy, History, Languages, Anthropology – frankly, a B.A. in most the humanities and social sciences – you’ve pretty much guaranteed yourself a lifetime of unemployment.

I guess there are few undergraduate majors that can lend themselves to finding a steady job. Economics, business, and hard science majors – there’s some hope for you guys. That is, of course, unless the economy tanks. Then you’re right in the crapper like the rest of us.

Back in the good old days, a B.A. was a helpful thing to have. We were told that getting an undergraduate college degree was the key to succeeding in this society. And for many years, that was indeed the case.

But later, more and more people started going to college. Access to higher education became easier than ever. Even women and minorities started attending universities across the country. Before you knew it, bachelors degrees were a dime a dozen; everybody and their dog had one.

This flood of undergraduate degrees has significantly decreased their value in the job market. These days, you practically need a B.A. to get hired cleaning toilets. If you want to get promoted to sweeping floors, that requires a masters.

An educated population is certainly a good thing. Nobody would argue with that. But we need more good jobs to support all those people with college degrees. Like me.

Seriously, I can’t work at WBRU forever.

That was Stan Sundel for WBRU News. He’s currently studying hard for a masters in janitorial engineering.

The BRU Brief airs weekly on 95.5 FM, recapping the week’s top local, national, and international stories, and taking a closer look at the issues of the day in Southern New England. Tune in on Monday nights at 11:00, or stream live at news.wbru.com.