Is college really necessary in this age?

Two cents is 0.02 of a dollar, not 0.2.



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Dunno that this is a fair statement. As a literary scholar, at one time I could match my knowledge of 19th century literature with that of any college professor. It sure as hell didn't land me a good paying job.


Like I wrote above, if I had children today I'd tell them - no college. All that education is of no value if it is not backed up with equal employment opportunity. There are tens of thousands of people out there with useless college degrees - why waste your time and money on getting such a worthless piece of paper like a diploma?

 

A degree is just a certification of what you chose to learn in school. Don't want a worthless degree? Don't choose a worthless education. *shrug* And if you can produce real value without any education at all, more power to you. As for employment opportunities. Whether you get a degree or not, it's up to you to create those.


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"Create opportunity." Bruce Lee.​

 

Hey, I tried - two degrees and they turned out to be worthless.
If I was the only one with that problem then I would admit this was my fault.
But I have known DOZENS with the same problem. DOZENS.
And there are THOUSANDS more with the same problem and worse.

 

A thousand people can and do make the same mistake.* If a tool isn't useful, it's a poor craftsman that blames the tool. The fault belongs to the guy who either chose the wrong tool or picked the wrong challenge for it.



* (we elected both Bush and Obama)

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Because the people you are competing with have college degrees, and given a choice between hiring somebody without a degree or with a degree, the degreed person has demonstrated that they have jumped through certain hoops. The non-degree person is a risk to hire. The paper isn't worthless. The job stats show that. People with college degrees are paid more on average than people without.

In terms of the English, if I hire an English major, I have a pretty good idea that they can write coherently and grammatically. Communications is one of the most important parts of a job. Writing is one of our most important forms of communications. I wouldn't object to a child of mine getting an English major (I would tell them how much harder it would be to get a job), but I would object to say an "Italian studies" major or something basically irrelevant beyond a very specialized community.

 

Nice try but no. Aside from the job situation, you know nothing about me. There's no defending your uncalled for comments.

 

A large portion of my classmates in law school were English majors. I was an editor in our student newsletter and principle editor of our study group outlines. It still availed me nothing upon graduating and I wasn't alone.

 

I have a B.S. in Flight Science, and graduated with FAA certificates and ratings consisting of a private pilot certificate, instrument rating, and commercial pilot certificate with single and multi-engine ratings.

Outside of well...flying an airplane, a degree with little practicality, as the math and science aspects are equivalent to "Engineering for dummies." I could never use the degree to actually be an engineer.

 

English isn't useful to you?



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The BA in English was of absolutely no value.

 

That degree is a certification saying you completed a program. That is it's only use. If you had expectations it would do more, your expectations were unreasonable.

The value colleges and universities offer is the knowledge you can make your own while executing that program. Too many folks don't understand what is being offered. They focus on 'getting' a degree and waste the opportunity to learn. It's like someone leaving a store and proudly holding a receipt without bothering to take any of the groceries they just paid for. Or the guy bragging about his recent trip to Japan who can't tell you what he saw or learned on that trip.

I don't know what knowledge you went to college to make your own or what you intended to do with it afterwards. I would guess you developed some talents in expressing your ideas and interpreting the intent of others. Maybe some basic logic and history. I think it's likely you internalized more that zero value. But if you didn't... well none was promised to you. College isn't something done to you. It's not like a oil fill-up where you can blame the guy for not pouring something into your tank, it's more like a safari where you are taken from point A to point B and offered the opportunity to take pictures along the way. If you camera is empty afterwards, that's on you.



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I have known people who graduated with BA's in English who have gotten high paid executive jobs. As I mentioned previously, education by itself is of no value if it is not backed up with equal employment opportunity. Usually it is those from privileged backgrounds who are given jobs even before they graduate. Too bad I never got such an opportunity so that when kids in the ghetto see me they drop out because they know there is no future in merely getting an education.

 

Anyone expecting to be "given" a job, isn't worth hiring. If you think you have value, present that value to someone who may have a use for it. Negotiate an exchange.

If you don't think you have value, well... that's one of those self fulfilling beliefs.



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Part of the reason for individuals having to obtain university degrees is competitive demonstration of competency. Basically for them to be able to show their potential employer they are mentally capable, or at least more capable than other job applicants.

old thread that discusses this topic:

Wasting money on Education!

 

That need only exists, if you abdicate responsibility for the value you produce. Stop thinking of yourself as a commodity, something to fit into a pre-existing puzzle which only has so many slots. Someone that only has value by fitting into an existing "job."

Take inventory of your value and look for problems you can solve. This world is full of them. Convince a person you can solve their problem and they will throw money at you. You'll call them a client, they'll call you a contractor. As long as there are problems unsolved, there are vacant jobs.

And this is not optional. Traditional employment is going away. We've abdicated responsibility for so much ... retirements, health insurance, living wage ... that employers no longer want to be employers. It's not that there aren't enough slots to go around, all the slots are going away.

You're going to be your own boss soon enough, whether you want it or not.




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Never had any doubt that I brought plenty to the table at work.
Retired on Social Security and food stamps, now so it is too late in the game to try again.

 

I just base things on what you present to me.

 

If the OP wants to be a musician, you don't necessarily need a college degree to succeed. The problem with that profession is there are a few at the top and the majority are struggling to make ends meet finding gigs.

My sister's in the theater arts, and similiarly, you've got more actors waiting tables than finding acting gigs.

It's a struggle to find regular work, typically you need a "day job" to support yourself in between paying gigs.

I call these "glamour" jobs, because for every successful musician or actor making serious bank, there are probably a hundred who are struggling to find enough paying gigs to make a living.

 

I have made 10 times the cost of my degree in the five years I have worked. Your choice of major is really important.

 

Even if you do not get a degree, one should at least take some business classes like accounting, marketing, etc just to have some basics on things they might would need if they ever need to go out on their own in whatever field they are working in.

 

I told my mom in addition to music or acting, I'd also liek to have some business endeavors as another stream of income. She says, "Well, you need a business degree for that....."

Yeah, no I don't. You don't need a college degree to start a record label or resort. Most of what you need to know is found online, and often free of cost.

 

It's still a fact that those who start successful businesses come disproportionately from the ranks of those with college degrees.

Now more than ever we need college graduates, as THAT is where our competition will be. America is not likely to retain leadership and employment in the manufacturing sector. The areas where we will be competing have to do with information, high tech, design, innovation, biomedical. You are not going to do that out of high school.

And, other nations are ensuring that their kids are going to college.


When we went from agriculture to manufacturing, industry needed employees with more education. Our national response was to move from an 8th grade requirement to a high school requirement, supplied for free to all. NOW, we need college.

Without business education in management, law, marketing, research, you are going to be behind your competition. And, that is going to cost you. And, the big question then will be what comes next. Will you then decide to start over in school - I seriously doubt it. Going back to school is incredibly hard once one has responsibilities.

 

A college diploma at this point is basically just accepted as holding merit because other people think it holds merit. As you accurately pointed out, you can get a comparable education online now for free if you've got enough time and interest. And best of all, you've got a wider range of information to draw from. So you end up learning about things that wouldn't be taught in the curriculum of most universities. Even the prestigious ones. You can learn about science and history that's been systematically omitted from public knowledge. Sometimes you'll actually end up better educated than someone with a PhD.