Reasons not to consider college.

[Mandabplus3]

An interesting article from an I schooling traveling mum on NOT encouraging her kids to go to college. This lady has her head on strait but doesn't think like me. I like that 
Warning this is a travel blog and it will sap hours of you time and give you very itchy feet! 
http://www.bohemiantravelers.com/2012/02/8-reasons-we-wont-push-college-on-our.html

[robbyjo]

I would entertain this thought only if the alternatives are viable in the first place.

Firstly, Opencourseware or other online courses are simply not a substitute for a college degree. In terms of knowledge, maybe. However, there are so many things to learn in college settings, especially in terms of interpersonal relationship and how to deal with superiors (namely, professors) who can be pretty fickle. Even the rigor of college education would change your way of thinking. If you've worked with people both with and without college degree, even they're both equally intelligent, there is some difference in their ways of thinking---college-educated people are far more intellectually mature than non-college-educated people.

Secondly, jobs (even part time) right now simply demand at least a college degree and certificates of online courses simply wouldn't cut it. The same goes to ESL to teach abroad. Just ask those who actually teach ESL, say, in China, and see if any Chinese school would accept English teachers without college degree (at least associate)---it's next to none.

I think the only viable alternative of forgoing college is to start your own business. Even then, starting any business would still benefit from college degrees. I could imagine that a child could start a business since high school with the help of his/her parents and/or relatives and the business takes off before this child finishes college. He/she could opt for abandoning his/her college education in favor of his/her business. There are many examples of this---Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, and Richard Branson.

It's good to be inspired and discover your true passion. Taking time to orient his/herself is a worthwhile, but to reject college outright without viable alternatives is just asking for a disaster, in my opinion. I'm far more concerned about what you can or cannot do with or without a college degree.

[Korrale4kq]

Times are changing and I think college is becoming more and more essential. Years ago my mum only completed 10th grade highschool. A generation before that it was 6th-8th grade highschool. My generation it was expected and perhaps necessary to complete highschool. And I suspect when my child is old enough, he will need to do college.

I do agree that there are some exemplars. Gates, Branson, Zuckerberg etc. But not everyone has an innate ability, the dedication and the passion to do what they did. Sadly I know too many kids that use those people as examples for why they don't need to do their school work. And these are kids who, I believe, need that education.

[Mandabplus3]

It does open an interesting perspective.
Personally I agree the more education you get the more intelligent you are overall as a person. You can go to college and never finish a degree but still be more interesting to talk to than someone who didn't. When I was hiring I could tell without looking at the resumes just from conversations which kids had how much education. The differences between year 10 and year 12 was HUGE. TAFE for age college grads are more mature. Now of course there are exceptions and I think the point is to be sure you are really one of those exceptions.
Starting life without the debt would make a huge impact long term though. I still believe there are many many degrees not worth the debt they accrue.
The business degree is absolutely one of them. If you are going into business for yourself you don't need a degree in business. Personal study would be much cheaper and relevant through open course or books. I have a business degree. It wasn't worth the $$ and I have had many businesses.
I am quite pro university for young people. Mostly because once you have one degree itis very easy to add to it and change careers later in life. I also like the way it grows kids up. I did have to stop and think for a while after reading this alternative view however. 

[TRexMom]

I disagree that college is becoming more essential. If anything, I think it is less so. Forget that our culture has (pseudo) professional-ized everything from bookkeeping to aerobics instructing. There are jobs being invented by forward-thinkers faster than even our overbearing governmental entities can regulate them. While the whole well-rounded college experience does have some value, young adults are increasingly employed outside their degree fields. Case in point -  a kiddo I used to coach (from age 10-17) took off to a good state school on a fully-funded premed scholarship. FF 3yrs & where is he? Dropped out in his junior year to go be a music selection manager for a trendy retail clothing chain. YES! The skinny, kind of twitchy smart kid makes 6 figures selecting the music all the cool kids will be downloading to their ipods a week after they go school shopping. Who the heck even knew there was such a job? Definitely not his parents, who are still scratching their heads, trying to figure out why their brainiac son wears flipflops to the office & turns in expense reports for time spent in night clubs where he cannot yet order adult beverages, invests in rental properties, but lives in their garage. When it comes down to it, I would much rather have a kid like that...happy,creative, relaxed & financially comfortable (though not in my garage) than a kid who thinks he has to stay in a certain career even though he is bored to tears just because they spent 6yrs & $100k+ getting a master's in that field.

Even my multi-degreed hubby is fond of saying: "Learning is mandatory; school is optional."

[robbyjo]

Tech sector is very volatile---one year you have a job, another year you can be out of the job. Remember the dot bomb era? Unless you own the tech company (in which case, it can't fire you unless you no longer own it), I'd say that having a tech job without a college degree is risky, even if the job is pulling a 6 figure salary per year. That said, college degree is still needed if you're seeking jobs conventionally, for added security. Besides, the unemployment rate difference between college graduates vs. high-school graduates still shows the benefit of college, after all.

[crunchynerd]

Everyone knows that the basic college degree is nowadays nothing more than a high-priced high school diploma, and it hurts everyone, because careers that once only required a high school diploma, now require a college degree, and whereas once having a degree was a ticket to a better future for those who did get one, because they were exceptional, once everyone gets one, it becomes, instead of an advantage, a basic necessity, but unlike a high school diploma, it costs a lot of money. In fact, it costs far more compared to its expected return on the investment, today, than it ever has in the past.

So it is getting to be less and less of a sensible value.

If you insert more pipes into a closed system, the pressure per pipe drops (so long as the pipes are all the same diameter).

When people got on board with the two-income family, instead of making every family twice as well-off financially, what happened was, double the number of pipes in a closed system, and you halve the pressure per pipe. Double the number of incomes, and everyone suddenly needs two incomes to make what previously only required one income.

And so it goes with degree inflation.
Degrees CAN still be either a basic necessity, or even a competitive edge, rather than a net loss, if a person chooses wisely and has a shot at the most prestigious degrees from the most prestigious institutions. But whether they come out ahead financially, over a person who entered a trade right out of high school without taking on any debt, and by the time they started a family was a master at that trade, and pulling in top dollar, depends heavily on just how much debt-to-income that college degree produces.

And I can't disagree more heartily, that a college degree produces any kind of "intellectual maturity". Worldwide travel and real-life total independence, risk-taking (and bearing consequences without being even partially sheltered by anyone!), self-directed living in the world out there with no safety net, and work experience that puts a person in a wide variety of walks of life, produces emotional and intellectual maturity that is breathtaking to behold.

I won't say that a higher education is never a good return, or is always a waste of time and money, but I do wish there were a merit-based system whereby anyone who can demonstrate the prerequisite knowledge and abilities, is eligible for the career that demands that knowledge and those abilities, instead of the current system whereby you basically buy yourself a ticket to ride, and so long as you don't flunk out, you emerge on the other side with your right to apply for this or that job, even if you're a comparative moron, while someone who is brilliantly well-educated and totally capable, gets passed over if they don't have the right "papers".

It makes the "papers" a symbol, and the only entity benefited by this system, are the businesses who take large sums of money to offer you the chance to earn their degrees. The investment and risk are all yours...they laugh all the way to the bank, because if you pay a mortgage-sized debt in hopes that their degree will translate into any return at all, and it turns out you are pouring coffee in a chain restaurant while trying to make minimum payments for the next 30 years on that debt, the joke is on you.

And that joke is getting so big, it's not funny anymore.

[alpha20]

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