Degree or no degree?? Let's agree to disagree

[trekrok]

all of college is 90% networking. if you do it right at least.

Yeah, well my college friend's parents weren't captains of industry, that's for sure, lol.

 

[El Pablo]

I come across as a college naysayer but if someone can afford it and they want the experience, I think it’s a great thing. It’s just not a cut a dry ticket to success the way it was presented. I just don’t like how so many young people now can’t find jobs, have no marketable skills and are saddled with debt. Student debt is now a political football. If a degree gives you an advantage, why should your debt be relieved? What do other citizens get that either paid their way through or didn’t go to college? Doesn’t seem fair. Reward those with an advantage?

I’d guess it’s the same people that would lack marketable skills and couldn’t find jobs if the didn’t go to college. Maybe college was never the issue. If you think it’s a good idea to get multiple loans to get a masters in music from private schools.. You most likely don’t have marketable skills. If you were great at music…

My only issue with secondary education is it costs way too much, and when I was in high school, they devalued votech. You can’t outsource plumbing overseas or automate it.

 

[okcBob]

Depends on the profession and employer. Degrees don’t hurt, besides college is just fun. Also exposed me to subjects I wouldn’t have learned on my own.

Agreed, college is fun

 

[El Pablo]

I worked around many people with college degrees for 40 years in a refinery. Some were pretty sharp and some should have gotten their money back. I've always said that a college education is a poor substitution for intelligence. I worked rebuilding pumps ,steam turbines, valves ,and compressors. We once had a mechanical engineer argue with us that there wasn't such a thing as left hand thread. He said you just turn the nut over. Refund here please! College is great for certain fields but, a waste of time and money for people that can't apply what was taught. In todays world I think you could do better being a machinist or welder compared to most white collar jobs.

College can’t fix stupid. That’s for sure. Whoever figures out how to fix stupid will be very wealthy.

 

[okcBob]

Heck, I'm 59. I don't have enough working years left to worry about some dead sheepskin now.

I’m a lot older than 59 & finished a grad degree while in my 50’s. Courses from the 70’s are still transferable. You Don’t need it to advance your career. I would do it to complete the accomplishment. A personal goal. Online courses are convenient to take. It’s not like you need 14 courses, only 2 is very easy & doable from the comfort of your home.
I liken it to having played golf in every state except Arkansas. My OCD would require me to get that last state done.

 

[montesa]

College is just part of the learning journey, not the end. It gave me breath of knowledge, I got the depth later.

being the person that writes the checks pays more than just getting a check. I wish I’d learned that 20 years ago when the opportunity cost were lower.

Me too. Wish I would have understood that. I worked my fingers to the bone. I didn’t get a degree but there were many classes I needed to be competitive, like trigonometry/calc, college writing and communication, and I would never have had the discipline to learn on my own then. I’ve worked under people with no degrees that were so high up they wouldn’t bother remembering my name. They were simply excellent, charismatic and highly intelligent. In fact, my last two bosses had much less formal education than I do. They were just better at everything.

I’d guess it’s the same people that would lack marketable skills and couldn’t find jobs if the didn’t go to college. Maybe college was never the issue. If you think it’s a good idea to get multiple loans to get a masters in music from private schools.. You most likely don’t have marketable skills. If you were great at music…

My only issue with secondary education is it costs way too much, and when I was in high school, they devalued votech. You can’t outsource plumbing overseas or automate it.

Totally. This discussion is more about the cost of college. Notice I differentiate college and education. Education has to be life long. I know I’m mentally lazy now. I have a hard time sitting down and focusing on something I’m not completely interested in. That won’t work for me long term and college will help you train to be that person. At one time it did at least. Like taxes or Spanish. I haven’t spent the time to learn like I should.

 

[mr ed]

Depends on the profession and employer. Degrees don’t hurt, besides college is just fun. Also exposed me to subjects I wouldn’t have learned on my own.

Try it today. My daughter went to OSU last year Sit in dorm room, do classes online,no restaurants,bars, activities,football games, nothing.
So much for the college experience. Making more at Wallyworld than I made working. We'll see how my lessons on spending and saving work on her.

 

[Snattlerake]

View attachment 219718Agreed, college is fun

Yeah! We had Rate A Girl. Our dorm lounge area picture window overlooked the path from the girl's dorm to the cafeteria. Girls would walk by and we would hold up numbered signs. It was really a kick when some girls opted for extra - credit!

 

[dlbleak]

I left University needing five credit hrs for a degree in Accounting with Cum Laude grades. I was offered to run my old bosses welding truck for 60 dollars/hr in 1982 which was outrageous pay for back then. I was tired of starving my way through college without taking loans on.
I never looked back.

It only even mildly bothers me even now as a worn out old man. I have no regrets. Would I do it differently in another life? Maybe but probably not, I had a blast. I always was one to take the road less traveled, maybe some would say the hard road. I was an outdoors type person and being bottled up inside a building all day just wasn't me. In fact, it kinda terrified me. I like to move around and be out in the weather no matter what it is.To each his own.

Its like my best friend in high school told our teacher when she was griping at him for failing class and saying he would have to cut pulp wood for a living if he didn't study. He told her "Someones got to dig the ditches" HA.

This could be the mirror image of my story. Of the guys I ran with that got the degree, most are in the service industry and could do what they are doing with no plaque on the wall. I will say, I still talk to all of the guys that I scraped quarters up with to buy some Mac n Cheez so we didn’t go to bed on an empty stomach. College can build character in many ways.

 

[montesa]

Yeah! We had Rate A Girl. Our dorm lounge area picture window overlooked the path from the girl's dorm to the cafeteria. Girls would walk by and we would hold up numbered signs. It was really a kick when some girls opted for extra - credit!

You could have been Zuckerberg!