Suraj
that you are far less likely to be fianlcinaly successful without a college degree.So what IS the value of a college degree? Far more than a secondary school atmosphere, college teaches you to think critically and be more evaluative (if it doesn't, you're at the wrong school). It broadens your horizons in terms of general knowledge (assuming you don't just pick one subject for all your electives and waste your money). It helps you create personal and professional contacts.In short, college is very much what you make of it. Can it be a waste of 4 years and a lot of money? Absolutely but that speaks far more about the type of person you are at the age you went to college than it does about the college experience. I would argue that someone who wastes their college years isn't going to immediately step outside the door and be a successful person at that point in their life regardless.Is college something that not everyone should do immediately following a secondary graduation? ABSOLUTELY. I speak from personal and professional experience (both as a student and a teacher) that the push to go directly into college is not always well-advised.Nor should it be for everyone people need to work in the service industry, people need a technical education (plumbers, etc) rather than a traditional 4 year liberal arts education, people need time to figure out their direction in life.I suppose it could be argued that I wasted a great deal of time and money with my education. I got a BA in History with minors in Literature and French (a very useless trio of majors, I'll admit, as I had no interest in going into law school or another fianlcinaly lucrative field I studied them because I loved them). I started a MA/PhD program in women's history, which I abandoned once I saw the reality of my career trajectory (ie, teaching a podunk school in Kansas, praying for tenure and a never ending cycle of publish or perish). Not sure what else to do, I got a Master's in Education and taught for 5 years before I left work to have my daughter. Now, to be fair, I didn't *hate* teaching, but it's not my passion. Had I married someone with different finances, or chosen not to marry, or if tomorrow I were made a widow I could make a reasonable life off of that degree. I'd likely eventually get a PhD in education and become a principal for the financial boost, possibly a superintendent to provide the life I feel is appropriate for my daughters.However, as things stand, I have the financial luxury (because my husband has a Master's from MIT there's that education=money equation again, and because MIT gave him the professional contacts to get a job that puts us into the top tax bracket) to pursue my interests. I am making money as a writer about sexuality, pregnancy and the post partum experience. The education I received in these subjects was not in an academic classroom (until now) I trained with Planned Parenthood, I trained as a sex educator in college, and I taught sex ed as a middle school teacher. I have had the experience of pregnancy and the post-partum period. I saw a lack of information and am trying my best to help fill that void. I also have had a story accepted for publication in a short story anthology (which you can argue is base talent, but I would argue that talent was helped along by many years of writing and English courses).BUT I have reached a point in my career where, to advance, even as an entrepenuer in my field, I need additional education. I'm taking courses in social work, counseling, and furthering my sex education in areas where I have less professional education. This will probably turn into a Master's in Social Work at some point.Do you need business school? I'd say no. Like you, I hire people to do my taxes, and at some point I'll hire someone to do a better website than I can manage on my own. But that doesn't mean college, or professional education with credentials isn't important for those of us who are not the 1 in a billion exception to the rule.But the reality is that most of us can't support ourselves with our innovation right away it takes years of effort to be successful. To pay the bills in those years, to fund your enterprise, to pay for those web designers and accountants .it's helpful to have a useful (ie NOT history) degree to fall back on. Otherwise, your chances of making a middle class income are slim and an upper class income virtually null. Money isn't everything to everyone, but as someone who has been on welfare and who is now fianlcinaly stable, I'd make a strong argument that it helps. Otherwise, you have a dream and no means to afford it.
Suraj that you are far less likely to be fianlcinaly successful without a college degree.So what IS the value of a college degree? Far more than a secondary school atmosphere, college teaches you to think critically and be more evaluative (if it doesn't, you're at the wrong school). It broadens your horizons in terms of general knowledge (assuming you don't just pick one subject for all your electives and waste your money). It helps you create personal and professional contacts.In short, college is very much what you make of it. Can it be a waste of 4 years and a lot of money? Absolutely but that speaks far more about the type of person you are at the age you went to college than it does about the college experience. I would argue that someone who wastes their college years isn't going to immediately step outside the door and be a successful person at that point in their life regardless.Is college something that not everyone should do immediately following a secondary graduation? ABSOLUTELY. I speak from personal and professional experience (both as a student and a teacher) that the push to go directly into college is not always well-advised.Nor should it be for everyone people need to work in the service industry, people need a technical education (plumbers, etc) rather than a traditional 4 year liberal arts education, people need time to figure out their direction in life.I suppose it could be argued that I wasted a great deal of time and money with my education. I got a BA in History with minors in Literature and French (a very useless trio of majors, I'll admit, as I had no interest in going into law school or another fianlcinaly lucrative field I studied them because I loved them). I started a MA/PhD program in women's history, which I abandoned once I saw the reality of my career trajectory (ie, teaching a podunk school in Kansas, praying for tenure and a never ending cycle of publish or perish). Not sure what else to do, I got a Master's in Education and taught for 5 years before I left work to have my daughter. Now, to be fair, I didn't *hate* teaching, but it's not my passion. Had I married someone with different finances, or chosen not to marry, or if tomorrow I were made a widow I could make a reasonable life off of that degree. I'd likely eventually get a PhD in education and become a principal for the financial boost, possibly a superintendent to provide the life I feel is appropriate for my daughters.However, as things stand, I have the financial luxury (because my husband has a Master's from MIT there's that education=money equation again, and because MIT gave him the professional contacts to get a job that puts us into the top tax bracket) to pursue my interests. I am making money as a writer about sexuality, pregnancy and the post partum experience. The education I received in these subjects was not in an academic classroom (until now) I trained with Planned Parenthood, I trained as a sex educator in college, and I taught sex ed as a middle school teacher. I have had the experience of pregnancy and the post-partum period. I saw a lack of information and am trying my best to help fill that void. I also have had a story accepted for publication in a short story anthology (which you can argue is base talent, but I would argue that talent was helped along by many years of writing and English courses).BUT I have reached a point in my career where, to advance, even as an entrepenuer in my field, I need additional education. I'm taking courses in social work, counseling, and furthering my sex education in areas where I have less professional education. This will probably turn into a Master's in Social Work at some point.Do you need business school? I'd say no. Like you, I hire people to do my taxes, and at some point I'll hire someone to do a better website than I can manage on my own. But that doesn't mean college, or professional education with credentials isn't important for those of us who are not the 1 in a billion exception to the rule.But the reality is that most of us can't support ourselves with our innovation right away it takes years of effort to be successful. To pay the bills in those years, to fund your enterprise, to pay for those web designers and accountants .it's helpful to have a useful (ie NOT history) degree to fall back on. Otherwise, your chances of making a middle class income are slim and an upper class income virtually null. Money isn't everything to everyone, but as someone who has been on welfare and who is now fianlcinaly stable, I'd make a strong argument that it helps. Otherwise, you have a dream and no means to afford it.