Is College Necessary For Success?
Federal student loan debt in the United States right now is estimated to be around $1.4 trillion, with millions of people still owing tens of thousands that will likely most of them more than a decade to pay off.
Young people today are told repeatedly that they need to go to college in order to be successful and that without going to college, there is no way that they could ever end up being able to provide for themselves in a meaningful way. Is this the truth, though?
For millions of students who do graduate with some degree and who owe thousands of dollars, a great deal of them will be surprised to find that perhaps getting a job in their respective field isn't as easy as they thought it was going to be. And some of them will even end up working minimum wage jobs or some entry position unrelated to their education history, that they likely could've start doing right out of high-school—saving themselves the time and debt.
Students will inevitably find today that post-secondary education isn't a guarantee for stable employment.
One big issue is that a great deal of graduates don't have any real work experience or they don't know how to apply what they've learned in school to the workplace. And if they can't relay the sort of skills they've acquired, that they will bring to the table for the company they're interested in working with, then they're unlikely to obtain the position.
At the end of 2016, it was found that roughly 44 percent of college grads are working in positions that didn't require a degree.
Obtaining a college degree doesn't guarantee success, job placement, or job security.
There are many entrepreneurs out there today who are living their dreams despite having made the move to drop out of college. People like Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Bill Gates (Microsoft), John Mackey (Whole Foods), Evan Williams (Twitter), Jan Koum (WhatsApp), and many others, have been able to pursue their business goals even though they dropped out.
Being an entrepreneur isn't easy, it can be one of the most difficult adventures that anyone might ever try to take on.
It's been suggested that the longer someone stays in school that the better their chances are of earning more, but that's a big risk to take. And especially for someone who cannot afford it or who isn't clear about what they might be passionate about and interested in doing with the rest of their lives, locking themselves up to some 4-8 year plan could be more detrimental than helpful to their success.
For those who aren't going to go the college route, they have the option of looking to try and gain that knowledge or those skills somewhere else. And thanks to the internet, there are an endless amount of resources that are available today for those who might be interested in pursuing further education.
A degree can provide a great deal of benefit for those who need it, in order to work in a specific industry for example, but college isn't a necessary ingredient to achieving success.
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Sources:
http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/02/27/student-loan-debt-crisis
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/15/why-college-grads-cant-find-jobs-commentary.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryalton/2016/12/22/millennials-are-struggling-to-get-jobs-heres-why-and-what-to-do-about-it/#2883e5134bb0
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-06/college-grads-stuck-with-low-wages-as-hiring-in-u-s-heats-up
http://www.businessinsider.com/14-tech-superstars-who-didnt-need-college-to-become-billionaires-2014-9
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomaslaurinavicius/2018/02/06/this-college-dropout-wants-to-redefine-the-way-we-learn-foreign-languages/#62673580e4b1
https://medium.com/@pocketysun/this-20-year-old-college-dropout-founds-and-funds-startups-65f49cbfacdb
http://www.businessinsider.com/14-tech-superstars-who-didnt-need-college-to-become-billionaires-2014-9#azim-premji-14
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/small-business-central/2017/05/21/what-percentage-of-businesses-fail-in-their-first-year/101260716/
https://www.inc.com/drew-hendricks/4-hot-startups-run-by-dropouts.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/10/10-ultra-successful-millionaire-and-billionaire-college-dropouts.html
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Tell that to all the graduates working at Starbucks and in the restaurant industry across the USA, paying off their monstrous student loans that paid for the fat salaries of those fancy, tenured professors.
Actually, going to college may be the single biggest hindrance to success.
Unless you want to work in a STEM field, going to college wastes four years of your life. The well rounded education that we like to dream about, is long, long gone. It is now, just four more years of indoctrination of things that have nothing to do with any job you will ever get.
Four years that you could have spent working. Or four years you could have spent working as an intern learning the stuff you really needed.
The only worth of a degree is that many companies demand a BS to get your foot in the door. However, this is quickly changing. Especially in the field of computer science, where companies want to get budding programmers before they get brainwashed in college, so that they can train them correctly.
And, if you are of the entrepreneur bent, college will destroy you. Or, at least set you back four years unlearning all the crap that people who couldn't hold down a real job on the outside taught you.
I loved books and stories... so I went to college for English Literature. I read fewer books in college than I did the in the four years before college. School keeps you busy with things that are not necessary and often keeps you from real learning.
I strongly agree with your comment.
I am of the entrepreneurial bent and I am struggling. It's been a decade and a half since graduating from college and I have mixed feelings about college. I think it's mostly a waste of time and money, but I am grateful for the things I did learn and the people I met. I do not want my children to go to college. That means that I have to be creative about finding other opportunities for them.
College, socially, is the last place where you can run into all kinds of people.
Out in the "real" world, everyone lives in their little house or apartment, and never comes out. There is very little community socialization. And i feel that this is what is missing.
We do not have a here are the eligible bachlors and nubile women get togethers.
We just have tinder and plenty-of-hookups.
However, now a days, with #MeToo, if you are male and unless you are a hunk, it is best to avoid talking to anyone. Especially any women, unless you absolutely have to. Else, you risk being thrown out in the middle of your education... without a real trial.
So, college, i believe has lost all of its value. Although i do remember the years fondly. (probably because i have nothing better to compare it to)
These days it seems like college just puts people in a mental box, and in many ways, it puts a lot of bad ideas in peoples heads, especially with how the curriculum is now so influenced by government.
vocational schools and training courses are different, but I believe the traditional college model will be obsolete soon enough.
There r certain career that require you to go through college
completely agree with you. college is a right of passage in our culture, one that doesn't even necessarily lead to good job placement anymore!! it's crazy the student loan debt that so many of my friends have!! i totally agree that a framework and a dream is truly what you need.
original thinking will take the cake in years to come as we all need to find alternative solutions to our world's issues <3
I think is good to go to college but you shouldn't depend on your certificate to become successful ,education helps to broaden your scope of knowledge but shouldn't restrict you or stop you from bringing out your potential,so going to college is not a guarantee for success.
The same situation here in Italy. Some years ago (when I was young) the post secondary school was almost a guarantee for a good job, but in the last years it's not the same. Many young people with a an high level of education are not employed or they are working in manual job where his education is irrelevant. Here we have the issues that the new graduates are more than the jobs available and just some of them became self employes/entrepreneur. As you wrote (and I know many people who can be a good example) "college isn't a necessary ingredient to achieving success."
Once upon a time, that may have been the case, I don't feel it is as much today. It used to be that the teachers and schools were the keepers of knowledge. You had to go to them to get the information that you needed to do whatever it was you were going to do. These days, the knowledge is already out there. It is all over the place and for the most part we all have access to it. As long as you know where to find it and have the skill to apply it, then you can be successful. The tech sector is a huge example of this. If I hadn't went to college, one of my career choices would have been HVAC technician. People always need heat or A/C and I guarantee I would be making much more than I currently am working for a public school. This was a really great post. I like how you presented the information. Thanks for sharing it.
In my case, I got a degree in engineering, which was not easy. I then put that degree to use for 1.5 years. Fast forward 11 years and I have not needed that degree at all. It was a total waste of time and money.
hiii my friend @doitvoluntarily, wonderful educational article you shared which is very helpful specially for students. I think As long as you're committed to your academic success, you'll succeeded. Following Points are note-able.