Reasons NOT To Go To College

in Education by aftonforrester — August 29, 2011 at 9:57 am | 0 comments

Looking for an Excuse to Avoid College? We Might Have It For You….

Forbes Magazine recently printed an interesting article titled “Five Reasons To Skip College.”  The article pointed out what we all know, a college education is expensive.  “Four years at an elite university like Princeton or Harvard will set you back around $160,000.”  Of course the article also points out the benefits of such an education:  “The professors, the coursework, the people you’ll meet and the invaluable experiences you’ll have. And, of course, the bottom line: You’ll earn more money afterward. In fact, on average, the holder of a four-year college degree will earn 62% more over their lifetimes than a typical high-school graduate. And that’s just on average. The return on investment for attending one of the nation’s 25 or so most selective colleges is far more impressive. Money well spent, right?  Well, not necessarily.”

This article points out an idea many people have been touting for quite awhile – and that idea is beginning to gain louder voices and more momentum.  In today’s economy is the cost of a college education really worth it?  Or, like many are saying, are we in an inflated education bubble which will break the same way the housing bubble did?  With the changes in today’s world, economy, and job market is a “traditional” college education really all that valuable?  Or is it safer to hone individual skills and gain extra experience by getting into the workforce early?

Who Wins? Who Loses?

According to valid statistics there does certainly seem to be a correlation between lifetime earnings and level of education / degree earned.  But according to the Forbes article, correlation is not the same thing as cause.  Just because there appears to be a correlation does not mean that education is the cause of the higher earnings.  “Economists like Robert Reischauer ruffled feathers several years ago by pointing out that talented, driven kids are more likely to go to college in the first place–that they succeed, in other words, because of their innate abilities, not because of their formal education.”  The article then goes on to mention several known billionaires who never received a college degree.

Name Dropping

Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and then started his Microsoft Corporation.  Larry Ellison, who founded the database company Oracle also dropped out of college.  While Mr. Ellison’s net worth is not as high as that of Bill Gates, no one could sneer at his 16 billion dollar worth.  And there are many others.  John Simplot did not graduate from high school, Alan Gerry didn’t either but that didn’t stop him from starting cable tv and then selling the idea for nearly three billion dollars.

Worth Of A College Education

The statistics seem clear, it doesn’t necessarily matter what level of education a person has as long as you have ambition and some intelligence.  It doesn’t matter where the intelligence was gained – either in the hallowed halls of some educational institution or through life experience.  Either direction seems to produce equally acceptable results.  Especially when we hear so often “I never used the things I learned in college when I was actually on the job.”  It seems that on the job experience is far more valuable than classroom experience.  History bears this out.  In the past most high level professions gained their new employees through an apprenticeship program, not through the university degree process.

This is not to say that any college education is worthless.  There are, most certainly, some professions for which a formal education is and should be required.  There aren’t very many patients who would want to see a doctor who did not attend medical school.  And most parents do not want their young children taught by teachers who never graduated themselves.  However, it seems, it today’s world, that a traditional education may not be the be-all-end-all it used to be.  It seems it is just as possible to make an excellent living by not attending college.

 

Tags: adult education college cost of college economy