The Misconception of a College Degree
Student's work their brains for four years only to pay to take a test called the SAT's that basically tells them which school they smart enough to apply. The next step is for these unsuspecting college hopefuls to shell out anywhere from thirty to fifty-five dollars to attach to a college application that now state, eighty percent of college graduates will not find a job in the field of which obtained their degree. Nevertheless, colleges willingly accept hundreds of college applications and application fees only to accept the "best of the best". The thing that I never understood was why should I have to pay to go to a place that "accepted me" in the first place? This is where the institution benefits.
Statistically college tuition is rising up to twenty percent every year, forcing more than ever, for more students to take out Federal Student Loans. Six months after graduation whether a graduate lands that "dream job" they were tricked into believing would be waiting for them or not, Uncle Sam wants to collect on the hundred thousand plus dollars he put up for a students education with an interest higher than most credit card companies. If the graduate is unable to pay once they do land a job their wages get garnished. This is where the Federal Government benefits. I ask, where is the student benefiting?
What happened to all the companies that were supposed to be lined up to offer degree holders this great job that pays enough money for the big house and the Mercedes? It's not realistic. The fact of the matter is that in this day and age a Bachelor's degree is now equivalent to a high school diploma and now companies are demanding more education and that comes with a bigger price tag. The average college graduate will make about thirty thousand dollars they first two years after paying almost three time that amount in college. This doesn't even out.
Ok, think about this. A high school graduate takes a retail job at the bottom level and learns the ins and outs of the company and eventually works his or her way up to management. By the time the student who attends college graduates, the student that took the retail job is already making more money than the college graduate and also has more experience. So it is not necessary true that college graduates make more money than people that didn't go to college. Having a college degree doesn't ensure job stability. When big companies and corporations so belly up, the first to go is the people at the bottom, not the VP's. Eventually that degree holder will end up at that retail job anyway.
In my opinion, the concept of college is a set up. It's a set up by the government to instill debt, which is a way to control the economy and to determine how much money a person makes per year. Personally, it doesn't matter if you graduate college or not. It should be a decision that a student should make based on the fact they are going to acquire knowledge, not to acquire wealth. It's just not set up that way. It is not set up to benefit the student, it never was.
Published by Shaun M Mathis
I am 26 from Connecticut that enjoys thinking and writing about articles "outside the box" I am a bit argumenative but I also shed new light to previous & existing topics/situations that are going on all ar... View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentI agree a college degree does not always equate to being highly successful. A college degree says that you are skilled at learning and mastering a certain skill set. After the degree you still have to continue to sharpen your skills and the ability to connect with others. The door is slightly open with the college degree but it doesn't it will never slam in your face
It sucks, truly. Because you find someone helping you out that's a lot younger but a sharper tool in the shed than you are. Of course that's life, but you're supposed to be a lot better at this than they are. Take it and run with it; perhaps one day I will have the money to return or perhaps when I really am making great money I won't care about it so much. But it will loom over you if you aren't successful. People are successful and rich because they were in the right place at the right time, work harder than everyone else around them wanted to and worked when everyone else was partying and having a good time. They sacrificed their own personal happiness for a larger goal. That's all college really is, now you're either going to make that sacrifice and finish school or you will sacrifice something else but trust, that sacrifice is going to be made. If you want to get ahead in life you have to inconvenience yourself and be willing to give something up.
"Yep" "But they told me I needed X, Y & Z to get the job ..." Back in the day you could get on Monster and find entry level word processing, computer operator and data entry jobs all day long, in any city that had a pulse. Now a lot of those jobs are like, military contractors, government, and they want you to be overqualified for them. If you find an entry level job it's in a call center somewhere. And you'll do that job for 2 years and either leave for another one or apply for a higher up job in the company. Or you get sick of it all and find a way to go into business for yourself, whatever.
I would go back, but it isn't about working for someone else though. If you have the ambitiion and the resolve to make something of yourself you will regardless of what you have to work with. If you don't college can help you to get a job that at least allows you a comfortable existence. I was never totally convinced about college though; but I will say this, a lot of people who weren't that smart and didn't show a whole lot of potential took that degree and are a doing a lot better for themselves than I will. I don't know if they're programming per se, but they have cool job titles. A lot of smart people just play the game and get the degree and then move on, few really make anything of it though. Again, with computers it's gotten oversaturated and a lot of people that know people are getting in, jobs aren't being advertised anymore everyone is promoting from within and you have to network your a* off to get the job. That plain and simple. "Do you have a degree"? "Nope" "But
You have to put in your time. Most fields have their own certifications and liscensing that they value more than the BA itself. Computers is a prime example. You can get a cert or an Associates and have a lot of experience and get the same job you got the BA for. A lot of people in computers do not have a degree or a certification, but they work their ways up through the latter. They take call center help desk jobs that no one wants, work their way up to a supervisor or a teir 2, and take it from there. College is seen as a way to demonstrate that an individual has the aptitude to do the job, but doesn't say that they have the experience. Personally I dropped out; I was ashamed for a while then I figured the hell with it. I hated school, always wanted to socialize, people watch, actually do something with the knowledge instead of memorizing stuff. Failed a lot of tests and so on and so forth. Couldn't get the math.
Kanye West would probably frame an article like this one. :-) Like Will, I graduated from college in 2003, and I immediately started working at Walmart. That definitely didn't send out the right signals to Walmart employees who were in college. Their attitude was like "If she's here with a B.A., then what am I in school for?" However, I did end up quitting there 8 months later and working various corporate jobs to land with a corporate company doing financial copyediting. The first thing my boss looked at was that I went to grad school at DePaul and took noncredit copyediting courses at a university she also enjoyed--University of Chicago. The name alone made her interested in me, and when I was hired, she talked about DePaul profusely. For the more low-key reasons, college helps.
Eh, there's a reason that salary correlates so well with more schooling. You can do fine without college, but it's a lot tougher without that degree.
Great Article! I agree, times are different than when our parents got degrees~ I worked very hard for my degree! But I now work for a great company and it is the opposite of what my degree is.
Getting a degree is a personal choice and goal. I think it all depends on how badly you want something. I believe if you have a dream go for it and give it your all. That is success with or without a degree!
sorry to hear that will
i agree. i graduated in may with a degree in computer science. busted my a-- to maintain a 3.5 gpa... i'm working nights at walmart now. if you don't know someone, you don't get paid. that's what it comes down to. it works that way whether you have the degree or not