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Do You Think College is Worth it?


Ldlelee

Do You Think College is Worth it?  

91 members have voted

  1. 1. Well, Do You?

    • Yes
      68
    • No
      23

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I'm asking because I'm honestly curious. I know that we need more people who have pursued higher education, but due to economic conditions, mental health, life, and other personal reasons, it's not as easily accessible or doable for some people. That's why I want to ask. I, personally, believe that college is important, but not suitable for everybody, and it's definitely not affordable for everybody, either.

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That is a hard question to answer with a yes-no. I'm a big believer in the option of  trade school, or a couple of years of community college before a full college. Unfortunately, affording college is a huge issue. A four year university undoubtedly opens up a lot of opportunity and a life experience I wouldn't want to miss, but being able to have that is a luxury. The concept of "just going to university to figure out what to do with life" is not quite a good idea a lot of the time. I suppose that it depends what your career and social goals are like, and your financial situation. It isn't something you can give general advice for.

 

EDIT; I should qualify, I went to university for 3 years before having to leave for health reasons. I was going to go into education, but that never panned out and I work in a different industry entirely. My sister got her degree and never worked a single day in that field.

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No, I'm supposed to decide on a college soon and I'm expected to pay for my entire tuition. I don't even know what to do with the rest of my life and I'm supposed to pay you thousands of dollars? No thank you. If you want to go into the medical field or education then I think it's totally worth it but if you are planning to work in retail forever then definitely not. That was a bad example but hopefully you get the point. 

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i answered yes, but it is so very dependent on the situation of an individual. of course, instead of a traditional 4 year university there are other options (which have already been mentioned). trade schools, apprenticeships, community college, all sorts of different stuff. i know it is so extremely expensive and difficult/impossible to afford for so many people. as a senior applying to colleges and planning to leave next year, i’m facing the entire tuition myself, it’s a lot. but this is coming from someone who has been attending a community college through high school for the past 2 years, so i’ve gotten a little bit of a “taste” for what college will be like and i’ve knocked out a lot of the standard college freshman classes, which makes it even more worth it for me. i plan to study cyber security and possibly computer science/engineering, which to me, seems best to be learned at through a university. all of those factors make it worth it to me. that does not mean it’s worth it to everyone. but i wouldn’t answer “no” on the poll simply because it is worth it for many. i don’t believe with the argument that college is entirely not worth it for anyone, which i hear far too often.

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I voted "yes" because the question was a bit too vague.

 

It depends on how you balance the financial investment, time investment, and value of learning.

 

From a purely financial perspective, it depends on how much more money you ACTUALLY expect to be making in excess of what you would be making without a degree.

 

If the annual excess is less than 5% of your total debt + opportunity cost, then no.

 

If it's more than 10%, it's worth it financially.

 

If it's between 5% and 10%, it depends on the uncertainty/volatility of how much more you'd be earning.

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(Of course, they don't usually teach you how to do a time-value-of-money calculation before college.)

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I don't think college is for everybody and for certain careers a college education is certainly not worth it. But unfortunately college and education play a larger role in how we're perceived by others and sometimes degrees are needed even if it doesn't matter what they're in. For example, I'm teaching English but have a BA in Sociology. That degree has nothing to do with English other than I can read and write at a college level. And yeah, I also have a teaching credential in the States, so I could be teaching American students English right now despite not having a degree in it (though there are a bunch of other tests you need to pass so obviously you're not going to get through without a good amount of English knowledge). 

 

So I voted "Yes" despite thinking college is way too over-priced and over-hyped. 

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CierraJasmineJ

For me, college was the best option, and is definitely worth it. I want to go into the medical field, so achieving my goals is literally impossible without a lot of school. However, I agree that for some people, college is not a good option. Skilled trades can lead to amazing futures without the crushing debt that college can bring. However, I know college isn't a choice for everyone due to their circumstances. I think that college is worth it if you want a career where it is necessary, such as being a teacher or doctor, and if there's something you want to learn that can help you in the future. I don't believe in just going to college for the sake of going to college, because there's nothing wrong with not going to college, and after a gap year or two, if it turns out that a college education is a good choice, it's not too late to go back. It's definitely way overpriced, but it can be worth it, just not for everyone. I do wish that was seen as more of an option, but these days, it seems like its expected to go to college, and high schoolers aren't even taught about the other options, from what I've seen. 

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Knight of Cydonia

For me, college (university) was necessary since my career goal is to be an astrophysicist. You kinda need a doctorate to even have a chance at being sucessful as one.

 

At the same time, college isn't for everyone, and some degrees are more "worth it" than others.

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The market at least seems to think so - lifetime earnings of effectively all college degrees seem to make up for their cost in the US (albeit to differing degrees)

Affordability is definitely a major problem though. Based on my economic background I severely doubt I'd have gone to college was I not from a country where it is basically free.

Having your economic background be a hindrance to both learning as well as the economic opportunity that comes with it is so sad - we really have to do something about that in the US 😕

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It really depends on one's circumstances and what they'd like to do. 

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Shrug. Depends on the person. I didn’t and never would do it but some enjoy it and get better jobs because of it. I think we should absolutely stop glorifying higher education and stop making it sound like a mandatory part of life. It’s become socially unacceptable to not go on to university and that’s just wrong. Especially considering the crippling debt, alcohol abuse, and ill mental health that usually comes with university. It’s definitely not all it’s cracked up to be but for some, it can be life changing for the better. 

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slightly different if you live in Europe. In Ireland for example Tuition fees are means tested anyone can afford to go, i do mean anyone in Ireland barring the minorities the Irish dump on but i guess that is a too common problem everywhere :( To do a masters in Ireland will cost you 3000, My German friend was scandalalised, 300 in Germany. We tend to take our own culture as the norm but we should remember that every culture does at least one (probably 100's of ) thing better than ours.

 

So yes totally worth your time, worth 100k in tuition fees? wow i couldn't even imagine paying that whatever i hoped to gain from it

 

 

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I answered yes, but I feel like I should clarify.

 

To me college is not a means to an ends necessarily, but rather is beneficial because learning is beneficial. The learn in of itself is worth it for me, and worth it many times over. But I know many people who see college merely as a means to get more money, and I must say I struggle to comprehend that mindset so if you are of that mindset my answer probably isn't helpful. But college is not for everyone and life circumstances can interfere.

 

Sadly college in the USA can be crazy expensive, combine this with a plethora of college options and quite a few scam or nearly-scam degrees and it is confusing. I personally think Community College is a great way to go, followed by avoiding every for-profit college (sometimes state colleges are cheap) and steering clear of online-heavy colleges. I know far too many people who ended up crazy in debt with a degree from a for-profit college that many employers do not see as a degree.

 

The cost and benefits of going to college also vary by area. Where I live is one of the most educated areas in the USA (over 50% of people have at least a 4-year degree, over 33% have graduate degrees) and so even more so than somewhere in the middle-of-nowhere having a degree is fairly necessary to get any job beyond service or trade jobs.

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Anthracite_Impreza

For me it wouldn't be, no. I've never wanted to a job that required it, and now I'm training (excuse the pun) to be/am a train driver and steam fireman, which is definitely not somet you can learn at uni or college. I also love mechanics and engineering but I struggle to learn through academic means; I'm very practical and I can't figure anything out without actually seeing and playing about with it. I tried mechanics through college and although I did "well", the school-type setup and having to socially interact with an entire class on a regular basis basically ensured I'll never be doing it again (as well as cost, I couldn't have ever afforded it personally. It was paid for through the job centre).

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It really depends. For me it definitely was, for many others it wouldn't be. The question is what does the person want out of it. I think education for education's sake is a valid reason, and agree that community college and state colleges in the US are good options. College is also necessary for some fields. Other fields require other types of training and that's valid, too. And there's nothing wrong with doing some of both; for example, taking college classes for learning about stuff just for the sake of learning and getting training (internships, apprenticeships, etc.) in order to get a job. I would be wary about getting in to huge debt to go to college though, for anyone - definitely a case where I'd have to think about return on investment (which is not to say it would all be about the money; if it's to get into a field a person really loves, for example, it might be worth the cost to them).

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everywhere and nowhere
On 12/16/2019 at 5:07 AM, Leedle-Lee said:

and it's definitely not affordable for everybody, either.

Education should be free. Shame on countries who don't offer as equal oportunities as possible to everyone.

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3 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Education should be free. Shame on countries who don't offer as equal oportunities as possible to everyone.

If not free then at least reasonably afforable with ways those in less fortunate situations can afford it. Our current system sucks even if this is supposed to be the goal. 

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Janus the Fox

Well worth it, especially if school results are poor, also it can be the only way to train for a specific trade, in places there’s a difference between uni and college though.  If not needing to train for a trade or furthering academic knowledge and luck to gain employment without any further key skill training, then I can see further education not required.
 

Well worth it for me though... I failed school with just 2 GCSE’s and a fail on A levels in computers, I went to college for Motor Vehicle Mechanics as a break from school and IT.  I was pulled out of that for health and safety reasons and they noted my perfect scores for IT key skills.  I was removed from the course after a year out of 3 year course, I couldn’t safely do the hands on skills.

 

A year later I went back to Computing as a BTEC First then the BTEC National and passed with full marks a Distinction a DD+ and DDD+ at the time equivalent to 5 GCSEs at A+ and 3 A Levels at A.  My next 2 years after that is my Foundation Degree in Computing, passed as a Merit, unfortunately I was pulled out for Financial reasons to top up to a full BsC.  This was where patterns in my work was strong indications for Autism, the work was difficult to mark as it was far from the expected pattern of work.  I had my first mental health crisis toward the end the second year and I’ve been formally struck off the expected world of work, formally disabled and unable.

 

The end of my degree was also the very last year degrees where paid for via grants and I don’t qualify for loans having no prospect of working to paying them off.  I’d like to continue into doing Business Information Systems up to Masters level due to gaining a Distinction in the modules involving Information Systems Design and Analysis and having a rejection every year plus the 6 year time limit is now up.  In that mean time though, I’ve navigated the state help benefit system in my favour, requiring the law and doctor signatures to be required to be taken off it.  It’s one area of my studies I’ve used, as the benefits system is an information system in the end of the day.

 

I would need the re-introduction of degree grants to further education more, continued therapy, counselling and learning support as an autistic learner as well as safety other things such as it might be worth holding off being introduced to the economic world after transitioning, I’m not getting anywhere as a man lol.    

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There needs to be an "it depends" choice. Some careers you need a degree or two. Some careers you'd be better off saving your money. Some places you work will pay for the education. It all depends.

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Entirely dependant on what you do and how you do it.

If you're taking something with little-to-no job prospects, no.
If you're someone who just goes on the piss, no.
versus
You know where you want to go and how you're getting there, yes.
You fail/drop out of the course but knew it was something you had to at least try, yes.

I dropped out of UK college (which is US high school) so I'm thick as pig muck - paid higher education for me would be like burning money.

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I'm not going to give a yes or no because I feel it's entirely dependent on the person and situation. If you are committed to it and feel good about it, I think it's great. College absolutely increases your chances of landing a career and making more money. 

 

Although some people don't agree with this, I also think it can be important socially. The partying and meeting lots of new people while being away from home is a big part of people's lives. It'll lead to "mistakes" and what not, but that's part of life. These are the experiences you learn from as you get older. So yeah, I think college has a TON of benefits for people. 

 

With that said, I made a huge mistake and wasted years of my young life. I knew out of high school that college was not right for me. It had nothing to do with being a bad student or anything. I was actually a great high school student. I just knew I wasn't passionate about anything at the time and I would've preferred to work and see where things lead me and save some money as opposed to school. Instead, I gave into my parents demands and did my pre-reqs and the more I did, the less interested I was. I kept pushing though, in order to try to please my parents. I kept choosing majors and failing but kept trying over and over and over. I worked part time at several different jobs over the years, but with school semesters, I couldn't do full time, which sucked. I would've loved to work full time at any of those jobs at the time. All that time I knew in my soul that college wasn't right for me at the moment. I have always been very responsible with my money and I could've worked, saved some money, met new people, formed an actual social life and seen where life took me. You just never know. You put yourself out there, you have a shot at forming connections that can change your life. I knew a guy who worked at a McDonald's, met his eventual GF there, and her Dad wound up getting him a job making $60,000 per year, with plenty of room for growth with the company. This was a guy in his low 20s, no degree, and no spectacular resume. I understand that's not a normal situation, but a lot in this world is about who you know. 

 

I was NEVER anti-college either. As I said, I think it can be fantastic. I just knew it wasn't right for me at the time. I was also very much open to the possibility that I'd work and at some point figure out something I'm passionate about and be ready to dive into college. Instead of listening to myself, I continued to try to please my parents, and eventually just wound up working full time at a job I could've had several years before, and not wasted 7 years of my young life basically accomplishing nothing just to try to please their desires for me. I failed myself more than anyone. 

 

So my advice would be, explore your options always, but at the end of the day, live your life the way it feels right for you at the moment. You've only got one shot at this, why should you live according to anyone but yourself. You are the person that is impacted most by your choices and actions. 

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WanderingKate

This is definitely not as simple as a yes or no answer I would say. 

For me it was absolutely worth it. Yes I did create a good amount of debt for myself, but even that has taught me a lot about responsibility and managing my own finances. And it's been somewhat rewarding watching that number steadily go down :) 

But for the career I now find myself in...there's no way they would have hired me without a degree. So college was definitely a necessity for me. 

College also allowed me to live on my own and be independent for the first time. To move away from my small town and experience life in a much more diverse environment in every way. It probably sounds cliché...but I did find myself in college. Different views were celebrated, being different was celebrated, actually caring about learning was celebrated (at my high school, it was not "cool" to be smart). I felt like it was okay to explore for the first time in my life and not just fit in. 

And of course I did learn a lot. I took courses just for the sake of being interested in the topic and discovered a lot about myself, like that I find philosophy and religion extremely interesting, even if I'm not particularly spiritual myself. 

And I made some life long friends who I truly love. 

So yeah- for me, it was worth it. Yes, there are a lot of negatives and there were nights I just wanted to drop out and didn't see the point....and I absolutely despised how in my middle-class town people who chose to go to a trade school were looked down upon :( 

I think for me personally, it was a good choice. But it's certainly not for everyone. Do your research and at the end of the day, do what feels right to you and what will help you best in terms of your career and your future. :) 

 

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It's worth it if it's easy for you to complete a degree; not worth it if it'll be difficult. If you find you're in a good position to get a degree, then get it! For me, personally, I don't have a specific career I want to pursue, but college is cheap in my area and I got plenty of scholarships. I realized this was the cheapest I'd ever get my degree for, so I may as well study something I love, and if I actually want to pursue a career in the future, I can go for a masters degree and enter with a head start. However, if college is expensive in your area, or if you just aren't ready for it, then why bother? There's plenty of alternatives.

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It's a complicated question. Is it worth the time spent? Yes, I would say so. Learning is valuable and worthwhile, even if it doesn't directly contribute to getting a job or any of that. Of course, college is not the only way to acquire learning. Is it worth going into debt that you may never be able to actually pay back? Well, probably not, because that's a big problem, especially if you're not going to be making much money.

 

Personally, I opted for taking a selection of the classes that I felt were the most interesting or most useful to me at my local community college, which I could afford to pay for, and striving to learn anything else I'm interested in on my own or through alternate classes (and since I was homeschooled until college, I'm used to doing that). Some people also get a lot of friends and connections out of it; I never would have, because I wouldn't have been able to interact with other people enough for that.

 

I would absolutely say that college is worth it in countries where it's free or affordable. Being taught by people who know their field and are good at teaching is usually a better, easier way of learning than doing one's own research. But in the US, where it's nothing like affordable, I honestly don't think it's worth it for most people unless they really need it for their chosen career. It's definitely not worth it as it stands just to have gone to college with no other goal or reason in mind.

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Yes, but with the proviso that it's not for everyone. The question has a wide scope. For some, they'll be suited to academic qualifications, others vocational qualifications, yet there'll be some people for whom the best option may well be going into employment and skipping college 

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I don't think there's a straight yes or no answer to this question. As many people have said, it is entirely dependent on many factors. For those who go to waste time and don't do the work, then of course it's not worth it. If it'll help you get a job or the career you want, then I believe it is.

 

For my own personal opinion, I'm stuck hoping that it is. I'm graduating in a few months (officially since I've already completed my BA), but with combined student loans and a poor prospective job market... Well, you can see why I'm being hopeful.

 

It really is a case by case basis question.

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I hated school, it was enforced on us, if we didn't understand something we were made to feel stupid and humiliated for it, most college tutors have been through this too, then they went into the profession which, in later life they went on to teach in college, if you don't understand something, rather than humiliating you, they take the time to explain, they treat you as an adult, they are much more respectful towards you as a student and a person rather than teachers in schools, they respect our differences, I learned more in 2 years at college than I did in 11 years at school 

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Janus the Fox
On 12/24/2019 at 8:23 AM, Sleighcaptain said:

Yes, but with the proviso that it's not for everyone. The question has a wide scope. For some, they'll be suited to academic qualifications, others vocational qualifications, yet there'll be some people for whom the best option may well be going into employment and skipping college 

Yes, also take good quality advice at heart and with a grain of salt.  There’s careers advice that is good for the direction one is going or wanting.  Some are passionate for a cause or trade, some can take that to unrealistic levels.  Even during college/uni, if you’re being pulled aside by the tutors or the head tutors of that course for reasons based on the actual ability and results on tests on several occasions especially on the first year, it’s a good indication that the course or subject, academic or vocational, is not for you.  Depending where you are locally, the local economy might not be too available for jobs to just leave school with nothing, others can be abundant with lower skilled jobs to take on.

 

I was set aside during my Motor Vehicle Repair vocation on multiple occasions, the science, math and key skill where immaculate, but several tutors noted that I was physically struggling to do the tasks, thus I was dropped out of the 3 year course after one year.  Similar with my ICT/Business and Computing courses and degrees.  This time though more positive as my work at hand was near perfect but difficult to mark, my way of doing the assignments was well away from typical other learners, I was told to redo a lot of the work so it was more readable or face a delay in marking and risk the mark not be on time, which can be an automatic fail.  Not my problem I thought, but got my mark eventually before time limits.  This lead to a number of tutor/parent reports with an advisory to seek a diagnosis of autism and dyslexia (having counselling in between in that mean time).  It was not economically feasible to come out of school with only 2 GCSEs at that time and careers advice went nowhere beyond “a job in computers is not realistic”.

 

My area sucks for jobs and have brought foreword a few business ideas that went nowhere related to computing, all of which are global corporate saturated markets already.  Business Enterprise Forums and job fares don’t bring a lot here either, given I can assist in Business Information Systems for Start-up and Small Business.  It’s a social party and heavy reliant on confidence, trust, esteem, the social world I’ve always fall behind on being disabled and not able to communicate with.  Unfortunate as this is, I’ve been qualified for state benefits ever since finishing uni and after the disqualification from JSA after the 2 year time limit and being disqualified from voluntary duties.  Never been able to shake the benefit system of of myself, it is perhaps for the better.  I can assist in online voluntary communities or small odd jobs here or there.

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