Let me just say it, “College is a F****** waste of time”. I bet you’re clutching your pearls reading this. I’m not trying to give you a heart attack but It’s the damn truth. Unless you’re going into the medical, science or tech field… the college will do nothing but waste time. Just hear me out and let me explain myself.
- A college degree does not teach you life skills: I don’t know why but I thought after I graduated, life would be all figured out. THAT WAS A LIE. Come to find out I did not even know how to balance a check. LMAO. Here I am with a Bachelor’s Degree and I do not know how to apply for a loan or maintain good credit. Needless to say, I had to fail horribly at many things to learn from them.
- You will be paying Debt forever: Not forever but it will definitely seem like it. Why pay a college 50K + When you could’ve used that money to put a down payment on a house, start a business, invest in stock and so much more valuable things.
- A degree doesn’t guarantee a job: That is what they DON’T tell you in school. With today’s job market, honey if you don’t have a Ph.D., employers don’t even look like you. Imagine coming fresh out of college and an employer has the audacity to offer you minimum wage! There are whole people with doctorates who are living paycheck to paycheck!! Now you’re 100K in debt and working for $10 an hour because you do not have 5+ years of experience. A joke!
A college degree is not necessary to be successful anymore. Me being a 1st generation person to go to college in America, it was basically forced on me to go. One of the worst decisions I ever made! Life experiences teach you more than anything you will get sitting in a classroom. Even getting certificates are better and way cheaper. Instead of using those funds for college, allow your child to travel for a year and be exposed to different cultures. Let them learn what life is really about. Granted, a lot of these skills should be taught at home but speaking for myself, my parents are from another country. Life in Haiti vs. America is waaayyy different and I honestly cannot blame them. But where they lacked, you would expect a prestigious school to prepare an individual to be successful when you graduate.
I for one will be encouraging my son to start his own business and become self-sufficient. I hope the parents who are reading this also think about this when it comes to their kids as well. I dropped out of my MBA program because they were only teaching me how to work for other people! I want to be an entrepreneur damn it! Give me the tools I need to make it! When I realized I wasn’t getting that, I decided to just not go through with it. I have learned more from business groups on Facebook than what I was getting in the MBA program.
Please don’t think I am trying to say kids shouldn’t get more education. They should, but there are more options other than going to college now. If they choose not to go to college, don’t call them a bum. One good idea can turn into a multi-million dollar business. There are countless wealthy people who do not have formal education. Volunteering, getting a mentor, seminars, conferences, networking, reading, traveling and researching are all ways you can grow your intelligence without spending so much money.
Sound off below, what are your thoughts? Is college a must-do in your family? Will you offer different alternatives?
I speak as a girl who did not go to college and I will always be grateful to my parents who never made me weigh its and respected my choice.
That’s great, you’re parents were supportive!
Great perspective but I respectfully disagree. I mean I agree with letting the kid decide and the keyword here is not to force them in either direction but going to college definitely has its merits.
You’re right, if done strategically you can get a lot of benefits!
I agree with the premise of the post, but you do not need student loans to go to school. Attend a college you can afford (first and foremost) and WORK throughout the years. Forget the notion that college is an “experience” and go for the learning, not the partying.
I agree! a lot of people do not take advantage of it
I agree! College was the worst decision I ever made. I will be paying off my student loans until I’m well past my 60’s and my degree didn’t even help me get a job.
I’m sorry you had to go through that too!
There is a whole lot of truth in this post. A significant number of degrees being issued do nothing for boosting careers or getting a good job. College still has its place, but you are right that it is mainly in the sciences, medical, or tech field. Unfortunately, teaching degrees are also necessary in order to get a job as a teacher, but the vast majority of teachers realize once they get to the classroom that their teaching degree actually did little to prepare them for teaching life. And so many degrees are just fluff degrees now. I think college should still exist, but there should be counseling that teaches kids how to navigate it in a way that actually does further them in the work world. And if they are able to recognize that college isn’t going to do that for what they want to do, then show them other avenues of success. Some of the greatest people in our world didn’t go to college and yet were still wildly successful.
I don’t live in the US and might not relate to your to this in a personal way. But I do understand what your mean, education systems should teach more including personal finance.
I don’t believe college is for everyone and that has been a personal belief I have held for years. It’s such a fallacy for the exact same reasons you listed here. I think it’s important to guide, encourage and support young adults but not pressure or judge them for the decisions they make.
The irony is that your post is so true, I was telling my kids the other day, that if they wanted to do skilled job then they don’t need to go to college. Just get a job and learn through experience and they may earn more than those who do go to college
Everyone is different and it makes sense to figure out what is best for someone and not go with a cookie cutter plan. There are lots of people who have succeeded without a college degree.
I went to cosmetology school and it got me through my younger twenties. I hope that if my daughter wants to go, she will choose an online school or community college.
I think you are basically right, but the problem is a bit deeper than that.
The entire system is wrong.
If you have a job, why shouldn’t you be able to have a perfect life from that? Having enough food, a place to stay, a car, our vacation – you should be able to support all that.
I can understand your point, as someone that graduated college. I’m fortunate that I do not have mounds of debt, thanks to my mom paying for most of my college which left me with $2500 to pay off myself. I am the first one in my immediate family to graduate college and that made me proud. College is an experience and if you take the electives you really want, you can learn a lot. However, I am not using my degree in my current job. I can’t even call it a career because it’s just not to me. I am currently working on my own business, which is going to be my career.
Everyone is different but I’m not saying that this is not true either. But it depends really on your goal.
I see your point of view but I truely think to each its own. Im actually planning to go back to school but I also have a business that will help me make money to pay as I go cause student loans are brutal.
My friends and I had a talk about this. It all depends on what you wanna do. Most teenagers have NO CLUE what they wanna do after highschool and waste their time in college only to find out they dont want to do said career. I will not force my kids to go to college but I will tell them about all the opportunities they have to be what they want. Great post!!
I agree that college isn’t for everyone, but I’ve also seen people be turned away from jobs they are perfectly qualified for just because they didn’t have a degree. Unfortunately we live in a society where that piece of paper means more than someone’s skills or qualifications.
I agree with the underlying premise that you don’t need a college degree and you don’t really learn life skills- but it’s the new high school and i do think unless you plan to be a tradesman it will be a tough journey. Tough to be an entrepreneur and get VC funding without being able to show your degree.
I went to college, racked up more school loans than I’ll ever be able to repay and don’t even want to work in the field I studied in. It’s depressing to feel as though I wasted so much time and money.
Exact same thing happened to me!
College or no college is really a tough decision. For me college was amazing – but it was more the experience than the education that I would never want to have missed. It was more about learning how to live on my own, making friends, falling in love and then having my heart broken (repeatedly), taking classes I was interested in, discovering what I was and was not interested in, enjoying athletics – teams – club sports – intramurals, discovering parties really weren’t all they were hyped up to be, meeting wonderful professors (and some that weren’t quite so great), discovering putting a slice of pizza on a chicken sandwich tasted pretty fantastic after playing beach volleyball all afternoon, and that all you can eat chocolate cream filled donuts were probably not as good an idea as it sounded.
Granted I went to a smaller (lower cost) college, paid off my debt quickly and ended up teaching myself my career path to ultimately become an entrepreneur. Would I have ended up where I am today without college – I don’t think so. Do I think everyone needs to go to college, definitely not.
But like I said it really is a tough decision to go or not to go. I think kids these days have way more options when it comes to education and career paths.
I definitely agree with this. Growin gup, I had no choice but to go to college. It’s not as bad but I definitely wouldn’t have gone if my parents didn’t make it seem like I had no choice in the matter. I did end up amassing about 6K in debt but honestly its nothing compared to some of my friends who had gotten in 30K and more.
I agree so much. People think that college is the way to go. They often forget about trade schools and stuff that cost less than half. Almost all of those guarantee some type of a job because no one gets certified for trades anymore.
I agree with that. Every person has a right to choose. Unfortunately, many parents don’t understand it, that’s why, many students are studying without any desire.