What are the benefits of a university education?

Question

If the government hype is to be believed then a university education is the passport to a more successful life. Has anybody experienced any real benefits as a direct result of having studied at university?

Answer 1

Personally, I have experienced benefits as a direct result of having studied at university, but that's because I now work as a research fellow in a university. However, I strongly believe that the government is doing its best to destroy any standards that we may have had in the education system and insisting that everyone should go to uni has no logical reasoning behind it.

It used to be widely accepted that people were talented in different areas and were encouraged to pursue careers in order to compliment their skills. A small proportion of the population went to university to pursue a worthwhile academic degree, often leading to a related career such as a career in academia. Other people undertook apprenticeships in order to acquire a trade and so on. These days it seems not to matter what you study at university so long as you go and study 'something'. As a result, we have a shortage of skilled people in trades such as plumbing and an excess of people leaving university with a whole heap of debt and not much else to show for the past three or four years.

The government needs to wake up to the fact that not everybody is suited to university and also needs to acknowledge that people are choosing pointless 'made up' degrees over worthwhile subjects such as the sciences, ,just to go to university. How does a degree in 'pop music' benefit society? At the end of the day, something has to change, including attitudes. Having a degree used to be a prestigious thing, now people look at you strangely if you don't have one! At the other end of the scale, people take a snobbish view that not going to university means that you are somehow not intelligent or not skilled. Is this really what the government hoped to achieve?

Answer 2

All those people who blanket-insult graduates should take their kids out of school, not go to the dentist, nor the doctor, nor gain the help of graduate nurses/midwives. If they ever have a legal complaint they should represent themselves in court.

Only then can they truly say their 'shop floor' experience has made them brighter than graduates.

I'm not saying that everyone is cut out for university- but I am saying some jobs, you need to be very highly trained with information/book learning before you are let loose on the public to get 'shop floor' experience. An experienced hospital doctor or teacher will have had lots of 'shop floor' experience (and have probably seen more 'social issues' than most other jobs- so hardly sheltered academics) but they couldn't have started out without university first.

Answer 3

I don't have a degree but in my experience of others, a general university education does very little. The 3-4 years I spent working after college have been of much more benefit to me than a degree.

I agree that it is useful/necessary for certain fields, i.e. medicine, law, etc. but unless you re very specialised, I don't really see the point in acquiring debt which will take years to pay back.

Answer 4

It depends on what you want to do in life. If all you want to do is work in a fast food restaraunt then going to college wouldn't be worth it. But, if you want to do more than that (like teach, work in a state park, be a lab technician, researcher, write in a magazine, etc.) then you need to get at least a bachelors degree. There are some jobs where you could probably move up without having a college degree.

Personally, I have benefited from going to college. Of course, with what I want to do in life I needed to go to college. I am getting ready to start graduate school next month and I couldn't have done that without a bachelors degree. I want to work at the state or government level doing research in Zoology (specifically mammals) and Entomology. Without a college degreed I wouldn't be able to do that. I would probably be working at some job that only paid minimum wage instead of being able to move up to a job that was a salary paying job.

On top of learning about my major (Ecology), I got to meet a lot of great people, learn more about the mountains of western NC and the upstate of SC, as well as learning more about myself. I was able to become more self-dependent.

Answer 5

On average, you can get more money with a degree than without it. There are exceptions, such as sales.

What it does for you as a person is worth a million times more than the money. That's if you go at the right time. People who do voluntary work for a year or so, or even pursue a career for a few years or have a family, before going to uni get much more out of it because their experience teaches them the value of understanding (note understanding is different to knowledge).

A friend left school with one O-level to his name. He's been pretty successful and could certainly have become pretty rich by now if he'd dedicated himself to pursuing money. But as an adult he's become HUNGRY for education. He missed his chance at uni (as he sees it) and now he's desparate to fill the gap. He memorises Shakespeare sonnets, for goodness sake.

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school" - Einstein.

Answer 6

they do no longer seem to coach artwork ethic or morals in college so I say no. An uneducated individual with force will self coach and be formidable and bring great fee to the corporate. A self taught individual a techniques exceeds any college grad, yet lacks that piece of paper to get a central authority interest. yet in spite of this i think what we could desire to define is what you advise with the aid of high quality coaching. Your assertion could assume you need to get a high quality coaching at a college, and that doesn't look genuine recently, perchance in some fields, however the majority seems to be rubbish what they coach. I definitely have taken some college classes those days and alter into completely unimpressed with the levels of coaching and approach. I went lower back to self analyze and studying using the internet and have been studying.

Answer 7

I never went to university and didn't progress any higher than a legal secretary which I worked my way up to, but many people I know or have worked for have. (solicitors, accountants, etc and they are very well off!). I definitely think it's beneficial if you want to have a professional career. I will be encouraging my children to go to university because to survive financially in the world today you have to have a good career.

Answer 8

I think the benefits are more social. I grew up a lot, met people from all over the world, became more tolerant, made lots of friends, had fun, expanded my mind (!) and was able to become a teacher at the end.

Answer 9

Bugger all judging by the idiots I deal with, training should take place on the shop floor, so you know what the hell you are talking about. Graduates are the only people I know who have on the job training for a job they know squat about and get massive salaries. So there.

Answer 10

A career in an environment that is safe...Higher pay...more chances of being hired by top notch companies.