university education is not essential for success?

Question

do you agree that a university education is not essential for success? pls give me 3 reasons.
thx

Answer 1

Firstly, it is essential to first establish what a person wants to be successful IN. If a person wants to be a doctor, then in order to be successful in being a doctor, they of course must go to uni. If a person desires to be the manicurist to the stars, uni. is not necessary. So you should first establish a control, a field where success depends upon the individual talents as opposed to what they would learn at uni, i.e. sales.

For sales, the difference between someone having an education and someone not is usually the amount of time it takes for them to succeed. Specifically, the more education someone has, the longer it takes them to succeed in sales. I'm not sure of any analysis' ever having been done on why, but in my experience, when it comes to learning how to sell, the hungrier, the more willing to listen, the faster a person learns and becomes successful at sales.

Uni. can be basically an attendance record, showing that someone can commit to something, and stick with it (which is the main reason that employers are willing to pay someone more for having a degree). Now, once again, I am only speaking of those degrees with no obvious forward path; to doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc., uni is a vital and necessary component to their career. A uni education is not necessary for an artist. But who wouldn't benefit from a few extra years of learning, and discipline, before they enter the workforce? Even if they want to be a stylist, or a writer, people are judged on their education, their age, their clothes, everything.

Sorry this went on so long--extrapolate what you will.

Answer 2

No, a degree is not essential for success. What it does do, like any education is give you even more choices. If you have no qualifications, you start in a low paid job and if you are lucky, you work your way up or get a break. If unlucky, you stay in a low paid job.

The more educated you are, the more choices you have. For certain jobs a degree is essential ie, teaching, medicine, some branches of the police, some branches of nursing etc.

It depends on the person. To me success is a state of mind, not how much money you have in the bank and how large your house and car are.

Answer 3

I have a Law Degree. My husband has a G.E.D. He makes more money than I do. Is that what you mean by success?
To me, SUCCESS depends on how happy you are at your job. If you love what you do, you will do it well and achieve.
Per hour wages, I made more money as a waitress in a nice bar than I do now-taking inflation into consideration.
College does not really teach you anything if you are a Major Arts Candidate. College instills the challenge to approach problems w/ different perspectives
I believe there are many jobs in the marketplace that require an innate talent- I.e.,Sales, Construction, Day Care, etc. This does not mean that you shouldn't use education to enhance these skills
Keep in mind that you can be stripped of all you own. No-one can ever take away your education.

Answer 4

Not essential for success. Here are some examples from my experience:

I. The best job I ever had was actually before I went to university. I was not able to get a better one after graduating despite years of looking, and to make matters worse my old employer would not even take me back (personal experience).
2. I know several people who have become hugely successful in business without one. (Again personally).
3. You spend several years out of the workforce, during which time you could establish a career. Depending on what you study, but certainly with virtually all non-vocational degrees, you are losing out significantly on financial renumeration which is difficult to make up in later years.

Answer 5

Couldn't agree more.

1. i have a better job now than i will have when i graduate and in the foreseeable future.
2. teaching is basic, i could learn more from the net.
3. just because you didn't go to uni, doesn't mean your not intelligent. Most businesses now run their own management programmes and you don't need a degree, and it doesn't necessarily stand out from experience.

However i do think that further education ,whether a-levels or college is useful.
Success is a state of mind, you have to decide where you priorities lie, money or happiness, YOU decide.

Answer 6

OK....
1.) With an ever-increasing number of people pursuing degree courses it is becoming more an more important to obtain a relevant degree that employs you for the job market. Doing a non-vocational degree course in media studies or sports studies may not do this. More and more graduates are finding that just having a degree education does not guarantee quality employment - choosing the right degree is vitally important.
2.) Many employers offer the opportunity to train through apprenticeship programmes to degree-equivalent qualifications, so people with string GCSE grades should certainly consider these before deciding what to do. I know of plenty of clients who have made very successful careers for themselves through this route, and likewise many unemployed graduates who have assumed that their degree would guarantee employment.
On the other hand.....
3.) It is still true to say that the average earnings of graduates exceeds non-graduates - so I would not rule out Higher Education entirely.
It's a case of deciding which style of learning and which career route suits you best.

Answer 7

Of course, but if you have a degree you can command more money from the outset. Going to university means that you have spent a few years in quite a strange environment where everyone thinks that they cleverer than everyone else.

Example 1. Sir Alan Sugar. However, he did state on one of the Apprentice programmes that he really wished he'd gone to university, ( then he said that if he'd gone to uni, he would understand more how they all became such pratts.)

Example 2. Sir Richard Branson. He's a multi millionaire but never went to university.

Example 3. John Lennon, Mick Jagger, whoever has just won the X Factor and so on. Lordi from Finland who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.

Answer 8

Absolutely true.

You do not need a university education to come up with good ideas for success and you'll find that whether somebody is a "success" or not is actually irrelevant to whether or not they had a university degree. University serves to educate you in a specific area but you'll find that at least 40% of graduates wind up doing something with their life other than what they studied in university.

Answer 9

I kind of hope that it's not essential, even though I am currently at uni... but that's a little bleak don't you think? I mean uni isn't suitable for everyone, some people can't afford it etc.
And as someone pointed out it depends what you mean by successful, but to be honest it seems to me that these days going to university isn't really anything special, you don't even need to be particularly clever, and if anything rare skills seem more in demand, I've heard that plumbers for instance get a hell of a lot of money. If everyone starts going to university then surely we'll be calling out for people to do jobs that you don't need a degree to do? there'll be a lack of builders, plumbers etc etc

Answer 10

No -- I won't give you reasons.

Of course it is not essential for success -- there are lots of successful people without a college education. However, the probability of becoming successful is much greater for college graduates than for nongraduates.