Do we really need a college degree to get ahead in life?

Question

Why is it that if you didnt go to college your looked down upon, there are plenty of smart people who didnt go to college and are still strugling , why because they dont have a degree. why has our society made this the norm. college is all about the money any way not about what you

Answer 1

knowledge is one of the two levers which multiply your value in the world of work, according to the economists. [The other is health.]

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The same sources indicate that there are only four ways to receive income

work
capital investment
government transfer
theft

with the last two adding no net value [or likely reducing total net value] in the economy.


So, college is looked at, in part, as a symbol of your desire to get ahead. What you study there is a symbol of what you'd like to do in life.

Employers pay attention to those things. Part of why they do is the history of prior employees who proved excellent after being selected because they'd gotten an education for themselves.

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Which raises the question -- what are you doing to improve your value in the job market?


I can guarantee that there are tens of millions of Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, and other peoples who are trying their darnedest to improve their value in the job market -- because they want your job.


clear?

Answer 2

In short, YES! Unfortunately, it is a fact of life. You just need to look at the statistics to notice that it is something like a 40% increase in pay when you have a bachelors degree.
However, you are correct when you say that many people are smart and successful without a degree. But when looking at the overall numbers, these people make up a lower demographic and are the minority. For most of us, which includes me, we use an education to expand our breadth of knowledge and to open doors of opportunity since most careers require some form of education. I'm currently working on my masters degree, because of what you pointed out, that getting a bachelors degree is becoming the norm. So, the pressure is to continue on to the next level of education to compete.

The bottom line is that college is not just about getting a better job, which is never a given anyway, but it is to expand our horizens and enjoy the overall experience. There were many classes I took that had no relation to my education or career path but they helped me look at the world in a different light, forced me to think critically, and exposed me to many opinions, and gave me the ability to speak and have an opinion on subjects that I would otherwise be quiet about.

Anyway, you need to make up your own mind. Don't let anyone tell you how to live your life. For all I know, you could be the next Bill Gates (college drop-out that became the richest man in the world).

Good Luck!

Answer 3

i know it seems complicated. trust me I'm going through college and the bill is not getting any smaller. but think of it this way. You are a simple gadget that goes through engineers who keep adding things to you which makes you more wanted in the world..more people want you. The more you add to yourself the more people pay to have one of you. that is what college is all about. You make yourself more valuable to the world. There have been studies that someone with a degree is less stressed than someone without one. You don't have to be a millionaire to be happy but it wouldn't hurt to make enough to pay bills, have a decent car and still have enough for a nice two week vacation in the summer. Also think about when you are trying to form a family if you don't already have one. Without an education you will be making at least minimum wage. What will you provide for your kids? your spouse? When you go to college, to people you seem knowledgeable. I am a Hispanic from the South. People think I don't know how to speak English and I don't own shoes.....what a surprise when they meet a successful, sophisticated young woman ;)

Answer 4

The fact that it is normal to go to college is something that should be celebrated. So long as the opportunity is being opened to more and more people I don't know how that could be seen as a bad thing. An educated populous is an important thing for a successful country.

I think its ridiculous though that people who don't go to college are looked down upon. While in general it is a great thing it certainly isn't the right choice for every person. Just ignore the haters who think whats best for them is best for everyone.

Answer 5

the thing is, it isnt that you're looked down upon because you don't have a degree. a degree isnt just a free pass to some elitist part of america that believes that they are better than everyone else, it means that you spend four years of your life studying something that will help you get started in a career. now those who have a degree and are still struggling simply didnt take the opportunity given to them and make the best of it - or perhaps they only went to college because it was expected of them, not because they wanted to get started on the rest of their life. they struggle because they either havent found a career they could become specialised in, or life just happened to cut them one of those tough breaks we hear about so often.

seriously, it's not just about going to college - the bigger picture is that we need to go out there obtain the credentials necessary to get where we need to be to stay on our feet.

the problem with people, is that they lose sight of colleges importance and the fact that you should use your education to determine what you want to bein life and how college may be able to get you there. people don't struggle because "they didnt get a degree"

as for college beign only about the money, that doesnt necessarily have to be true. there is so much free money and grants and financial aid out there, college expenses may not be as big of a deal as we make them to be. fafsa itself is a compilation of free government money as well as loans and scholarships to help cover the cost of education.

but i have to agree with you ... a little. you dont HAVE to have a degree to make it big. wasnt it bill gates who dropped out of school and become teh richest man in the history of time? however, not all of us are geniuses who can create an innovation that will soon become a commodity in america's households... that kind of thing doesnt happen everday. however, in some cases whether or not you have a degree may not matter - just how hard you work.

Answer 6

I know a lot of people that went to college and work at fast food joints or something like that. Employers want people who went to college because they have an expertise in something and they made it through college which shows their determination. Unfortunately now a lot more people go to college so that isn't enough anymore you need a Bach. or Master's degree.

Answer 7

In the old days you earned your experience and education on the job through OJT or interning as an apprentice. No longer do those days exist but the fact that colleges are a business that are kept going based on the amount of influence placed on them by businesses. Colleges and business work together on many areas and it is a sort of "you help me I will help you." I hope this helps.

Answer 8

properly, I definitely have 2, and that i'm getting to hold forth on Yahoo solutions. in case your definition of having forward is extra money, then on familiar, those with a school degree make extra money than those without. (money isn't each little thing, in spite of the undeniable fact that that's some distance past to regardless of is in 2d place.) in spite of the undeniable fact that, various employers require a school degree, in simple terms to weed out various riff-raff properly suited off the bat. The pastime itself does not require awareness in that intensity. And do no longer forget that bill Gates in no way achieved college. There additionally are various college levels offered in aspects like "communications", "actual training", "ethnic learn", etc. that are in simple terms techniques for faculty athletes to maintain their elgibility on an analogous time as spending finished time on their recreation. those that are going to get forward, will gain this inspite of the hindrances located of their way. properly suited now, great universities interior the U. S. are in simple terms learn hands of the Pentagon and Nat'l Institutes of wellbeing. maximum undergraduates are handed over and/or crapped on. With the internet, universities now no longer have a monopoly on awareness, so i think of they are going to shrink in value.

Answer 9

SAD BUT TRUE!!!!!!!!! What if everybody thought they they needed to go to college and what if everybody felt that way(look down on others) then who's gonna clean the rooms of the hotels, who will work at mcdonalds and such, who will do the REGULAR jobs?????????? THOSE JOBS ARE PART OF WHAT MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND!

Answer 10

You can network better in college, and many-high paying professions do require higher education and licensing- law, medicine, accounting, architecture, and engineering.