For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time
Charles Murray has an opinion piece at the Wall Street Journal titled For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time. My quick summary of his position is that a profession-specific certification exam would be far more useful and equitable than a bachelor degree.
I agree that a certification exam would be a far more pragmatic approach to becoming or finding someone who is qualified in a particular field. My work experience and high school algebra have been more useful in my day to day work than any of the classes I took in college or university. I paid my own way, was careful with my money, and still came out with roughly $15,000 of debt from going to university. From what I’ve read, this is on the low end for debt when finishing a four year degree. $15k what amounts to a membership card is ridiculous. However, the statistics I’ve seen consistently show that those with a degree earn considerably more than those without one, so maybe a degree is just a cost you have to pay to play.
For me the value of my degree is that it opens doors. If I had the slightest bit of entrepreneurial drive, a degree would be a waste. As an employee a degree gives me a piece of paper that HR can check on their list of qualifications.
The most valuable classes I took in university were those that had absolutely no relation to my field of study. I took a social geography class to fill out some degree requirements and it gave me valuable insight into maps. Now that I’m making maps every day, that basics I learned in that throwaway class are useful. My class on leisure taught me a lot about how I choose to spend my spare time. Philosophy classes still give me plenty of knotty problems to work thorough in my everyday life. I would argue then that the value of a degree is in the classic liberal education and not in how well it prepares you for a particular job. Still $15k is rather steep for being encouraged to read a little more broadly and to have my essays evaluated.
(via Polymeme)