Is a college degree worth anything?

[Long Dark Blues]

Computer Science is hot right now and you can make 6 figure easy right off the bat.

No you can't, not unless you were the absolute cream of the crop from a Carnegie/MIT level program.

The vast majority of CS graduates will be QA testers.

 

[mb23100]

The opinion of somebody who would borrow 500k and not be able to pass the test that they spent all the $$$ preparing to take dosent matter to me or anybody else.

Your “buddy” is clearly a stupid person and a fucking loser. Lol @ being “friends” with a guy like that.

Im just trying to make the point that college isn't for everybody and they can be predatory. Somehow this has clearly struck a nerve with you. Geez.

 

[IIIIIIII]

a college degree is really just a paper to indicate to future employers that you are teachable. in most jobs, you will be trained and taught to do things in specific ways.

 

[IIIIIIII]

Im just trying to make the point that college isn't for everybody and they can be predatory. Somehow this has clearly struck a nerve with you. Geez.

high schools are in cahoots with colleges, telling kids they, "have to go to college", all while knowing that these unfortunate kids will earn degrees in bullshit, which will earn them nothing in the real world.

academia is fucking over our children!

 

[bushman505]

Im just trying to make the point that college isn't for everybody and they can be predatory. Somehow this has clearly struck a nerve with you. Geez.

Struck a nerve??? No. You used an example of a clearly stupid person to make a point. You didn’t make a point at all.

 

[mb23100]

Struck a nerve??? No. You used an example of a clearly stupid person to make a point. You didn’t make a point at all.

My point is he would have been better off going to a trade school or getting into something like insurance which is what hes doing now.

 

[bushman505]

My point is he would have been better off going to a trade school or getting into something like insurance which is what hes doing now.

And my point is that stupid people will do stupid things and if they fuck something up as bad as your “friend” did then what they think really dosent matter.

 

[KILL KILL]

When applying for most jobs that aren't trade related, having a degree is better than not having one.

 

[AznTrojan]

a degree opens opportunities.. it's up the holder to take advantage of those opportunities

 

[Possum Jenkins]

Is a sociology degree worthless these days? I've been thinking about getting into school to be a social worker or case manager. I'm sure the pay isnt the greatest but I'd at least enjoy helping out the less fortunate and have a passion for what I'm doing.

A sociology degree is perfect for social work.

And you're right, the pay won't be the greatest but since you already know that, go for it.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

a college degree is really just a paper to indicate to future employers that you are teachable. in most jobs, you will be trained and taught to do things in specific ways.

And it's a pretty good indicator, I'd say.

Basic skills like meeting deadlines, being punctual, communicating effectively through email, etc., are significantly lower for non-college graduates. You can't graduate college being shitty at those things.

 

[Madmick]

In light of the recent scandals and what many of us knew previously about people buying degrees, does a college degree have any real value?

Does it make sense to spend a lot of money, put yourself in debt to get a piece of paper or sheepskin and an education that you will never use?

Even worse, that education might hurt instead of helping. I've seen many businesses that were started and built up by generations of people who didn't go to college but were run into the ground in a short time by a generation that did go to college.

That degree might help you get a job. Some companies only hire people with a degree for management positions. Many don't care what kind of degree a person has. I know a facility manager who had a degree as an English teacher. It ended badly.

I read a lot of obituaries and have noticed that many people went to college and got a degree in something that they never used or used for a short time before taking a job unrelated to their field of study.

Even many of the things we are taught in high school are never used by a lot of people.

Crunch the numbers. Those caught in the scandal were a infinitesimal fraction of the overall matriculation (we're talking 4+ decimal places to the right of zero).

Yes, a college degree is still objectively more valuable than no degree, but it has always depended on the major, and one thing more and more are beginning to seriously factor into their decision here in the USA over the past 30 years is the value of the diploma. Too many of these universities have been resting on their laurels. Their graduates don't make that much money, and yet they charge enrollment fees on par with the Ivy League.

In short, if earning power is your primary motivation for acquiring a tertiary education, you should look at a number of factors:

• the mean/median salaries for graduates from that school
• the cost of that school
• consideration of how likely you are to be offered financial aid from that school, and of what kind
• the mean/median salary broken down by major type
• consideration of whether or not you intend to enroll in graduate school, and how a school's undergraduate program might factor into that
• where you intend, plan, or hope to live after you graduate, and what their job market looks like, and how well your major would prepare you to succeed in that job market
• whether or not a professional/technical/vocational school, not a college of university, might hold a financial advantage with all these things considered

 

[SmilinDesperado]

Exactly.

Teenagers generally don't have the forethought or inclination to properly research things that can affect the rest of their lives, but the adults pushing them to those degrees should. They should be advised to avoid the reality in which they would have $40k+ in loan debt, but no moderate-to-high paying job to pay said debt.


But the crushing debt isn't worth it. The "social experience" won't pay the bills.

I totally get what you're saying...but, I think it depends on how much debt you incur, and what you end up doing with your life.
I have a goood job, so it ended up fine for me, but college was invaluable for me. More so for the social and networking benefits than anything else.
It taught me how to think and navigate around people.
Everyone's experience is going to be different, and I'm sure i would have been fine without it, but the debt was worth it for me on a personal level.

But it definitely would have been a much more beneficial experience had I had parents and other adults giving me more guidance beyond "go to college"

 

[BillytheFish]

Is a sociology degree worthless these days? I've been thinking about getting into school to be a social worker or case manager. I'm sure the pay isnt the greatest but I'd at least enjoy helping out the less fortunate and have a passion for what I'm doing.

you need a masters minimum do a decent hospital job. Across the US the typical salary for social workers (masters) is between 55k and 70k. My wife is one for the local emergency room here, shes very good academically and with reading legislation and crap...she chose to be a social worker over doing an MBA. Money aint everything, but social workers really do get treated like shit and pretty shit pay and shit hours. Despite record numbers of mentally ill diagnosis...it is also an unstable field.

They are always shutting down psychiatric facilities in large cities because mental illness doesnt make money like cancer does for the hospitals.

 

[Cole train]

And it's a pretty good indicator, I'd say.

Basic skills like meeting deadlines, being punctual, communicating effectively through email, etc., are significantly lower for non-college graduates. You can't graduate college being shitty at those things.

If you have to teach basic things like that then the society is fucked.

 

[mime]

shows you can finish something

 

[IIIIIIII]

And it's a pretty good indicator, I'd say.

Basic skills like meeting deadlines, being punctual, communicating effectively through email, etc., are significantly lower for non-college graduates. You can't graduate college being shitty at those things.

yup, totally agree.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

I think College shows that a person can be committed and stay committed to doing something

Employers like to see that

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

Adam Carolla always talks about how the most important thing is to "learn how to work". He never went to college and his parents had degrees in art or someshit, and he's done really well for himself (wealthy, beautiful family, enjoys his hobbies)

Adam Carolla is the 1% bro

Using the 1% as an example is a bad example

 

[all caps]

If you have no social skills and no network, a college degree may be your only worth.