Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Maybe college isn't for you - Well, this article is pretty depressing, and all but calls higher education a scam. The conclusion seems to be that less-prepared students should think twice, otherwise they'll find themselves much poorer and not much smarter.

Extra - Maggie's Farm: "The most overrated product"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If you are going to college to learn something more than what can be picked up in 12 years of primary and secondary education, college is a necessity. Examples are engineering, medicine, and science. (Yes, there is a role for LPNs and computer geeks that pick up their skills through corporate short courses, but those jobs are limited and limiting. I want my doctor or the guy that designs the bridge I drive over to have a college degree.)

If you are going to college because you love learning, and college is the place you can do it, college also makes sense -- just as long as you don't see it a jobs-training program. (The only thing philosophy majors get hire to do is teach philosophy.)

If you are going to college because you have not figured out what you want to do with your life, or because you want to become "well-rounded," or because your 'rents think you belong there, you are probably wasting your money. Pick up skills through a trade school, ojt, or apprenticeship program (or those aforementioned short courses). Or join the military. (That will teach you more about life than the academy will.)

College is like any other tool. Great if used right, costly if used wrong.