This thread certainly has been around for a while!
The fact that most CEOs don't have a college degree is proof that it isn't
how much you know but
who you know in corporate America that matters
Correction, it's who you
get to know.
Haha, he didn't live through the seemingly annual tuition hikes here in Kentucky
Please, until you go to a UC, you have nothing to complain about.
still cheaper than a UC school for me.
That really isn't saying much.
I think there are dozens of advanced medical procedures that are cheaper than a UC school at this point.
The problem I see is that degrees tend to NOT pay off in most cases.
Ahh, but they do.
Even if we count lost wages of $15k per year for four years (students do work part time-believe me), the subsequent increases in wages is far beyond that "lost" $60k. Especially as one ages, having a degree (or two or three) helps solidify higher earnings and better retirement plans that are hard to come by.
Lets look at the Teachers Salary.
Very sad one indeed - yet a Bachelors Degree is mandatory. The amount you have to pay back in students loans for over 20 years is more than a car payment.
Well if you go to Harvard and then insist on teaching high school English, that was a poor decision on your part. There are plenty of ways to become a teacher that are very cost-effective. As someone who thought long and hard about going into that profession, I can tell you that state schools are a great bargain in that regard. Most of them have excellent credential programs already in place, and the total cost probably doesn't exceed $30k, even in California. If you make good decisions with your money, you can graduate with less debt and easily find a job in a fairly decent district.
And comparing teachers' salaries to construction workers is a bit false, at least the way you've done it. Construction workers also have to deal with long stretches of time in which they are not employed, don't have nearly the same benefits that teachers do (including full medical, dental, and 100% pension benefits upon retirement, assuming a minimum number of years of service). Teachers might not start out making big bucks, but their contracts have very good COLA clauses and excellent protections against unemployment (teachers are difficult to remove once they are tenured).
My brother graduated from the University of Miami with loans well over $150,000.00. He cant even afford a house because his Student Loans are a Mortgage payment!!
It seems that your brother didn't make the best choices then. At $50k+/year, Miami is on the order of Harvard and Yale, yet doesn't offer the same academic prestige.
I don't know what your brother does, but I'm certain he would have been better off going to a less expensive school, or at the very least, making better financial decision while he was at school.
These are not "just 500" companies, they are 500 companies with over 10 billion in capitalization and include pretty much every major company in the country. They are basically the definition of Blue Chip. They are also likely the very same '500' companies cited in your original post.
They are technically the 500 largest companies that are traded on the two American exchanges; a few international companies sneak in there.
But I agree with your post 100%.
Think a college education is key to a bright future? Not so fast ...
1. You'll be losing four working years
Nonsense. Most college students work anyways, not only for spending money, but also to gain experience and develop a list of contacts for the day after graduation.
2. You won't necessarily earn less money
No, but the odds are very, very, very low that you will earn less with a college degree. The simple fact is, having a degree only opens more doors for you; it doesn't close any.
In many cases, having a degree, even if unrelated to your job, can help you get a promotion and earn more money. The reason is that businesses like to see that you had the dedication and skills to complete a four year degree. It shows a certain minimum level of achievement and you become a "safer bet" over a coworker who only brings his years with the company to the table.
3. In fact, you could make LESS money
Again, the odds are very very low. Don't let the story of Gates or Jobs enchant you. Most people who drop out of college end up near the bottom of society's economic ladder. The simple fact is that with a college degree, as I mentioned previously, you only have more options, not fewer.
4. You can learn outside a classroom
Yes, and most college do that. Why do you think research universities encourage their students to do field work and write articles?
I'm sure most universities follow Berkeley's model and have funds available for research in your area of expertise. If you're a college student who doesn't take advantage of that, you can't blame that on your school; blame it on yourself, for it is likely that you would have failed to take up similar opportunities in the work place as well.
5. Plenty of other people did fine
Simply not true. Most fall into the trap of those in their economic position. They fall into debt, work longer hours, and in the end regret their decision to not go to school.
In fact, more than a couple of billionaires NEVER graduated from college. Larry Ellison, cofounder of database giant Oracle, dropped out of the University of Illinois and is now worth $16 billion. Fellow billionaire John Simplot, inventor of the frozen French fry, never even finished high school. Neither did Alan Gerry, who built the first cable television network in upstate New York and then sold it to Time Warner Cable for $2.8 billion.
You have to understand the historical context of these people, and your own skills have to be factored into the equation as well. If you aren't motivated enough to even try school, what makes you think you can run a business, let alone a successful one? You realize that most modern drop-out billionaires dropped out of good universities, not because of their grades, but because they thought they had a golden opportunity and ran with it. Maybe you should find your golden opportunity first, and then think about dropping out of school.
and between the Internet and an excellent public library system, most Americans can learn pretty much anything for a nominal fee.
Ahh yes, a Wikipedia education.
College doesn't teach you what's in books; it teaches you what to do with what's in those books.
By all means, go to college if you want the “university experience,” but don’t spend all that cash just on the assumption that it will lead you to a higher-paying job.
Why not? There's very good statistical evidence to believe that.
In fact, there is plenty of evidence that what really matters is how smart you are, not where — or even if — you went to school.
On the contrary, school can help you develop your intelligence because you learn off of what others have already done and can apply those principles to new things.
I feel pity for the man who tries to reinvent the wheel.
