Does Everyone Need A College Education?
Does everyone need a college education? Society's prevailing message says "yes"! There are many other options for young people besides college.
Many parents believe sending their children to college will improve their chances of being successful. Society tells people to go to college. Modern society says without a college degree, you will be a failure. The alternatives to college are rarely discussed. But does everyone need a college education?
Does Everyone Need A College Education?
The simple answer is that not everyone needs to go to college. Going to college is a poor way to measure whether someone will succeed. It does not matter if a person attends an Ivy League University or another four-year college.
Not everyone needs a liberal arts education. There is no reason for young people to go into debt to receive a fancy, overpriced piece of paper from a university that continues to lose value.
Declining Value Of A College Education
Richard Veddar told Business Insider, “The rewards for college have expanded and grown from 1985 to a little after 2000 and sort of leveled off in the past decade…[and the] advantage of a degree today is less than it was 10 years ago, because of the rising cost…The return on investment has fallen.”
The very fact that society has told young people they must go to college has created degree inflation. Supply and demand is a fundamental economic law. It applies to degrees, too. There is now an oversupply of people with college degrees. College degrees have lost their value for Millennials and Gen Z.
College degrees may have been beneficial to Baby Boomers and Gen X. But college degrees have lost their value for Millennials and Gen Z. Everyone pretty much has one now. Career counselors, parents, and college recruiters told young people to go straight to college.
I know. I attended both undergraduate and graduate school. My bachelor’s was in political science. I then decided to go to graduate school to study information and cybersecurity.
I soon found out that no employer wanted to hire me. I lacked the right work experience. They did not care that I went to graduate school or was trying to earn an overpriced piece of fancy paper.
Related - 12 Reasons Why Young People Should Not Go To College
Evolving Work Environment
There are many options for young people other than college. Young people are told they cannot have a career if they do not attend college. The problem with this is, what exactly is a job?
Society defines a career as a nine-to-five desktop. Some perks of the desk job include a retirement plan, health insurance, and sick days. In the olden days, that is what a career was. Today, careers are being eliminated by the gig economy, the rise of contract work, and micro jobs.
Young people can now start their own online businesses. Online businesses can be created using social media, a website, and a newsletter to build an audience. Products, services, and subscriptions can be sold to customers who make up a business’s target audience.
What Young People Can Do Instead Of Attending College
Go to a technical school. Attend a community college. Learn a trade. Watch videos online. Get certification in something of interest. Ask to shadow someone who does something you may be interested in doing. Start your own business. Learn to utilize the power of the Internet and start an online business.
Invest In Yourself
The best thing to do is to continually invest in yourself. Learn your strengths, weaknesses, and what you enjoy doing, and discover a way to monetize them. Getting paid for what you enjoy doing is the best thing ever. That may mean working a job you like, even if you do not always get along with co-workers. The other option is to start your own business.
Self-Learning
Self-study is a vital life skill. Education does not come from going to college or graduate school. Real education is done through the practice of self-education.
You can learn by reading books, watching videos, reading blog posts, and taking digital courses. These options will likely cost less than attending college.
Once you learn something, find ways to apply it daily.
Learn Hard Skills
Hard skills are vital to success. Soft skills are the icing that makes your personal brand look good to other people. Without hard skills, it is just fluff. There is a wide range of complex skills. Here is a list of hard skills to help you get started:
Digital marketing
Website design
HVAC
Internet security
Graphic design
Video editing
Sales
Search engine optimization
Carpentry
Plumbing
Figure out the broad umbrella of a hard skill that is of interest. Then, learn the other related skills that fall under that general category. Before you know it, you will become an expert by investing time and learning independently.
There is no reason for young people to go into debt just to tell people they went to college.
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Summary
There is no one route to success. Success comes from hard work, working smart, and mastering skills that set you apart. A piece of paper from a university cannot give you those, but self-education and investing in yourself can.
Does everyone need a college education? Have college degrees lost value from degree inflation? What are alternatives to college for young people? Let us know in the comments below!