Why do we push college on our kids? I think this is a valid question. First let me clarify why I ask it. I recently came across a statistic that said that nearly 60% of college graduates were working in fields unrelated to their degree. That made me wonder why they had to have a degree in the first place. The more I looked into it, the more I began to realize that we have been scammed.
I am not saying there aren't jobs that require a degree, a doctor or an architect are two that come to mind quickly. I would hate to go into surgery and have my doctor show me his high school diploma and say, "let's get cuttin'." It just isn't happening. I also don't think I would want to walk into a high rise designed by a guy whose credentials include, "I lived in one once," and no degree. But for a lot of the other jobs out there, you just have to wonder. Then there is the trusting the university thing. I find it increasingly difficult to trust a university that tells me that in order to get an engineering degree I need to take 4 hours of elective courses. Let me point out that these are 4 credit hours of courses that in no way aid you in your field of study. It should also be noted that most elective courses taken are 1 credit hour each and cost close to $500 these days. In other words, the university wants you to add $2000 of useless credits to your degree for unspecified reasons. What if your mechanic told you that you had to rechrome your wheels in order to complete your oil change? I think we would all end up going to a different mechanic. So why do we let a university do the same thing? Because we want the name of the university on our diploma because it sounds impressive.
Let me clear the air here. I do not have a college degree, nor will I ever have one. I spent 20 years in the military getting experience in my field. If that means that someone beats me out of a job based solely on the basis of a degree, so be it.
We have been feeding the lie of college to our kids for so long; we have begun to believe it ourselves. We send them off to college and tell them to follow their dreams. They do that and get their degrees only to find that there is no job for those degrees in the field they love. Why? Because no one bothered to also tell them that a degree in photography is only worth something if your father happens to own a publishing company and you are at the top of your field. Congratulations, you just spent $100k on a piece of paper to hang on your wall so you can look at it on your way to you minimum wage job. Yet, having a degree is a must today. We need to start teaching our high school students what the job market is really like. Or what jobs require a specific degree and what jobs prefer experience. Instead we tell them go to college.
It used to be that a degree is what made a candidate stand out. It used to be just getting into college was a big deal. These days, if you have a pulse and an ability to fill out forms (most colleges will have someone help you with that), you can get into a college somewhere. Here, fill out this form for financial aid, this form for grants, this form for you student loans, this form for waivers for your grades, and this form to choose your classes. Congratulations, you are now going to college. Sure there are a few colleges that are still selective in who they allow to attend, but they are in the minority. Most colleges just look at filling all their classes to make sure that they can pay their bills.
Let me restate that I understand there are some fields that a degree is a must and I wholly support those degrees, but when a job lists "degree or experience" or just degree as a need without any clarifiers, it makes you wonder just what the degree is needed for. I would think that if any degree is good enough because it shows dedication, that working for 2 years while involved in sports and graduating with decent grades from high school would be enough as well. Then again, what do I know, I never went to college.
Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.
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