Is a College Diploma really worth it?

[Hrimskegg]

And soon everyone will be getting Masters degrees... I wish the world would stop ruining academia.

[Svanhild]

I study a rather worthless bachelor degree course, the new BA degree of Social Works/Arts. My motivation behind it is not to earn a lot of money later because studying social sciences is the falsest way to go if you want to become rich and famous. Almost all bricklayers or tilers with basic school education earn a higher net salary than certified social pedagogues. It's my idealism that motivates me to wrestle trough the concentrated study. Unfortunately, the sector of certified social pedagogues is soaked with leftwingers and liberals who indoctrinate our youngsters with weak ideas of multiculturalism and guilt. To cut the matter short, I want to set a contra-part with my work later. Plenty people underestimate the importance of the social sector for the well-being of a nation.

In Germany, the new Master and Bachelor degrees have an awfully bad reputation. They were created in the wake of of the Bologna process to bring all academic degrees in Europe into line. The process brought inconsistencies, continual exams and massive discontentment to the students and professors.

[Óttar]

massive discontentment to the students and professors.

When I was in Berlin, people were protesting the Americanisation of the European University system. Personally I like the European system because the professor is there for support, but it's ultimately up to the student to read and know his stuff before the exam rolls around. I think though that a happy medium should be established, so that the student can develop their writing skills.

[Stegura]

Nursing and other medical areas are still in huge demand and look to be for some time, also hard sciences and engineering.

Where I live the healthcare industry is booming. Williamsburg, VA. has a reputation for being an affluent retirement community. New Nursing homes and Living Assistance communities are being built in and around the area on a yearly basis.

In addition to looking at Work Apprentice programs I'm also getting more interested in possibly getting into Nursing.

A few local community colleges/vocational schools offer 18 month LPN Certification programs for a very low cost.

LPN's start off at $16-18 per hour or $32,000-$35,000. After a few years if it goes well you can always go back to school for one year and work your way up to an RN position. You get great benefits and you have very high job security.

[Grumpy Cat]

Depends what you take. But if I could have done it all over again, I would have not went to university and just went to community college. Community college prepares you for the workforce, all I gained from university was student loan debt.

[Stegura]

, all I gained from university was student loan debt.

American Universities are a Service Industry. You pay to get an experience, You go to get away from your parents. You go to College for the freedom. You go to college to find out what it's like live on your own. You go to College to be exposed to different people. In High School you only communicate with people who grew up within a few miles of your hometown. In College, you meet people from all over your home state, from other states, and even from other countries. You go to college in order go to parties and get shitfaced drunk. You go to College to travel, to go on road trips and visit old friends at other Universities. You go to college in order to engage yourself in countless Madden/NCAA Football and Halo/Goldeneye/First Person Shooter video game tournaments. You go to College to tailgate and support you Universities Football and Basketball teams. (Community Colleges obviously don't have FBS OR FCS Athletic Programs).

I guess I was one of the lucky ones who had well-off parents who were willing to give me a free ride and pay for everything.

I just picked an easy major and goofed off. I'd stay up until the wee hours of the night and get up in the early afternoon. Since I had an easy major I could skip half of my classes and still make the Deans List most semesters.

Sure it was a fun time. Lots of parties! Housing was free! Food was free! Books and supplies were free!!

But the more I look back at my four years of college, I've come to realize that it was more like an expensive daycare center then an institute of higher learning.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I think it has to do with whether you are in the middle class or better. If you are poor and you want a Master's or Ph.D., go for it. Otherwise, focus on practical certifications.

Wouldn't it be the reverse-for the reasons Stegura described? The upper middle class and better can get the degree, but it's a bad idea for the moderate to lower income to get in debt for it?

the European system because the professor is there for support, but it's ultimately up to the student to read and know his stuff before the exam rolls around.

How is that different from the American system? No mandatory attendence, assignments, and class participation there?

[Groenewolf]

I do not know if it is really worth it. On one side while getting it you are trained in certain skills that are good, but on the other hand you are bound to political/philosophical world view of your professors and can become handicapped by it.

That being said, I study culture sciences. More for my own interest then to make a buck with it.

[Radojica]

I had that opportunity to work since i was 8 years old. I was working at one dirty open market next to Romanians,Bulgarians and Chinese. I was working at one Danube port carrying 50kg bags and smuggling cigarrettes all before i turned 16. The worst thing that made me be a good boy and which made me to decide that i will go to university was that open market which was the worst period in my life. Madre realized that and started to scare me if i dont go to school nd fax she will personally find me my own spot at that market. Of course,when i saw where and how i can end up if i stay with elementary school only i started to study like crazy ! Madre is the law

[Liffrea]

It’s simply about why you want to study in the first place, what do we value an education for? Is it of worth in itself or just another edge in a competitive market place?

I studied archaeology at Leicester University for three years, a professional field archaeologist in the UK earns around £14K a year….to be honest you can probably earn nearly as much as a full time shelf stacker at your local supermarket….which is another thing I personally know many people my age who are graduates and who are now shelf stacking or working on check outs, including a medical graduate. When I worked at Rolls Royce I was on £25K a year, and that job required no qualifications…..you want money? Don’t study archaeology, unless you want to go into lecturing.

In the UK the government has a target of 50% university educated, which is bizarre, there are no job prospects for the vast majority of graduates, I read a study not long back that found nearly two thirds of UK graduates were working in jobs which did not require any form of higher qualification, and the numbers, like me, out of work for one reason or another isn’t insubstantial either. When I went to university in 1999 the Labour government had just scrapped tuition fees and introduced student loans, we now owe the government! A master stroke on their part.

For me it was worth it, the pursuit of wealth has never been a concern for me, I actually have savings out of my dole cheque, that’s how little I actually spend, I don’t regret studying archaeology, I knew the job prospects beyond voluntary work were pretty poor and the financial rewards woeful, but I love the subject and value knowledge for itself, it set me on a path to study, which I still have, I study all sorts of things that, materially and financially are worth nothing, unless I wish to teach, which I have neither the patience nor inclination to do, not in the UK anyway. I hasten to add I have nothing against those who study purely for financial gain, good look to them I hope they get what they want, I’m not some sort of anti-materialist, anti-wealth type, just stating why I study and what it means to me.