The Growing Importance of College Education

In our ever-changing society, there's always been the need for an education for our lives in order to find an occupation that we can do. However, with a lot of those low-education jobs being outsourced to foreign countries (which will be discussed in a later thread, either by me or someone else,) one must look towards more advanced education that's found in college & universities.

Frankly, with a lot of the jobs requiring these advanced educations, a High School Diploma will eventually become as much use as a snot rag or a piece of toiletry, no thanks to this said job outsourcing. Adding insult to injury, college & university educations are becoming more & more expensive, & because of that, if someone wants to partake in this endeavor, they'll need to take in some hefty loans. If they fail their courses, it leaves them with a debt that they may never be able to repay. Eventually, it'll boil down to this: Succeed in college or university, or kill yourself trying.

So, what are your thoughts on the importance of these advanced educations in the future? Will it become the scenario that I've depicted? Or is it actually going to be at the point that college can be affordable for anyone? Please share your thoughts.

A degree is important, but also not particularly useful depending on how you approach it. While still in high school, before moving on to university or college, you should give a serious and hard look at what you want to do with your working life.

Not just a passing "oh, I want to be an XYZ". Do some research. What kind of jobs are out there currently for that degree you're interested in? What's the pay like? Benefits? Improvement? Most important, think long term. Will jobs that require this degree actually be in demand come 3-6 years from now once I've graduated? Is your demographic in demand for that field? Will that job even exist a few years from now?

Really think it through. Because it is expensive and you don't want to come out of this later, following all the time and money put into higher education and additional specializations only to find out that no one is hiring for you and now you can't pay off the debt you've accumulated.

Don't go to school for the sake of having a degree. Because, you know what? It's not just the high school diploma that everyone has and is worthless now. It's the bachelor's degree too. Everyone has one. It is a commodity. Like a toaster. Really, within the next decade, the Masters will be the new Bachelors degree. You're going to need it to differentiate yourself from the crowd. You need to specialize and find an active field. If you're going to school as an English major for the degree and not even thinking about being a writer or a journalist or something, then you're going nowhere. Just setting yourself up for lot of debt.

And speaking of debt, if you don't really need to travel and/or live in residence, then don't.

And, really... nothing wrong with going to a trades school either. Really, that's probably a pretty smart thing to do. Society tends to look down on plumbers, contractors, handy-people, etc. But, they're skilled and they make good money.

I agree with Triforce89. The BS is the new high school diploma. Additionally something else to think about is does the industry you want to go into require a degree? They may be needed for advanced positions but for the entry level? What is more important the degree or experience. I have a degree in Information Technology. The entry level jobs barely pay minimum wage because you don't need a degree to run cables. I'm sure it will pay off later in my career but I failed to look far enough ahead to see what the minimum qualifications were. I strongly feel I would have been better served getting the experience first and working on my degree as an after thought.
I do not think that the costs of attending college will decrease. The banks make too much money on student loans. The more popular a four year degree becomes the more expensive it will be.

Sparkymc said:

I agree with Triforce89. The BS is the new high school diploma. Additionally something else to think about is does the industry you want to go into require a degree? They may be needed for advanced positions but for the entry level? What is more important the degree or experience. I have a degree in Information Technology. The entry level jobs barely pay minimum wage because you don't need a degree to run cables. I'm sure it will pay off later in my career but I failed to look far enough ahead to see what the minimum qualifications were. I strongly feel I would have been better served getting the experience first and working on my degree as an after thought.
I do not think that the costs of attending college will decrease. The banks make too much money on student loans. The more popular a four year degree becomes the more expensive it will be.

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Personally, I'd front-load it. I'm young now with time to kill, and thankfully my parents saved for my education. I've completed my bachelors and am about to finish my Masters.

Do I need a Masters for an early-career position? No. But I know that with it, I won't (or, rather, hopefully shouldn't) be overlooked for advancement later on for someone else who has one. Don't want to invest it in after the fact.

Depends on the options available to you.