When I was in high school in the 1990’s, it was a given that the next step was a four-year college or university. Anything less was viewed as wasting your life or throwing away your future. I went to college for four years, and thankfully I had a full-ride scholarship. Had I paid (or gone into debt for) tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, I would have considered that a waste of time and money.

After all these years I consider the two best things I learned from college are how to stand up and speak in front of a group and how to write a paper. Both of these skills could be honed in considerably less time and for less cost.

I have a double major in mathematics and psychology. The fundamentals of math do not change, and I have excellent analytical skills as a result of that rigorous program. My psychology knowledge, on the other hand, has not fared well over the years. Unfortunately many of the theories and principles I learned have since been debunked with new research and understanding. Where is the warranty on that knowledge? There isn’t one. I would need to spend more time and most likely more money to upgrade my brain with the revised theories and knowledge.

As an adult any time I am spending significant amounts of time or money, I want to know whether it’s worth it. What is the pay-off? Anyone paying all that money or taking on that much debt and spending all that time at a college or university should ask these two questions: 1) where is the guarantee of a job after college, and 2) what skills will you be learning? Skills are more valuable than knowledge.

What we know today turns into what we falsely believed tomorrow.

Now, perhaps having that degree on my resume opened some doors that would not have opened. A degree is more valuable in certain fields than others. I am not telling young kids do not go to college. I’m simply saying that for today’s high school kids, college is not the automatic choice like it was for me when I was in high school.

By the way I agree with the sentiment of not being impressed by degrees or titles. In fact when I see an email signature with multiple letters after the name, the more letters there are the less I am impressed with the person.