College Is Not Always The Answer

I graduated from high school in the srping 1966 and began college in the fall of 1966 and dropped out of college after the fall semester 1968.  I enlisted in the military in 1969 during the height of the Vietnam War, was released from active duty in the summer of 1972 and graduated from college in the spring of 1974.  My entire college education was paid for either by me working full time and/or by the GI Bill.  I graduated from college with a 3.5 GPA, mainly because of poor grades during my first two years.

During my 45 year career, no employer ever looked at my grades or my GPA...

My entire continued employment was predicated upon me ACHIEVING RESULTS...

TODAY...  many people graduate from college with a student loan debt of between $50,000 to $200,000...  it could be higher or it could be lower...  but regardless it is a huge amount of debt with which to begin a career.  The higher paying jobs are always UP NORTH...  seldom in the south, unless you have over 10 years of critical experience to the company considering hiring you.

IS COLLEGE WORTH IT?

Yes, if you want to be a lawyer, CPA, physician, dentist, or quack...  but, just to get a college degree for the sake of earning more money because you have one...  NO!!!

You could work building homes for 10 years, get your contractor's license, hire your own crew to supervise and make hundreds of thousands of dollars for the rest of your life without college.

Managing a restaurant is less stressful than being in middle management at a Fortune 500 company because of how management is being measured.  Increase sales by 20%, decrease costs by 20%, increase markets by 20% and increase share price by 20%.

PLUS...  there is pressure being placed on professors to lower their standards so that everyone passes their class and the college/university loses no revenue.  Now there is a movement underway not to give any grades at all...  just pass/fail.

I have talked to numerous college graduates who said that they hardley used any of their college education in their careers...  maybe 20%, if that.

My first job after graduating with a BA degree in English was as DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT EFFICIACY for a microbiological media manufacturer...   WTF did I know about microbiology of efficacy?

My parents pushed me into college because they wanted me to have a WHITE COLLAR job not a BLUE COLLAR job.  Right now, blue collar jobs make more money annually than white collar jobs...  if all you care about is the money.

COLLEGE IS NOT WORTH THE INVESTMENT but you have to make that decision on your own.7