Does College Really Pay Off?

Here are my thoughts. I agree with Robert Kiyosaki when he said that success is not solely linked with academic education or a college degree. He made his point. Look at the millionaires today. Most of them doesn't have any college degree. Bill Gates for example is not a degree holder i think. What we need in today's generation is be educated about money and how it works.

In today's economy, this is truly a complex question. Years ago, a college education opened doors and automatically added a large sum to your salary. Today, people are scrambling to work at any level and your education may or may not be an asset versus experience in that particular job field. In the course of your lifetime, hopefully the answer will be YES economically, but college will always be an asset for your personal welfare. For example, my sister graduated #3 in her high school class with a 4.0. She chose to get into the banking and accounting field straight out of high school and worked her way up over the years and was making a very decent salary. She felt, however, that she had topped out and at the age of 50, received her degree Suma and is now working in the same field for less money than what she was making 10 years ago. Isn't that sad. My step-daughter also graduated Suma and is in the field of scientific research. She is at the beginning of her career and yet is making more money and will have more opportunities than my sister to increase her lifetime income. Your particular field of study has a large impact on your income growth. If your major is saturated in the marketplace, ie. business majors, it may or may not "pay off" economically. If your field is too narrow, ie. a French teacher, you may never have a job in your chosen field. If you have a quirky combination of major and minor studies, that may offer you a position that your fellow job applicant may not get. I'm an Art Education major with a Math minor. I've never worked in my major, but my math ability has given me great paying positions over the years. I'm also a firm believer that everything you do and everything you learn is valuable in the future. When my son was little, I packaged fasteners at a part-time job so I could be at home when he got out of school. Later on, I used that knowledge and experience to get a job as an estimator for a fastener company. I truly believe that it was not only my education, but also my "hands-on" experience that landed that job. There is no hard and fast rule to set for your future. You have to be able to be flexible and change with the tide. I don't know if this has answered your question, but all education is worthwhile no matter what the economic rewards may or may not be. I wish you a very successful future.

Yes, I'm in favor of going to college. It's spending too much money for school that I'm not in favor of. Why? Because from school you only learn 10% of everything you need to learn in life. So why spend 100% of your money for 10% wisdom?

It is your choice to study or not. For me while working you can continue your study. And it is your ladder to success. Earning without education is possible, but most of your work will be on blue collar jobs. You dont want to be a manager, an administrator? It is not only in working you need your education, your discussions with people, your work, your family and your friends and your future children. You will be their first teacher and what will you teach them if you dont know many things.

Education is primarily a sort of investment you make in your life. After certain age you will not be able to go to school, universities etc. It is one of the best periods of life in a students life. Even bill gates(The richest person) has got his degree only recently but the point he was also struggling to get that. So when you have enough educational background people have mare confidence in you. Happy college going

for me, college is still worth the payment because there are so many things that you can learn in college that can make u a successful person.. wel, as for now im taking up management and i was irritated with my classmate(he was an accountancy student) said that management is so easy, there's no need to study, and the thing he said is not true. not all things that you learn in high school can help you manage business, especially large business... it is better if you study college so that you knowledge will be developed and enhanced... so i think, college is worth the payment..

For me, I think college really paid off, since I live in a meritocratic society, where it rewards for hard work. In my society, the qualifications really matter, even if you have the experience. Therefore, with qualifications, then you'll have a job with an average income. Perhaps, I like living my life as routine as possible, and boring too.. but I'm not complaining whenever I have my bonus at the end of the year. :)

College Education paves the foundation for a career , a successful career in your life. Not every dropout is a BillGates. College education certainly has its benefits and distinct advantages because it not only inculcates system and discipline in your approach but it improves your thinking process also. Good students are always in tune with the thinking of their expert faculty and the intellect and knowledge of these experts cannot be ignored as insignifiant. We do not get the opportunity of mingling with and being exposed to such superior knowledge in our daytoday life. The way we put this education to the best use varies from individual to individual , but college education is definitely benficial to those who can take it from the learning point of view. Everything cannot be measured by way of immediate returns AND PUTTING THIS EDUCATION TO BEST USE LIES IN ONE'S OWN HANDS.I STILL FEEL THAT I HAVE BEEN SHAPED BY MY COLLEGE EDUCATION AND THE TRAINING I GOT THERE.

I think so, if the person that goes to college picks the right major and knows the right contacts to be able to get 'in the door' so they can become successful. Otherwise it can be just a lot of time and money wasted. One of my husband's friend's went to college (a university, I believe). The guy majored in music and the last time my husband saw this guy he was working a minimum wage job, and yes, this was several years after the guy finished college. So in this guy's case, college didn't do him any good.

Hi,there! I really think it depends on different people.We receive higher education in the college.But the point is that how you treat those experiences and the things you study in the college.If you don't try to master it or practise all those in the real life,then you maybe it doesn't worth the time and the tuition.But if you really have improved your ability and learnt sth really useful to the work later,then it certainly worths the effort,the time and the tuition.So one decides for himself/herself at this aspect:) Thanks for the discussion and have a nice day^_^

I believe it does pay off. I perform interviews for positions similar to mine, and I honestly don't remember seeing one qualified resume that did not have a college background, with the exception of tech school degrees for destop/networking support. Sure you may be able to get a job, and get promotions and have great life experiences, but one day you may be put in a position of interviewing for a position you want and if you are up against a candiadate with experience and a degree, you are fighting a battle with a handicap. You may win, but it will be quite a challenge. Another thing to keep in mind with college is the networking aspect. Sure college has a party life conntation with it, but the people you party with may be a prominent manager, lawyer, banker or business contact that can help you in life. Colleges usually have a good job placement program to get you the right interviews, and silly as it may sound, Alumni from colleges are always eager to interview someone from their old school, it is like they have a common bond without even knowing each other. And by the way, the friends and experiences you get are worth more than your student loan later in life.

i think its neccessary for one to go for a college......... ya i know life's pretty messed up by rhe fact that we ve been spending hours in classes , on preparations....... but still it will give you a chance to reach up to your goal in life, many people have tried your way of thinking and in the end screwed up there life

I think it worthwhile to go to college. Possibly we should evaluate what people are doing in terms of money. There are things more valuable than money itself -- knowledge, friendship and so on. Maybe people would disagree me that we learn nothing in coolege or we make no friend there. But personally speaking, college is an indispensible place for my growth. By the way, college being name so is because it has academic pursuits not because it trains people to fill a certain job. So I think people interest in no academy should not go to universities because they are doing something else rather than behaving like a humble scholar.

I don't know if it's really worth it, but my parents insist that I should go there anyway ,and I listen. The college I'll go to will be a really cheap one,when I decide to drop it and follow other goals ,it won't mattter that much.

Aside from money and careers... I think college is important for growing and maturing. It's a big step in life, and I know personally I've learned a lot about myself and "the real world" from college. It's also an experience of a life time that I don't think you can get anywhere else. It definitely allows for maturing, independance, and for relationships to develope. Not saying that this is reason alone to spend a fortune on college... but just something else that is to be considered in the value of college.

It is in my opninon that college really does pay off. In this day and age, people need a college education to make use of something with their life. I know that "back-in-the-day", high school was the thing to have. However, now a high school diploma is just a piece of paper which is used in order to get one into college. Now there is college. It has almost gotten to where a regular college diploma is just a piece of paper. Someone basically needs a graduate degree to "amount" to anything.

I would say sure, taking into the consideration that you're willing to commit to what you're going for. Some people waste time and money b/c they don't know what they want to go for. Also choosing the right college/degree for your needs makes a big difference. If you can be happy with an associates degree at a community college that would be a HUGE save on time and money! That's what I'm doing! Basically lots of planning and soul searching will help make your time in college worth it.

Although I've definitely considered the same things as you in the past, I've come to decide that college is entirely worthwhile. Throughout high school, I worked in a grocery store, and often thought that all the stuff I was going through to attend college was hardly worth the trouble and that I should just try to work my way up in the low-level job and live a simple, modest life. And then I thought about all the older employees there, almost all of whom seem to seriously hate their lives. While it's possible to do well without a college degree, that's the exception to the rule: you're a lot more likely to end up in a monotonous, unfulfilling job than one that you can truly feel good about. And today, college degrees are becoming more and more common, making them increasingly essential in getting a good career. Not to mention that many colleges have excellent career counseling programs that can help you work your way into the field of your choice with internships and experience during college. But I don't only think that college is worthwhile because of the future career prospects. It's an environment that really can't be duplicated at any other time or place in life, where you're on the edge of autonomy and dependence and able to learn how to manage your own time and money without a great risk of absolutely screwing up your life with a mistake. Also, the fun experiences of college are definitely worthwhile. You develop a network of friends and colleagues that can easily last a lifetime.

I guess you can say college can pay off in any number of ways. When I was younger college was like a revoloving door for me. I was in and out passing and failing and it seemed like I was getting nowhere. Currently I am not a college grad, but I gained a lot from the experience. I admire the college graduate, degree in hand and a ticket to post graduate school and higher salaries; but the unfortuante thing for me was that college was not where I discovered what I wanted to do with my life. It helped me to learn and develop my writing abilities and see how political the classroom can be. This along with my life experiences helped me to learn the value of creativity and taking risks. Throughout all of this; I have always had the support of my family which has always helped me through my many successes and failures and that is priceless. I wish you the all the best. If you have room in your cirriculum trying learning about entrepreneurship.