3 ms·

I really don't find these anecdotes convincing. There's been a fair bit of research showing that the college wage premia is large and positive. Now, there are l

I really don't find these anecdotes convincing. There's been a fair bit of research showing that the college wage premia is large and positive. Now, there are lots of arguments to be had about the mechanism by which that premia arises and to what extent it is fair, but its existence is not in question. A degree is not much more than a fresh start, a foot in the door, and some residual credibility. That's true in some fields. But in some fields, you simply cannot succeed without a college degree. If you want to be a civil engineer designing bridges, you need a college degree. If you want to be a physician or even a registered nurse or physician's assistant, then you need a degree. Period.

jquery 16y ago
> There's been a fair bit of research showing that the college wage premia is large and positive. Now, there are lots of arguments to be had about the mechanism by which that premia arises and to what extent it is fair, but its existence is not in question. Not many people are arguing it doesn't exist. People (or at least I) am giving evidence that college is not the only way to obtain this "premia," and that there is a cost, beyond which if college exceeds that cost, college is no longer favorable over its alternatives. Of course this is highly dependent on the university attended and the degree received and also depends on the individual involved. To blindly say, "college is always better" ignores all this evidence and turns off our minds to alternatives.