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In my experience only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job. Many people don't end up in what their degree was and

In my experience only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job. Many people don't end up in what their degree was and also many jobs are learned primarily through job experience. If you think about it most people learn more practical skills in the first year of having a job than in 4 years of college. I think that when people spend such a large chunk of their time and money on something they expect a little more results and he is exaggerating because he is frustrated with it.

alistairSH 9y ago
...only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job... And that's part of the problem with the current anti-college movement (for lack of a better descriptor). Adherents tend to think college is an expensive 4-year job training program. But, it's not about job training. It's about broadening your horizons, learning things you might not otherwise learn, challenging your core beliefs about life and society. If you enter college with the sole goal of exiting with a high-paying job, I would argue you are doing it wrong. Instead, take some time to study things you find interesting. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
- kthejoker2 9y ago
  I mean, to their point, by your own definition college would be a RIDICULOUSLY expensive 4 year horizon broadening, belief challenging system. Also your idea of college would sound twee and naive to anyone 50 years ago.
  - alistairSH 9y ago
    College wasn't as expensive just a few decades ago. That is definitely a problem. Forgoing an education isn't the solution. As for sounding twee, I don't disagree. College has been viewed as a path to a career for quite some time now. Which is fine, other than that shouldn't be the sole reason for an education. Or the sole focus of a person's early adulthood.
    - kthejoker2 9y ago
      I'm just saying go join the Peace Corps and drop $10,000 on time tested pedagogically rewarding audiobooks (and maybe another grand on Excel or videography courses) and you'll be perfectly horizon broadened and entry level ready without 6 figure debt.
- tdb7893 9y ago
  It's hard to say it's about broadening horizons when it's a prerequisite to most jobs. Also I've broadened my horizons significantly after college so it's hard to justify paying 30k a year for that. Edit: I think part of it is that college is a requirement for many things in modern life whether it's good for you or not. I personally found it constricting but leaving would've closed a lot of doors so I just ended up staying but really resenting it
  - alistairSH 9y ago
    That an employer requires a degree does not imply that the purpose of a university education is solely to facilitate employment. Many people disagree with me, and I think that's part of the problem. And the $30k/year is a problem. No argument from me on that. By most measures, tuition has outpaced most other commonly measured consumer costs. When I attended school, a good state college wasn't cheap, but my middle-class family was still able to pay for it without borrowing money. I would be hard-pressed to pay for a 4-year degree today without incurring significant debt or dramatically changing my lifestyle.
ThrowawayR2 9y ago
> In my experience only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job. How on earth is that the _college's_ fault? If a college graduate went on to become a barista, they would be using almost none of what they learned. Would the college somehow be to blame for that too? I think not.

alistairSH 9y ago

...only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job... And that's part of the problem with the current anti-college movement (for lack of a better descriptor). Adherents tend to think college is an expensive 4-year job training program. But, it's not about job training. It's about broadening your horizons, learning things you might not otherwise learn, challenging your core beliefs about life and society. If you enter college with the sole goal of exiting with a high-paying job, I would argue you are doing it wrong. Instead, take some time to study things you find interesting. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

kthejoker2 9y ago
I mean, to their point, by your own definition college would be a RIDICULOUSLY expensive 4 year horizon broadening, belief challenging system. Also your idea of college would sound twee and naive to anyone 50 years ago.
- alistairSH 9y ago
  College wasn't as expensive just a few decades ago. That is definitely a problem. Forgoing an education isn't the solution. As for sounding twee, I don't disagree. College has been viewed as a path to a career for quite some time now. Which is fine, other than that shouldn't be the sole reason for an education. Or the sole focus of a person's early adulthood.
  - kthejoker2 9y ago
    I'm just saying go join the Peace Corps and drop $10,000 on time tested pedagogically rewarding audiobooks (and maybe another grand on Excel or videography courses) and you'll be perfectly horizon broadened and entry level ready without 6 figure debt.
tdb7893 9y ago
It's hard to say it's about broadening horizons when it's a prerequisite to most jobs. Also I've broadened my horizons significantly after college so it's hard to justify paying 30k a year for that. Edit: I think part of it is that college is a requirement for many things in modern life whether it's good for you or not. I personally found it constricting but leaving would've closed a lot of doors so I just ended up staying but really resenting it
- alistairSH 9y ago
  That an employer requires a degree does not imply that the purpose of a university education is solely to facilitate employment. Many people disagree with me, and I think that's part of the problem. And the $30k/year is a problem. No argument from me on that. By most measures, tuition has outpaced most other commonly measured consumer costs. When I attended school, a good state college wasn't cheap, but my middle-class family was still able to pay for it without borrowing money. I would be hard-pressed to pay for a 4-year degree today without incurring significant debt or dramatically changing my lifestyle.

ThrowawayR2 9y ago

> In my experience only maybe half of people actually use much of what they learned in college in their job. How on earth is that the _college's_ fault? If a college graduate went on to become a barista, they would be using almost none of what they learned. Would the college somehow be to blame for that too? I think not.