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This is just not borne out by the data. The gap between high school grads and college grads pay is getting wider and wider. You shouldn't go to college if you

This is just not borne out by the data. The gap between high school grads and college grads pay is getting wider and wider. You shouldn't go to college if you aren't going to be a serious student and you'll be a legitimate risk for dropping out. But if you are willing to commit yourself and get decent grades, you'll be in much better shape than most people with just a high school diploma. Your advice is also sounds really out of touch with what various jobs pay. The average new college grad makes like 60k or so. I can only speak to my workplace and team, but we pay product designers with very little experience around 90k a year. I have no licenses and am not a professional engineer, and I make several times that. The issue is that far too many people are going into debt for college degrees and not getting the degrees. That's the biggest. The secondary issue is that college is becoming more and more expensive, but it is still paying off for the majority of bachelor degree holders.

hattmall 5y ago
You make several times 90k?? So like how much? Several has to be at least 3 right, so $300k+? What degree do you have??
- trzy 5y ago
  Software engineers with ~5 years of experience (and probably less) can earn $300k-$400k annually in the Bay Area or New York if working for a large tech company.
  - ogwh 5y ago
    This is a tiny fraction of software engineers. The vast majority in the wider Western world earn less than an average tradesman. The higher end of salaries in the UK is £40-50k, most earning substantially less than that. The much higher salaries paid by the major US companies are so anomalous that they may as well be discarded in any comparisons.
    - imtringued 5y ago
      No it is the international investor effect. People do not invest locally. The money goes to a few proven places rather than circulating throughout the entire country. You can call the investors kings and the workers are chasing the kings money.
    - jen20 5y ago
      The higher end in London is substantially more than that across banking, insurance and foreign tech companies and contracting day rates were really rather good. Admittedly I’ve been out of the U.K. for long enough to see what impact Brexit has had, especially on contracting day rates. Still nothing like the US though, and the cost of living is not much different than New York City IME.
    - pwthornton 5y ago
      While most software engineers in the U.S. don't make 300-400k, you will make above 100k pretty quickly. You can make 150k-ish total comp at tons of places in the United States. These places will usually offer very good benefits too.
- pwthornton 5y ago
  Human-computer interaction. I'm not in my 20s, and I'm not an individual contributor, so that skews my pay, but I also don't think I've come close to my ceiling yet.
throwaway6734 5y ago
I went to college and I wasn't a "serious" student. Went on a half scholarship, got pretty good grades (most of the time), and majored in CS. Took on around 50k at around 5% interest. Wouldn't change a thing in the world about it. Easily paid it off over a few years.

hattmall 5y ago

You make several times 90k?? So like how much? Several has to be at least 3 right, so $300k+? What degree do you have??

trzy 5y ago
Software engineers with ~5 years of experience (and probably less) can earn $300k-$400k annually in the Bay Area or New York if working for a large tech company.
- ogwh 5y ago
  This is a tiny fraction of software engineers. The vast majority in the wider Western world earn less than an average tradesman. The higher end of salaries in the UK is £40-50k, most earning substantially less than that. The much higher salaries paid by the major US companies are so anomalous that they may as well be discarded in any comparisons.
  - imtringued 5y ago
    No it is the international investor effect. People do not invest locally. The money goes to a few proven places rather than circulating throughout the entire country. You can call the investors kings and the workers are chasing the kings money.
  - jen20 5y ago
    The higher end in London is substantially more than that across banking, insurance and foreign tech companies and contracting day rates were really rather good. Admittedly I’ve been out of the U.K. for long enough to see what impact Brexit has had, especially on contracting day rates. Still nothing like the US though, and the cost of living is not much different than New York City IME.
  - pwthornton 5y ago
    While most software engineers in the U.S. don't make 300-400k, you will make above 100k pretty quickly. You can make 150k-ish total comp at tons of places in the United States. These places will usually offer very good benefits too.
pwthornton 5y ago
Human-computer interaction. I'm not in my 20s, and I'm not an individual contributor, so that skews my pay, but I also don't think I've come close to my ceiling yet.

throwaway6734 5y ago

I went to college and I wasn't a "serious" student. Went on a half scholarship, got pretty good grades (most of the time), and majored in CS. Took on around 50k at around 5% interest. Wouldn't change a thing in the world about it. Easily paid it off over a few years.