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> Sure, Gates/Jobs/Zuckerberg/etc didn't graduate college. However, you have to remember three important facts: they all at least started college, they all stay

> Sure, Gates/Jobs/Zuckerberg/etc didn't graduate college. However, you have to remember three important facts: they all at least started college, they all stayed until they had an insane success on their hands and they all met (or at least worked with) their cofounders in college. Zuckerberg is not an example of why one should go to college. He is an example of the difference between college as-an-experience[0] and the diploma that one gets after graduating. In some fields, a diploma is important if not required, similar to a certification, and in others it isn't. If you want to go to college, it's important to know exactly what you want to get out of it, if the diploma itself has little value in se in your field. Unfortunately, I think these two points are oftentimes conflated, to the point where some people completely write college off as having no value, when a more appropriate conclusion may be that college has value whether or not you receive a diploma. [0] both a learning experience and cultural one

leoc 13y ago
The problem is that increasing costs mean that college-as-an-experience on its own, without also picking up a diploma that employers value sufficiently (and which you will quickly put to use to get a better job), is somewhere between "not worth it on balance" and "financial suicide" for an increasing proportion of US students.
_delirium 13y ago
Zuckerberg is also an awkward case because he effectively did do a very traditional liberal-arts degree, complete with learning to read and write Greek and Latin, and extensive study of classical poetry. He just did it earlier in life, because he went to a famous private boarding school, the Phillips Exeter Academy, which followed that model of education. He's definitely not the product of some kind of modern technically-focused vocational education: Phillips Exeter is not exactly a "learn-to-code camp" place.

leoc 13y ago

The problem is that increasing costs mean that college-as-an-experience on its own, without also picking up a diploma that employers value sufficiently (and which you will quickly put to use to get a better job), is somewhere between "not worth it on balance" and "financial suicide" for an increasing proportion of US students.

_delirium 13y ago

Zuckerberg is also an awkward case because he effectively did do a very traditional liberal-arts degree, complete with learning to read and write Greek and Latin, and extensive study of classical poetry. He just did it earlier in life, because he went to a famous private boarding school, the Phillips Exeter Academy, which followed that model of education. He's definitely not the product of some kind of modern technically-focused vocational education: Phillips Exeter is not exactly a "learn-to-code camp" place.