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I don't think the question is whether or not college is worth it. Because that's a generalization. I also don't think the question is whether or not college is

I don't think the question is whether or not college is worth it. Because that's a generalization. I also don't think the question is whether or not college is worth it to some people. Because that's exclusionary. The question is, can college make a reasonably positive impact on a persons quality of life, given all of their life choices. It's exactly the same as a gym membership. Lots of recent research shows that you lose more weight through diet than through exercise. But gyms have more benefits than just helping you to lose weight. Also, you have to actually use the gym to get those benefits, simply paying the fee and showing up once in a while will do nothing. It's the same with college, it's a tool. And you can choose to use it or you can choose to not use it. There is no right or wrong answer.

sanxiyn 12y ago
You are wrong. The question whether college is worth it is asked in context of informing public policy decision. Namely, if college is worth it but people don't go to college, shouldn't we subsidize people to go to college, by tax? You can choose to use college or not, but you can't choose to pay tax or not.
- zacinbusiness 12y ago
  That's two different questions. Is college worth it to any specific individual vs is college worth it to the nation as a whole. As far as the nation goes, it's obvious that the answer is yes. Should we have entirely subsidized higher education, of course. But even if it were free, not everyone would benefit from going to college. Some people have no interest and some people learn differently and some people are simply too lazy. So, college was a great choice for me, but some of my friends came out with debt and no jobs so it didn't do much for them.
  - sanxiyn 12y ago
    I hope you are aware not everybody would agree to "we should entirely subsidize higher education". It is a topic of debate. I also hope you are aware not everybody would agree to "not everyone would benefit from going to college". Actually, isn't it precisely the thing being discussed here?
    - zacinbusiness 12y ago
      Sure, subsidizing public higher education is a matter of debate. So: in my opinion, we should entirely subsidize higher education. I don't think that anyone should disagree with the statement that everyone would benefit from going to college. Do not mistake my intention, I am 100% pro-higher education. I wish everyone wanted to go to college, and I wish everyone wanted to learn and expand their world-view and to experience the new and wonderful things that college can expose you to. But, the problem is that the majority of people are simply too afraid to learn new things, too worried that they might find out that they were wrong about something, or that their parents were wrong about something. And then you have kids coming to college who think that simply because they spent the money they should be handed a degree and a job. So, what I'm saying, is that there are a great many people, and unfortunately a lot of them are policy makers, who have unrealistic demands of public education. These people think that there should be a hard ratio of dollars spent vs. dollars earned by graduates. And that's unrealistic. These are often the people who talk about the uselessness of any track other than STEM disciplines.

sanxiyn 12y ago

You are wrong. The question whether college is worth it is asked in context of informing public policy decision. Namely, if college is worth it but people don't go to college, shouldn't we subsidize people to go to college, by tax? You can choose to use college or not, but you can't choose to pay tax or not.

zacinbusiness 12y ago
That's two different questions. Is college worth it to any specific individual vs is college worth it to the nation as a whole. As far as the nation goes, it's obvious that the answer is yes. Should we have entirely subsidized higher education, of course. But even if it were free, not everyone would benefit from going to college. Some people have no interest and some people learn differently and some people are simply too lazy. So, college was a great choice for me, but some of my friends came out with debt and no jobs so it didn't do much for them.
- sanxiyn 12y ago
  I hope you are aware not everybody would agree to "we should entirely subsidize higher education". It is a topic of debate. I also hope you are aware not everybody would agree to "not everyone would benefit from going to college". Actually, isn't it precisely the thing being discussed here?
  - zacinbusiness 12y ago
    Sure, subsidizing public higher education is a matter of debate. So: in my opinion, we should entirely subsidize higher education. I don't think that anyone should disagree with the statement that everyone would benefit from going to college. Do not mistake my intention, I am 100% pro-higher education. I wish everyone wanted to go to college, and I wish everyone wanted to learn and expand their world-view and to experience the new and wonderful things that college can expose you to. But, the problem is that the majority of people are simply too afraid to learn new things, too worried that they might find out that they were wrong about something, or that their parents were wrong about something. And then you have kids coming to college who think that simply because they spent the money they should be handed a degree and a job. So, what I'm saying, is that there are a great many people, and unfortunately a lot of them are policy makers, who have unrealistic demands of public education. These people think that there should be a hard ratio of dollars spent vs. dollars earned by graduates. And that's unrealistic. These are often the people who talk about the uselessness of any track other than STEM disciplines.