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> Degrees are credentials that are used to sort people. Degrees are used to sort people, but not arbitrarily. A degree certifies what you have learned. Givin

> Degrees are credentials that are used to sort people. Degrees are used to sort people, but not arbitrarily. A degree certifies what you have learned. Giving out more degrees could mean degree inflation or it could just mean that more people are learning. Our economy is shifting away from unskilled labor towards skilled labor. You can get those skills without getting a degree, it's just harder (and cheaper) to do. I love institutions like the Khan Academy that make it easier to improve your skills outside of a degree program, but I also love initiatives that make degree programs more accessible.

lutusp 12y ago
> Degrees are used to sort people, but not arbitrarily. I disagree -- I think the case can be made that the sorting process is largely automatic and disregards individual traits, This is supported by the number of very high achievers who are also dropouts, people who didn't understand or accept that they had already been "sorted". This certainly isn't meant to suggest that, on average, a degree holder doesn't do better, has a higher income as a result of attending college. But as college costs continue to rise (now increasing faster than any other household expense) the day will come when it no longer makes economic sense. > Our economy is shifting away from unskilled labor towards skilled labor. You can get those skills without getting a degree, it's just harder (and cheaper) to do. It may be harder, but it avoids the trap of being taught things in college that are already out of date in a fast-moving world.
- seanflyon 12y ago
  As you said, degree holders are more likely to do better. The question is why and there are 2 obvious answers: 1) People who are already more likely to do well tend to go to college. 2) Going to college prepares people to do well. I think both have a significant effect. Certainly in my own experience what I learned in college has benefited me in the workplace and almost none of what I learned (graduated in 2008) is out of date. When I look at my most respected peers, several of them don't have degrees, but those who don't either went to college and joined the work force before graduating or took more than 4 years to develop the skills and experience they needed to compete with college graduates. I'm not sure what kinds of individual traits you are talking about that are ignored by the sorting process or how this claim is supported by the few very high achievers that dropped out of college. I would expect some of the very high achievers to take the harder path of blazing their own trail.

lutusp 12y ago

> Degrees are used to sort people, but not arbitrarily. I disagree -- I think the case can be made that the sorting process is largely automatic and disregards individual traits, This is supported by the number of very high achievers who are also dropouts, people who didn't understand or accept that they had already been "sorted". This certainly isn't meant to suggest that, on average, a degree holder doesn't do better, has a higher income as a result of attending college. But as college costs continue to rise (now increasing faster than any other household expense) the day will come when it no longer makes economic sense. > Our economy is shifting away from unskilled labor towards skilled labor. You can get those skills without getting a degree, it's just harder (and cheaper) to do. It may be harder, but it avoids the trap of being taught things in college that are already out of date in a fast-moving world.

seanflyon 12y ago
As you said, degree holders are more likely to do better. The question is why and there are 2 obvious answers: 1) People who are already more likely to do well tend to go to college. 2) Going to college prepares people to do well. I think both have a significant effect. Certainly in my own experience what I learned in college has benefited me in the workplace and almost none of what I learned (graduated in 2008) is out of date. When I look at my most respected peers, several of them don't have degrees, but those who don't either went to college and joined the work force before graduating or took more than 4 years to develop the skills and experience they needed to compete with college graduates. I'm not sure what kinds of individual traits you are talking about that are ignored by the sorting process or how this claim is supported by the few very high achievers that dropped out of college. I would expect some of the very high achievers to take the harder path of blazing their own trail.