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Is College Worth It?

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Re: Is College Worth It?

#2
College can be immensely valuable for those pursuing fields that require formal credentials and rigorous training. However, with the raise of blended/bootcamp education and significant financial burden of traditional degrees, it's critical to weigh the costs against the potential benefits.

The traditional 5-6 years of studying one core subject makes me a bit worried these days due to the speed of change in the current job market.

Ultimately, education should be a strategic choice, not an automatic one.

Re: Is College Worth It?

#3

College can be immensely valuable for those pursuing fields that require formal credentials and rigorous training. However, with the raise of blended/bootcamp education and significant financial burden of traditional degrees, it's critical to weigh the costs against the potential benefits. The traditional 5-6 years of studying one core subject makes me a bit worried these days due to the speed of change in the curren…

Are bootcamps still having success getting people employed in tech?

Re: Is College Worth It?

#5

College can be immensely valuable for those pursuing fields that require formal credentials and rigorous training. However, with the raise of blended/bootcamp education and significant financial burden of traditional degrees, it's critical to weigh the costs against the potential benefits. The traditional 5-6 years of studying one core subject makes me a bit worried these days due to the speed of change in the curren…

Are bootcamps still having success getting people employed in tech?

Not exactly in tech, but some other industries might work pretty well.

I've recently stumbled upon a Supply Chain online course at MIT that takes 1.5 years with really decent content. This is obviously less than getting a traditional bachelor's degree.

Re: Is College Worth It?

#6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are bootcamps still having success getting people employed in tech?

Not exactly in tech, but some other industries might work pretty well. I've recently stumbled upon a Supply Chain online course at MIT that takes 1.5 years with really decent content. This is obviously less than getting a traditional bachelor's degree.

Do you know what impact having an MIT MicroMasters certificate has, or if anyone cares about it? I'm not sure just citing its existence really answers the question here. It's nice that there are some pathways to converting it to credits in a full degree though.

Re: Is College Worth It?

#7
Graduate level jobs still require you to have recently graduated from something.

In my field that means "a degree in computer science or equivalent". It's still the path of least resistance for getting through the door. Yes, there are often other routes, but they all involve working harder than everyone else.

Apprenticeships don't really scale for corporate roles, there are too many candidates, and it requires too much investment from employers. College outsources parts of this, it's one last filter to weed out "the weirdos" - the graduates come prepackaged, indebted and pliable, ready to be slotted in and adsorbed by the system.

Re: Is College Worth It?

#8
I think that college and secondary schooling are worth what you invest into them. The cost of attendance is not an investment in either case. If you cannot afford the cost of attendance, which is significant, then you should not consider attendance in either at all.

Your personal effortful reading and learning, and demonstrated efforts to apply that learning make up the investment so to speak. Ultimately, internet repositories, professional mentors, and public libraries are worth more than college degrees in and of themselves, but not everyone can access and leverage these resources properly, due to lack of information literacy or professional and academic preparation.

Simply put, college is not worth it—-you are what’s worth it. Invest in yourself, through paid or free human resource development, and you will reap rewards. If you attend college without applying yourself properly, you will have made zero progress and also face a financial deficit. If you do not attend college but manage to apply yourself and be resourceful, you will have certainly made significant progress and you will have avoided debt.

I think college is still the best preparation to become an educator, which I am (Ph.D. with 15y experience in academia).

Re: Is College Worth It?

#10
post #7

Graduate level jobs still require you to have recently graduated from something. In my field that means "a degree in computer science or equivalent". It's still the path of least resistance for getting through the door. Yes, there are often other routes, but they all involve working harder than everyone else. Apprenticeships don't really scale for corporate roles, there are too many candidates, and it requires too mu…

Sure if you think of it strictly as binary as in degree vs. no degree.

A better consideration is spending a significant amount of time and money going to one college versus spending significantly less money going to a community college which might also require a smaller time investment. Unless you're attending a top 5 college then I don't think going to an expensive college is worth it. Find a cheaper place where you can still leverage networking opportunities and put your time and money to a more productive use.

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