Does a college education mean much anymore?
Question:
The diploma mills are kicking out degrees like dog licenses.
When I was a kid, I was led to believe that college was the path to wealth, now I'm not so sure.
At my company, an outsider comes in with a degree from a prestigeous university, and is trumped by a hay-seed clown who golfs with the boss and got his degree online just for appearences! And of course, the clown thinks his education is just as good.
I think the way out of the lower class is through education. But to get to the upper class, it seems to be education and networking.
Answer:
I agree with you. My husband has a two year degree and makes almost 70k a year (he's in a union). I dont' have a degree and make amost 28k. I know people who have degrees and don't make as much as either one of us do. Right now, i'm debating on whether or not to get a degree in anything, seeing as how the place I work is huge and i can move around and obtain skills here through our IT department... It used to be that more eduation meant more money, but now, I think it's all about networking and screwing the other guy.
It depends on what you major.
A PhD in English or History might land you a job as a high school teacher.
But an MBA, or a PHD in Engineering, Finance, law, or languages can land you a good job.
good job answering your own question? of course an education is worth a lot still... now you need an education more than ever to succeed in everyday life... just because you work for a company whos boss is easily corrupted by brown nosing does not mean the rest of the world is that way. (of course networking is important the more people you know and go out and meet the more oppotunities have the chance to present themselves to you... networking is not all about brown-nosing it is also about opening doors and simply meeting new people in the same field as you.)
Who are you to say that online degrees aren't any good. Distance and online learning from reputable schools is just as good as sitting at a bricks and mortar building. As technology is becoming more prominent eLearning/Distance Learning is becoming increasingly popular.
To become apart of another social class, it is important to have your education, no matter where it is from, as long as you have a degree it means something and to have the ability to network.
Networking will get your foot in the door and open up possibilities for you to get ahead in your career.
To answer the original question, Yes a college degree means something. More nowadays then in times past. It's almost coming to the point where a Bachelor's degree won't do anymore, and a Master's degree will be the norm.
"When I was a kid, I was led to believe that college was the path to wealth, now I'm not so sure."
Yeah, and now more and more people are coming to college JUST to make more money. It's really Mucking up the value of a degree, and the students just don't want to learn. Much easier to pay the University of Phoenix for the right to call themselves college-educated than actually attempt to receive a college education. However, there are kids that aren't bothering to learn anything at a brick and mortar university either.
It's a shame, too. My undergrad years did the most to shape the person I am now, and so much of that had nothing to do with the material in the books.
It will all boil down to critical thinking skills, eventually. You can only develop those by engaging a subject at a higher level. Besides, the Masters degree is becoming what a Bachelors used to be, and they will take someone from Princeton over Uof Phoenix every time.
(by the way, my hubby is a hayseed, but he's also a doctoral candidate with 4 college degrees already in hand.)
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