Here are top reasons why going to college now COULD be a huge waste of time and money!
6 - Universities - Nonprofit?
A higher education for Americans has become more expensive and yet, degrees are more plentiful
than ever. Let’s be for real. The cost of education has skyrocketed and the job prospects
have become weaker, especially for those people who’ve attended less than subpar universities.
In case you haven’t noticed, tuition expenses have been growing much faster than inflation
– actually, four times the rate of inflation since 1978. Sorry to break it to you, but
a lot of colleges don’t really care about your education, they just care about making
the most money they can. This is certainly evident in actual for profit universities
such as University of Phoenix and Devry University, just to name two.
Now, I know, not all colleges and universities are the same, because there ARE still plenty
of great institutions that are around that still make plenty of sense to attend. But
in general, a lot of colleges have become bureaucratic money-making machines, where
the focus is put on everything else except actual learning. These colleges focus on the
cash flow of their so-called nonprofit institution, which for some colleges, really shouldn’t
be labeled as such.
When big football schools are paying coaches millions of dollars a year, generating cash
flow just like any other business, using its student athletes for essentially free labor,
and growing their student population while consistently raising tuition, can you really
call it a nonprofit organization focused on education anymore? If these universities are
really worried THAT much about education, why not pay professors much more to make sure
there are plenty of quality people teaching the future generation? I’m not talking about
millions a year; I’m talking about just a high enough salary to consistently attract
talented people to get into teaching. Unfortunately, there’s no popular math championship that’ll
get millions of dollars flowing straight into colleges and universities.
No, really, I get it, any institution has to be run like a business in order to survive.
But how you run it still shines through. Colleges prefer to spend more money on administration
when they don’t even teach, and save when it comes to hiring full-time professors. And
no, introducing classes such as “The Cultural Politics of Lady Gaga and Vampires” and
“Politicizing Beyoncé" isn’t considered an upgrade for student learning!
5 - You’re not really learning
One of the major problems with college in general is you’re forced to regurgitate
a lot of information that’s just not going to be useful in the future. Sure, there’s
gonna be some information in classes that’s gonna be great for trivia night at your local
bar, and yes, there IS information in certain classes that’s really gonna help you with
being a well rounded individual, such as knowing which countries are where on a map. What’s
a much more valuable skillset that they don’t teach in college is actually learning HOW
to learn. A lot of people don’t know how to find out information for themselves unless
it’s spoon fed to them. There are too many classes that force students to memorize information
on a subject that can easily found on the internet with your smartphone. And let’s
not get into the fact that there’s just way too much information in general for each
class to memorize for multiple exams during exam week. Learning how to solve problems
is the key to success in the real world, not regurgitating information that’s easily
found on the internet.
Also, in order to get that high paying job so you can pay back your student loans, you’re
at the mercy of grades. In order to get high grades, you gotta be able to figure out what
your professor wants you to regurgitate back on the exams. When you first get into college
you’re told that you’re gonna be able to think for yourself while you work hard
for that A you’re looking for. The problem is, that’s just not true. What you’re
actually going to learn is how to think like your professor.
Not many professors actually care about a student’s opinion on the topic at hand,
since that student doesn’t have experience in that subject and real life in general.
If your professor is a huge liberal or conservative, you better act pick whatever side he or she
likes. If you don’t agree with your professor in some random class and you put down some
sort of answer he or she disagrees with, you can say bye to the grade you were hoping for.
And that’s inherently the disconnect that you’ll encounter at school in general, not
just in college.
4 - Faculty Mindset
Saying faculty isn’t the same today as they used to be is probably an understatement.
Let’s just say times have been changing. Professors are caught up chasing tenure. Or
maybe they already have tenure but they’re also getting paid doing some consulting work.
College professors spend less and less time doing what they’re actually supposed to
be doing – teaching students. In fact, as far as teaching is concerned, they might’ve
been teaching students how to think a little bit TOO much.
There’s been this recent trend of limiting the freedom of speech, which somehow professors
promote all around the country, so everyone feels “comfortable” and “safe” on
campus. Recent events at UC Berkeley confirm this trend, where the administration canceled
Milo Yiannopoulos’s speech, as university spokesman said was because of threats of violence.
Whether or not you agree or disagree with someone’s beliefs, he or she still has the
right to speak!
While making everyone feel comfortable in the classroom isn’t necessarily a bad thing
at all, it IS bad when it’s affecting the teaching and thinking of students. Wasn’t
knowledge all about truth and facts? Instead of promoting truthfulness, colleges have started
promoting political correctness more and more, becoming institutions of liberalism. A study
funded by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education in 1969 found that about 46% of
professors described themselves as liberal, 27% described themselves as moderates, and
28% described themselves as conservative.
In 2014, a study known as the Politics of the American Professoriate survey polled a
large sample of nearly 3,000 professors from different colleges across the nation what
their political affiliation was, among other questions. The study found that 44% of their
respondents could be classified as liberals, 46% as moderates, and only 9% as conservatives.
Although the number of liberal professors stayed relatively the same, the number of
conservative professors dropped dramatically. There are almost 5 liberal professors for
every 1 conservative!
As a matter of fact, the situation has become so bad, that some professors hide their political
views because they’re scared of being judged by coworkers or not getting tenure if they
promote themselves as conservatives. This also results in students being confused and
not being able to freely express themselves, nor form opinions about the burning political
issues of today.
3 - Return on investment
The average 18-year-old in today’s times just isn’t really aware of how the real
world works. It’s because of not having real world experience and having most likely
a subpar public education. I’d even argue that the average 30 year old in today’s
times doesn’t really understand how the world works, but that’s another subject.
The thing is, people entering college have no clue what they want to do in life, but
still, you’re on your own to pick a major. The problem is, most majors are masquerading
as fake careers. Really, how many years is it gonna take to pay back 30 to 40 grand in
tuition a year at a private institution with, say, a degree in Canadian Studies? This is
a real major at Duke University by the way; I didn’t just make this degree up! What
I’m saying is this, if you’re getting a liberal arts degree, I hope you’re getting
a full ride or having someone else pay that tuition for you.
If you decide that going to college is the right decision for you, here’s a quick and
easy roadmap to max out your ROI. You should attend the highest quality university that
you can get in while minimizing your debt. To be honest, if you’re not gonna go to
a top university with a good name, it’s probably best that you just attend community
college and transfer to a top school, because like I alluded to earlier, a degree from some
a sh*tty school really doesn’t mean anything anymore because almost anyone and everyone
has a college degree. You have to have a major in a subject with a legitimate career prospect.
You gotta do research on the future earning potential of your chosen career and do some
math to figure out whether or not the major you want is worth the time and money. And,
no, I’m really not advocating to just pick the major that’s gonna have the highest
pay. What I’m advocating is for you to figure out whether or not the degree you pick is
actually worth the time and investment. Trust me, no one wants to be saddled with 100k plus
in student loans while only making 35 grand a year.
Here’s another thought on the cost of college. Would you buy a million dollar house when
you only work the cashier window at McDonald’s? I hope you wouldn’t as most people understand
why they’d be strongly advised to do quite the opposite. Well, you wouldn’t be approved
for the loan anyways, but that’s a different story. At least I hope you wouldn’t be approved…...ANYWAYS,
choosing to take on a ton of student debt in a laughable major at a subpar university
is conveniently called an “investment” in your future, and you’re applauded all
the way. Unfortunately, as soon as you step into the real world, a lot of people see that
getting a return on that investment with a degree in Canadian Studies isn’t as easy
as it sounds. You don’t wanna be the person who got a degree that doesn’t justify the
massive loan.
2 - Losing Focus
The purpose of all education, but especially higher education, is to train students to
be proficient in a certain discipline, before they become professionals in that area, or
if they choose, before they continue their education. Becoming a well rounded and unique
individual was the other part of going to college; it used to mean something when someone
said that a certain individual went to college.
Now, it’s safe to say a lot of colleges seem to have given students reason to lose
their true purpose. Instead of students who really deeply focus on actually learning,
now students just chase high GPAs just so they can get that paper degree in the end.
I’m not blaming the students, I’m blaming the culture of going to college and just having
a degree, just so you can have that piece of paper so an employer can think about hiring
you. I always say, don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Attending college means you’re smart, right? Well, maybe in the past, but not today. Now,
almost everyone has a somewhat easy access to student loans and subsequently, an access
to a college degree. And what does that mean? It means that everyone can attend, which results
in you not being differentiated in the slightest bit if you go to just even an average university.
As I discussed earlier, a lot of colleges have become all about the money and they’re
willing to accept anyone who wants to pay the tuition. Unfortunately, getting in college
isn’t a guarantee you get something of value. Let’s just keep thinking about this logically
for a minute. If more and more people are now attending college, and more people now
have a college degree, doesn’t having a college degree now really make it the same
as having a high school degree, and now having a graduate degree is the new college degree?
Who’s really getting the better end of the deal here? Who really wants to be in school
for 20 years and beyond?! Pfffft, I’m gonna be starting Pablito’s Way University soon
if this college thing gets any bigger!
1 - Entrepreneurs and college?
If you’re looking to be an entrepreneur or a business owner, college is just gonna
be a huge waste of time for you. Sure, there’s certainly value in the connections you make,
and also the experience and fun in college, but really, building your business that you
already know you’ll be pursuing early is gonna be a much more valuable use of your
time. This is probably the most important thing regarding why college is a waste of
time and money. You don’t need a degree to be an entrepreneur or a business owner.
There are things with being a business owner that just can’t be taught in school. The
small failures that you encounter in building and scaling your business will teach you a
much more valuable lesson and give you experience that you’ll remember much more than some
random course in college. Think of learning to run a business like learning how to shoot
a free throw in basketball. Even if you have 10 years to study before taking your first
first free throw, there’s just no way you can study your way into being a 90% free throw
shooter without actually practicing free throws. You have to go out there and just do it.
Having a degree offers a zero guarantee of success as a business owner. Of course, the
degree might look nice in your own office one day, but it’s not really gonna help
you get there any faster. There are plenty of successful entrepreneurs out there have
either dropped out of college or have never even attended it the first place. Everyone
knows about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, both of whom dropped out of college to start their
own companies. Also, the internet has become a massive library where every possible subject
or topic you could ever think of is covered. You can pretty become an expert in anything.
The opportunities are really endless for information on the internet.
If you’re going for the degree because you’re gonna climb the corporate ladder, college
can make sense. But if you’re going just to get a piece of paper before starting your
own business…….like I said before, I hope at least someone else is paying for the degree.
Just like Will in Good Will Hunting said, you don’t wanna be the person who quote,
“dropped 150 grand on a f*cking education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late
charges at the public library” Well, as a matter of fact, let’s not forget that
top universities around the world offer free videos of their lectures online.
If you’re gonna go the corporate route, you’ll need that piece of paper that corporate
America expects you to have. However, just make sure that it’s worth it that you’re
putting in your time and money to get that piece of paper.
Here’s what’s next!