I have several friends in college debt that never used their degree. I know another doing legal work with their law master's degree... They won't be out of debt until their late forties. Learning is important, college, at least in the U.S. is too expensive. K-12 is important. Trade school is important. Learning how to read and think criticially is important. College not as much.
this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2025
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I'll caveat: college is important, though not necessarily based on classes. For me, it was the first time I experienced other people from a vast array of cultures, both domestic and abroad. It helped shape me into the person I am today, and it's a much better person than I would've been should I have stayed in my podunk town.
Is that worth the cost? Hell no. That we have to go into decades of debt to earn a piece of paper is stupid. Was it worth me growing as a human being? Absolutely. I never would take that back.
A caveat to my caveat lol: this isn't saying that my experience means it's that way for all, but that it really was formative for me. Others may experience that same thing in trade schools. I just think the immersion was much more in depth for me ๐
Agree. I learned a lot of things in college and most of them were not learned in the classroom. The debt it saddled me with was rough, but it was worth my personal growth.
Also, if you're reasonably smart and self-motivated the 21st century world abounds with the materials to let you learn much of what you would in college. Not specialized learning maybe, but for generalized learning, yes.
Yup. I'd definitely think it's more to do with utility 10 years ago than AI now. That's enough time to see that some people who went to college aren't using their degrees and some people who didn't are doing just fine, and that for a lot of people then biggest difference is debt. Current AI tools haven't had enough time influencing the market to make it clear if they're actually going to change things significantly or not.
I think the political difference is between which groups value education in the abstract more, and see college as a way to get that, despite a possible lack of utility. College can be a way to learn critical thinking and such. In an ideal world, we'd also be more okay giving anyone who wanted it knowledge for knowledges sake without making it so focused on utility.
I'd love if I could pop over to the nearby university and sign up to take an intro course on something that I know I will never practically use.
It's the cost. College is almost always worth it even if you don't use the degree because education itself is always worth it (with the exception being scam colleges). It improves critical thinking, puts you in contact to people different from you, often gives more global perspective, etc.
But is it worth the current price? To the individual, probably not. It's worth it to the society that educates the person, that's why we used to subsidize education heavily and not rely on loans. Given the net gain to society, it should be free like k-12, although we don't fund that enough either. It's almost like universal education and capitalism are incompatable, eh?
But did you consider that educated youths scared the government? Didn't even think of that, did you? That's cause you're a citizen-centered freak. Society needs uneducated masses so that ~~me and my friends can make more money than God~~ we don't lose our American way of life. It's all to stop those damn ~~commies~~ ~~hippies~~ ~~blacks~~ ~~gays~~ terrorists!
/s
In Europe, where college is almost free (details depend, there are still private colleges), the trend is towards considering college education more and more important, and more and more entry level jobs require at least a bachelor degree in vaguely related fields.
So, yeah, cost is such an important element!
That is because of degree inflation and europe trailing the united states. Also you still have to pay each semester a small sum (like it is around 220 Euro+ for me), so it isnt exactly free free everywhere.
Colleges ruined their reputation with price gouging.
Don't go to college unless your are rich and/or you know what you are doing
Starting your life with 40k of debt and 20 per hour "career" will crush you.
I'm not sure where you're referencing but it's not price gouging, it's a lack of subsidies in most nations. For instance, US government used to pay the vast majority of college costs (at least for public colleges, which are the majority). That responsibility was handed over to private interests as loans.
You don't understand what you are talking about.
Do some basic research on us university budgets, bloat and historical price increases between 1990 and 2020.
Check compensation of admins and student loans ;)
It's part of a greater shift in politics - the Democrats abandoning the working class to pick up upper-middle-class professionals and managers.
The Democrat had to study hard to get rich. The Republican just had to inherit his daddy's car dealership. Working people are left out of the equation altogether.