College Value Debate

You are claiming a lot of absolutes in this. I attended college to expand my mind, learn new things, and mature into an adult. I went to a large but reasonably prices state school and did everything you said no one does. I don't even use my degree but going through thought me a lot of lessons I still use (working well with people I don't know, learning things quickly and applying them, making new friends). I, and I bet a lot of others, learned and grew a lot during University with out

College or University education is more than the "education". It's a way of life that people go through to gain some incredible social experiences that you can't get elsewhere. Now I agree that we always need to improve our education, but for the "college is worthless" because it doesn't help your career type, a great college(not a vocational school) is never for your career, it's for personal growth.On a different note, do people notice that there are more and more teenagers using HN? I feel

I don't know if anyone feels the same, but lately I have been regretting not have _enjoyed university_ because I wanted to rush to get a job.There is so much knowledge to acquire getting a degree that I kinda think that there is some agenda of making this generation dumber and dumber.One of the things that college does well, is to teach stuff that you don't think you need, but that are so important for you.Those that only do what their brain wants, optimize for what is more co

Going to university doesn't mean you will learn any of these.

you dont go to college to get a job. you go there to get an education.

It's the return on going to uni. If you just want to learn stuff, go read a book.

College isn't just about jobs. I studied philosophy, got two diplomas in it and now I write software for a living. Do I regret it? Of course not. I learned a lot in college. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about learning, other people, and the world. I'm glad I didn't waste those four years learning computers, something I was much better able to do on my own. Yes, if the only goal is to learn job skills only, most colleges and most majors shouldn't exist and the

Consider that you're spending $X on college, when you could probably just as easily buy the text book (or not!) and do courses online for free. So what is it that you want to get out of college? If you don't know, why are you paying?I'm not hiring, but I'd personally rather see someone who self taught themselves some specific discipline, and then used the money they would have spent on college to apply their knowledge to build something for themselves (whether that's

For me, college was worth it for the experience more than the degree or education. I went to UCLA and got a degree in English. So far all the jobs I've gotten have been because of things I learned outside of classrooms. I am currently making six figures as a self-taught software engineer, but I don't think I would have gotten to this point had I not gone to college.It's not so much what I learned in lectures halls, but the people I met, and maturity I gained while I was there. It didn't h

This is worrisome. College experience does provide unique benefits compared to self-learning.