I would personally like to see more of a return in Corporate America where a 4 year degree is not a prerequisite for almost every job.  Shoot, when I was younger, I applied for a promotion from receptionist to an actuary and had passed the entrance test to become one.  However.. I was not promoted because while the job I was applying for didn't require a degree.. they wanted one for further advancement.. so I didn't get it.  Needless to say, I have since gotten my 4 year as well as a masters in accounting.. though I do not work in accounting anymore.  But, I was smart enough that with training... there is no reason why I wouldn't have succeeded at that level or beyond.

The cost of college has skyrocketed with the ease of loan grants the schools CAN charge more.  They have become like a business.. polishing themselves up with fancy ammenities to attract customers.. I mean students who come to them with fat pockets full of loan money. It's not too different than the way healthcare costs skyrocketed due to the availaiblity of insurance coverages.  

A college education can be valuable.  And.. I have encouraged both my SD's to pursue it.. but to do so at a pace that their employers will reimburse them.  My OSD didn't make it far.. but my YSD is now almost done with her associate's degree and has zero debt.

But.. they both have decent jobs and make decent money.

I do think that there should be more emphasis on trades that can offer lucrative salaries.  I think a lot of looking down on blue collar workers is misplaced.  Believe me.. not starting out with 75K in debt is probably a lot smarter than getting that degree and working at PANERA.

Depends on one's goal in life. Do you need a college education to be a happy, successful, contributing, fulfilled individual? No, absolutely not.

But I am a big proponent of a college education, if someone has the ability and wants to pursue it. Just finishing a degree, any degree, requires a certain amount of fortitude and there is all sorts of learning going on, inside and outside the classroom. Just because someone prefers to be a housewife or SAHM doesn't mean the education wasn't useful. 

But I agree, it's not for everybody and shouldn't be a marker of success or failure.

Full disclosure: I've worked in higher education my whole career and love it. I know I'm biased but I have seen so many success stories. But there are also student debt horror stories too.

I believe education or training is important, which could include vocational training not necessarily a degree.

Now college degree is absolutely necessary for the type of career you want.

Both I and DH wouldn’t be able to have careers of our choices if we had no degrees. Same for my DD and the rest of my family. Our choices of careers require college degrees.

In my DH’s family he is the only one with education. Now some people in his family are doing ok because they chose careers where they learn on a job and they work hard. Several of them regret not having degrees because they reached the ceiling. Many people in his family always struggled and hop jobs simply because they never had a career.

being a truck driver isn’t an easy job but it’s respectable job and it does require training. Most certainly it doesn’t require college. If that’s what one chooses to do, that’s what needs to do 

in my opinion it’s what you choose to do for life and also what you capable of doing what matters when you make your choice of schooling/training. And it should drive one’s  choices. Not what other people think. Personally I can’t care less that people think college degree is not important. That would mean I wouldn’t do what I want to do. So I believe in personal choices 

I attended both undergraduate and graduate schools as not a traditional student. Worked full time while raising a kid, attended part time, nights, weekends, blah blah So did my DH. I don’t buy it when people say they didn’t go because of their mom and dad or schools for rich people. Baloney.

If you want to go you can go. At any age. Many classes are online now. Sure might need to borrow money. Take loans. Be tired 24/7. Take longer than normal etc

No, it’s not unattainable or unaffordable. It’s hard and expensive but one can do it 

This is such a tough one for me.  I understand the current "need" for a degree for the career minded these days.

Straight from high school to college makes the most sense in a generic timeline but how many kidults can make the right guess on, as Aniki says, what they want to be when they grow up?  How do you know at that age that your chosen career path is ultimately compatible with your future?  Life rarely plays out the way we envision as young adults.  

A business degree is the new communications degree of decades past.  Around here getting your foot in the door doesn't necessarily require a related degree, just any degree.  I'm not sure for what purpose since based on my decades in the auto industry its not unusual for those with the pretty degrees to be missing significant business acumen - even before you take the global economy into account.  Severely lacking feels like an understatement.  A degree in underwater basket weaving will check the box.

And it all seems absurd to me considering the sacrifices made by those who pursue degrees through graduation.  It's a very expensive rite of passage... for what?

Studies have shown us time and again that a degree unlocks a greater earning potential.  But the associated wealth has all but disappeared. 

Cost of college has increased by a factor of 14 in the last, I think it was, 40 years that I read recently.  It is a huge reason (though certainly not the only) more recent generations struggle as much as they do.  You can't get an entry level job without a degree, you can't afford to pay cash for it but can't get a job to cover payments if you go the loan route and still manage to support yourself and start accumulating assets and wealth - at least not to the extent of any prior generations.

I think continuing education, of any form, is hugely important.  Both personally and professionally.  But I can't get behind it being a basic requirement to enter the professional world, not with the current system.

The trades are excellent and not encouraged nearly enough. My Skids (SS30 and SD26) both went to prestigious universities with hefty price tags and both have Bachelors Degrees. Both picked majors that have little to no opportunity to actually get a job. Both are unemployed. 

My DS19 did really well in high school, but college just wasn't his thing. He likes to work with his hands and is very handy. So he is an apprentice to be an electrician. 5 year program that he's getting paid (and paid well) as he goes. (Current 5th year apprentices are making $35/hr). They pay for his classes, books, health insurance, and pay into 3 pensions.  Plus 3 weeks paid vacation. He'll be done at 23 and making $125K to start with no debt.  I encourage everyone who is not what you'd consider "college material" to consider a trade. 

I agree with most that not all are cut out for college and there is a staggering need for technicians, artisans, and plumbers, electricians, etc.  in our area we've seen a resurgence of technical training capability in our community college system.  My son has several IT certifications that opened the door to a great well paying job.  My oldest skid is in the auto body business where skilled painters are in high demand and in his area can make over $150k per year.

I finished college at 50.  I was already well established in my career and making very good money.  My degree was a personal goal.  I will say that my college courses greatly improved my critical and analytical thinking skills.

Previous career: no degree, corporate america, consulting, worked my way up fast to $140,000 per year

New career: mandatory 4 year university degree, social services, mental health, starting at $25 per hour....

Which scenario would you say is more successful?

Does quality of life come into play?

I see both sides of the issue. I can support someone opting in or opting out of getting a degree. There are also so many variables to consider (financial, goal career, timing) that I really think it's a personalized, individual decision to make. 

One of my favorite jokes is about the doctor who calls a plumber to fix a clogged drain at his house. The plumber fixes it in an hour and hands the doctor a bill for $600. The doctor looks at it and exclaims, " I'm a doctor and I don't make that much in an hour," to which the plumber replies, "Neither did I when I was a doctor." Lol! So, NO, I don't think a college degree is necessary to earn a very good living, assuming that's what you meant by the question. I think whether an individual should go to college depends on a lot of factors, including what the individual wants to do, how many years of study they're willing to undergo, how willing they are to take on debt for education if necessary and where they live.

There are many, many jobs that can be obtained through trade or vocational school or other training (plumbers, welders, electricians, etc) that don't require as many years of study (so less debt is likely) and also provide a very good living. I went to law school because I grew up dirt poor and wanted out of that life, and 25 years ago in my state, being a lawyer practically guaranteed a very comfortable life, and fortunately, that's been the case, and pretty much still is where we live. Still, I would never dissuade one of my children who wanted to go to trade school from doing that.

The bigger issue I think is, unlike 50 or more years ago, a person who does not have a college degree, trade school, vocational school or other training/certification will have a hard time getting a full-time job that pays well, offers benefits and is sustainable long-term. The majority of people without any education or training are pretty much left to fast food or retail jobs, most of which pay little more than minimum wage and deliberately hire many part-time workers to avoid paying benefits. Work conditions are poor and people bounce from job to job. That's what we see my SS24 and his DW doing, and I pray he actually finishes his online degree and gets a decent job, although I have my doubts that he'll actually finish or that his "degree" will actually lead to a career. If nothing else, he's been a very good example to use with my DSs as to why they NEED some sort of real education or training. Lol.

I think the US just needs to revamp their education system. By high school, you should have tracks that allow you to pursue what you want AND BE SUCCESSFUL at it. Wanna work in a trade? There's a diploma track for that. Wanna get your Associate's degree in something so you can work and decide if you really want to stay in that field? There's a track for that. Going into STEM? There's a track for that. I think *some* high schools are starting to do this, but that needs to be a major overhaul everywhere.

I cannot tell you how absolutely PISSED I was that I had to take "core classes" like theater and public communications in college. Those classes, or at least those category of classes, are REQUIRED to graduate HS. If I have my college-ready diploma from HS, why in the hell do I need to retake it in college? All those classes did was give me busy work and make me worried about my grades more than I needed to. AND I had learned more when I was in HS because I was being taught by an actual teacher, not being taught by a grad student while only getting to see my professor once a week for a 100+ person lecture!

Even if you revamp the schools, someone has to teach employers that more letters after a name doesn't make someone more qualified. There are way too many folks in my field with Master's degrees making less than $40,000 a year, but without the Master's, no one will hire them. It causes burnout because you feel undervalued and unappreciated with a salary that will likely never break $50,000 a year - and it's a field that every medical journal is touting as needing expanded!

The system is jacked up. I'm not saying every job needs a degree, but if you're going to require it, make sure you can PAY people for it. Don't ask folks to go $25,000+ into debt only to pay them $40,000/year. Either increase the pay or drop the requirements. Until places of employment realign their jobs with the ACTUAL training needed, colleges will continue to be the dumping ground and we'll continue to have bullsh*t degrees because that's what people will hire regularly.

There are trade programs where I have lived.   But parents do not support them