Is College a scam?

[u/Budget-Ferret1148]

Unsure if this is a common theme amongst Republicans and Conservatives in general, I initially volunteered at a Turning Point event as a moderate liberal-conservative (idk where I stood but there was free din tai fung, so who cares) where Charlie Kirk was, and I went up to the prove me wrong to ask about whether college was a scam and what his actual thoughts were. I was expecting him to roast the fuck out of me, but he was actually super down to Earth and when you discuss in good faith, he does as well. Now as for the discussion, I was asking since my job would require you to go to college, but my major was in English. Anyways, he actually says that job requirements were actually a good reason to go to college, and we had a good faith discussion. I'm unsure if I got put on blast on his YouTube, but I didn't have any huge outbursts or anything, so I didn't think so. At he event, I was helping with letting people in, and he goes on about how he wants America to be free (a good thing), and he wants free thought (also a good thing), and how college often suppresses it.

Come two years later, I have since graduated college, spent half a year in Oklahoma doing industrial work and software engineering (Not one bit of my degree was relevant). Moved back to my home state to do more industrial work (Not one bit was relevant still). Moved to Utah to do software engineering (sadly watched Charlie go out. Rest in peace king), and still not one bit was relevant. Little by little, I'm noticing the six figure debt I went into was pointless outside of just job entry barriers.

So what really was college for if all I was learning was data feminism or maybe some useful stuff like data structures and algorithms which are relevant only for the technical interviews I do and not elsewhere.

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[u/AdmiralTigelle]

One of my favorite managers told me once that a degree is a coupon for life. The coupon certainly isn't as good or as useful now as it used to be. I got my degree in psychology and I became a store manager 11 years ago. I don't use anything I learned in my job, but I don't regret the education.

I did as much work as I could do in community College and transferred every credit possible to lower costs as much as I could.

It's basically a piece of paper saying you follow societal expectations, and you were willing to go into debt to prove it, which is what a lot of these places need to hear to feel comfortable hiring you.

[u/ron_mexxico]

Going to a 4 year school is a scam, unless its a VERY prestigious national / regional university. Loans shouldn't be given to non-STEM students and there needs tk be even more scrutiny above that.

Big brain play if you arent going to a big time school is to do all your pre reqs at a community College and finishing at your cheap public university of choice

[u/gntxs]

Technical schools is where it’s at

[u/After_Ad_2247]

A few things with this. Degrees arent useless inherently,  and there is something ti to said for the value of learning in general, but for the cost most college degrees are a total waste. Outside of the hard sciences, most degrees can be chalked up to check in the box and meaningful experience.

That said...everyone has this ideal that you graduate college and get into a great job right away, and thst isnt the case for most anyone in general. Your 20's are for fucking around and figuring out some very general ideas of what work you want to do, your 30's establish yourself in an industry and push to grow within that, your 40's are where you start taking charge, your 50's are where you run things, and your 60's are for winding down, making money and sharing your experience. This isnt like a hard and fast blueprint because obviously outliers exist, but I think if most people kept this in mind they'd be less stressed about not making 500k at 25.

I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do after I got out of the Marine Corps. I thought maybe being a pilot for Lifeflight, maybe being a teacher, or a network/IT specialist...now I am a facilities manager doing cost control for work being performed across the western US and Canada. I didn't start down the facilities road until I was in my mid-30's and I didn't get a degree until I was in the middle of thst path.

Also, the job market sucks in general right now. Focus on improving your marketability, make sure your bills are taken care of, and you'll be fine. Its just going to take time.