Three years ago when I first started this blog, I wrote about a site run by the Federal Department of Education, www.college.gov. I commented at the time that, while there were many good features on the site, I wasn't on board with the heavy emphasis on college-almost to the exclusion of other post secondary training choices. I followed that post in September 2010 with one entitled, "The Scarecrow Syndrome", which is still one of my favorites. If you haven't done so already, I suggest it's worth a read. In it I propose that students examine their career choices and inclinations and investigate the best educational pathways to prepare for that field. Four year college may not be required.
Well, it seems that, perhaps due to this stubborn economic downturn, other people are re-examining the "necessity" of a baccalaureate. On November 30, 2012, The New York Times published an article by Alex Williams entitled, "Saying No to College". In it he mentions that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg all dropped out of college. He does note that
Even the staunchest critics of college concede
that a diploma is still necessary for many
professions - law and medicine, clearly, and in
many cases, for a Fortune 500 executive, too.
But that's the point: how many more lawyers
and middle managers do we need? 'College is
training for managerial work, and the economy
doesn't need that many managers,' said Michael
Ellsberg, the author of The Education of
Millionaires: Everything You Won't Learn in
College About How to be Successful
...Last year, an anonymous academic who
called himself Professor X, published, In the
Basement of the Ivory Tower,
which argued that future police officers and
nurses need not be force-fed Shakespeare.
Some other groups that espouse this idea are:
- Enstitute which offers two-year apprenticeships with entrepreneurs in lieu of college - enstitute.com
- Zero Tuition College, an online support network for students looking for alternatives - www.ztcollege.com
- Thiel Fellowship Program, begun by Peter A. Thiel co-founder of PayPal, pays students under 20 years old 100K to pursue their ventures - www.thielfellowship.org
Dale J. Stephens is the founder of UnCollege, www.uncollege.org, which "...champions 'more meaningful' alternatives to college".
He told Alex Williams, "I think kids with a five-year head start (many students do not graduate in four years) on equally ambitious peers will be ahead in both education and income...They could go to a library, read a book a day, take courses online." Mr. Williams mentions massive open online courses - MOOCS - "which stream classes from elite universities like Princeton".
Many economists are reporting that overwhelming student loan debt will be the next subprime crisis. The statistics are staggering. As he reports
There is now $ 1 trillion ($1,000,000,000,000 - my addition -
some visual!) in outstanding student debt, with $117
billion tacked on last year alone, according to calculations
by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Tuition levels have quadrupled since the early 80's,
according to the Student Body Scholarship
Association.
Consider those numbers when you review your financial aid package!!!
Some other books mentioned in this article which you may find interesting -
Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Richard Arum
40 Alternatives to College by James Altucher
