High school is a waste of time and money. College is a waste of time and money. Secondary education is a waste of time and money.
There, I said it. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. In her 1975 book “The Myth ofEducation and the Decline of Work,” Caroline Bird argued that college is often unnecessary, and sometimes even harmful.
Bird’s argument is simple: education should be about preparing people for work, and too often college does not do that. In fact, she argues, college can actually prevent people from getting jobs by making them overqualified for entry-level positions and saddling them with debt.
While I don’t agree with everything Bird says, I do think she makes a strong case that college is not always the best option for everyone. And I think it’s important to have this conversation, because the pressure to go to college is only getting stronger.
So let’s talk about why college might not be worth it for you.
First and foremost, college is expensive. The average cost of tuition and fees at a private four-year college is now over $35,000 per year. And public colleges are no bargain either, with in-state tuition averaging more than $9,000 per year.
But even if you can find a way to pay for college, there’s no guarantee it will pay off in the long run. A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that, for Americans who graduated from college between 2006 and 2011, the average return on their investment was just 3 percent. That’s less than what you would have earned if you had simply put your money in a low-risk index fund.
And then there are the opportunity costs of going to college. By attending college, you’re not working and earning a salary. You’re also living expenses like tuition, room and board, and textbooks. All of which means that, for many people, college is actually a financial loss.
But even if we put aside the cost issue, there’s still the question of whether college is actually preparing people for work. In her book, Bird argues that it often doesn’t.
She points to the fact that, despite the popular belief that a college degree is necessary for a good job, there are actually millions of good jobs out there that don’t require a degree. In fact, many of these jobs are in fields that are growing faster than the economy as a whole.
Take healthcare, for example. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that healthcare will add more jobs than any other sector over the next decade. And yet, only a small fraction of those jobs will require a four-year degree. The vast majority will be in occupations like home health aides and medical assistants, which do not require a college degree.
The same is true for many other growing industries, like technology and advanced manufacturing. There are simply not enough jobs that require a four-year degree to keep up with demand.
And even for those jobs that do require a college degree, there’s no guarantee that college is the best way to prepare for them. In many cases, on-the-job training would be more effective.
Take the field of accounting, for example. A recent study by the American Institute of CPAs found that, while most accounting firms prefer to hire candidates with a four-year degree, they would also consider candidates with an associate’s degree or even just a high school diploma. And yet, the vast majority of accounting students go on to get a four-year degree.
The same is true in many other fields, like engineering and computer science. In many cases, students would be better off learning on the job than spending four years (and a lot of money) getting a degree.
So why do so many people still go to college?
Part of it has to do with the fact that, for many people, college is simply the next step after high school. It’s what you’re “supposed” to do.
But I think there’s also a lot of pressure from parents and society to go to college. We’re told that a college degree is necessary for success, and that anyone who doesn’t go to college is doomed to fail.
This simply isn’t true. There are millions of Americans who have successful careers without a college degree. And in many cases, they are actually better off than their college-educated counterparts.
In “College Is a Waste of Time and Money,” Caroline Bird argues that college is not necessary for everyone. Many students attend college against their will, according to Bird. She believes that many people go to college because they have to rather than want to. According to Bird, many college students feel as though they aren’t needed. They are led to believe that obtaining a bachelor’s degree is crucial since it improves the likelihood of financial success, which is not always correct, in her opinion.
High school is the last step of compulsory education, and college is seen as the next logical step after high school. However, not everyone sees college as a necessary step. For some, college may be a waste of time and money.
If students believe that college is not good for them, according to Bird, they should not be expecting them to respond favorably. She adds that a college that does not truly promote social equality is worthless. She claims that parents send their children off to school with the expectation of obtaining monetary benefits from the education they acquire, but Bird believes this is the worst investment possible.
Bird also argues that many students go to college because they feel like it is what is expected of them. They don’t really have a choice in the matter. But she says that if students took the time to think about whether or not college was right for them, they would save a lot of time and money.
Many students choose to go to college because they think it will help them get a better job. But Bird argues that this is not always the case. She says that many employers are more interested in experience than education. So, even if someone has a degree, they may not necessarily be any more qualified for the job than someone without a degree.
In conclusion, Bird believes that college is a waste of time and money for many students. She thinks that students should take the time to think about whether or not college is right for them before making the decision to go. Otherwise, they may end up wasting their time and money.