Poll: Is higher education worth it?

Bara_no_Hime

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alik44 said:
In this day in age with tuition cost on the rise would you consider the cost of obtaining a degree worth it.
Depends on the person, and on the degree sought.

A medical doctorate is not the same as an Associates Degree - but depending on the person, either can be worth it, or not.

In general, some form of higher education is certainly worth it - try getting a job with just a high school diploma.

On the other hand, not everyone needs a 4 year degree. Sometimes an associate's degree is all you need.
 

SkullKing84

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Out of all my friends who went to college... not a single one is in a field they studied in or want to be in. And, they have thousands of dollars to pay back...
 

Zeetchmen

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Depends what degree you are going for. If you get a real one like engineer or a hard science you'll be fine.

As for art majors, or anything else.... well just start filling out those McDonalds applications
 

CrazyCapnMorgan

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Jan 5, 2011
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I consider college to be somewhat of a joke; this coming from someone in the US.

When I consider the likes of George Carlin (dropped out of school in 9th grade), Bill Hicks (dropped out of college two weeks in), Steve Jobs (dropped out of college in his second year after experiencing an LSD trip) and Bill Gates (dropped out of Harvard and started Microsoft) and then compare that to George W. Bush who, despite the knowledge to open a damned door correctly and perform other ridiculously unitelligent actions, attended and completed college at Yale.

For me, I guess, it all depends on your perception of "higher education". A person could educate themselves merely by doing the things they're interested in doing, or perhaps by spending time reading a myriad of books at libraries and such. Education, by definition, is the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process; (taken from the second defition at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/education) however, most people commonly associate the word with school - which is not a necessity.

To learn and further oneself, one needs to be educated. While a school is a common road for most, it is not the quintessential path for everyone. It all depends on the individual's levels of perception, tolerance, ability to process and apply logic and ability to critically think.
 

winginson

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Depends.

If you need a degree to get the job you want then its completly worth it. If you could get the job with part-time local courses, or can be worked up to with workplace education then it isn't.

Again some people don't need to try and get the job they want because having a family is more important. For other people being happy in the job you want is all. For me, working towards becoming an engineer is everything, my major motivation and I will sacrifice much to see it happen.
 

Syzygy23

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chadachada123 said:
It's worth it.

...If you're smart enough for it to be worthwhile.

For the average person? Honestly? I don't think that it is, when most people (in the US at least) just turn around and reject their knowledge in favor of mysticism and pseudo-science. If they won't even educate themselves, they shouldn't bother with higher education.
...

The FUCK?

Where do you GET your information? What sort of college did you attend that had "most" of the student body drop out so they could go study mysticism and pseudo-science?
 

Combustion Kevin

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europe has some pretty socialistic ideas about supporting students, so its definately worth it here.

In the US I'm not so sure, I heard you gotta pay it all yourself and its way more expensive over there too.
dont know for sure, can anyone confirm this?
 

kickassfrog

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I want to work in engineering. To do that I need an engineering degree.
If it means I get to do a job I'll actually enjoy, then I would charge into the assembled hordes of Mordor.
 

Shifty

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Very much so. Let me tell you a small story (dont worry very small)

Once there was this boy who started working on a building site when he was 15. He saw on that site that the only people who did not do heavy lifting were the engineers. He decided to try for this because he didnt want to end up crippled in later life like other men he knew. Then the boy got sick. He was out of school for 2 years and went back and finished in a year. He was not told what subjects he needed to get a degree and had to go to an I.T. once he completed after that he was accepted into a university but couldnt go. He got a job using his diploma. Now a man he is back finishing his degree by night. Once it is complete he will be able to earn much better money with less hours and can look forward to a better pension.

Short story shorter, you can do anything you want once you have that bit of paper. Using it generally makes you more money and you have more career prospects. It does take hard work but in the long run it is very much so worth it. You can go abroad and use it or use it to do other courses.

It might only be a bit of paper and it does not mean you are cleverer than others but it does give you more options.
 

Lethos

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Yopaz said:
It's not the History itself that provides the edge over a straight law student, it's the skills that are required to achieve a high mark in a humanities subject. Ability to construct strong and coherent arguments from carefully extracted pieces of evidence. Ability to memorize large amounts of information and specific times and dates. Ability to understand motives of individuals and how the actions of such individuals had a greater or lesser impact on a wider picture.

There's a reason why the humanities mesh so well with Law.
 

chadachada123

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Syzygy23 said:
chadachada123 said:
It's worth it.

...If you're smart enough for it to be worthwhile.

For the average person? Honestly? I don't think that it is, when most people (in the US at least) just turn around and reject their knowledge in favor of mysticism and pseudo-science. If they won't even educate themselves, they shouldn't bother with higher education.
...

The FUCK?

Where do you GET your information? What sort of college did you attend that had "most" of the student body drop out so they could go study mysticism and pseudo-science?
First, where in the hell did I mention dropping out? Second, I was speaking of the American public in general. When only 40-some percent of Americans acknowledge evolution as the origin of our existence, there are some pretty big freaking problems.

And most community college attendees/grads won't learn a bit about science or will keep their preconceived beliefs about homeopathy or 'natural solutions' or creationism or whatever. Higher universities don't have this issue at all, but the *average* high school grad won't be going to a good school: They'll be going to a community college to get a degree based in jack-whatever that doesn't teach them anything.

Please, don't make a straw man out of my post. I was a little vague, yes, but you're putting words in my mouth.
 

Bloodstain

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These are sad times when people wonder if knowledge is financially viable.

I study philosophy, and if I'm unlucky, I won't find a good job. But knowledge (particularly, knowledge in a field I am interested in) is much more important than money.
 

Imat

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piinyouri said:
Matthew94 said:
alik44 said:
In this day in age with tuition cost on the rise would you consider the cost of obtaining a degree worth it.
Well in the UK the student loan system means the risk is minimal. If you cannot pay it back by a certain date it is wiped and if you don't earn enough you don't need to pay payments on it.
What the actual fuck?

I mean, that's great, that sounds wonderful.
I just wonder why The United Nazis of America hasn't thought about it yet.

I've got 8K to pay back.
That is terrible, should not happen. Unless you want the economy to fail. As more students default on their loans, more money is lost by the government. This forces them to raise taxes so that they can continue to fund folks who will never pay a cent. Tuition also rises, because the schools know they can ask for as much as they want and the government will continue to foot the bill. So now hard-working citizens are working harder to pay off increasingly ridiculous taxes, while honest students trying to be responsible are paying more for the same education. Actually a worse education. If everybody can go to college for free, they'll go to college for free. The quality of education per student plummets. So now we have people paying higher taxes, students paying higher tuition, and the quality of education has actually decreased.

How is any of this going to help the average American? The answer is that it won't. I'm currently unemployed, with $50k in student loan debt. I plan to pay back every penny. Because unlike the majority of Americans today, who all believe that the government exists to pave over all hardships in their lives, I believe that the government's sole responsibilities are protection and policing. They should not be telling us how to make retirement funds. They should not be paying our hospital bills. They should not be paying for our education. Do you want to know why the American government is so far in debt? Because people expect all of these services which the government SHOULD NOT be providing. None of them make it money. Very few of them even break even. If we don't stop trying to pave the way for every citizen in America, we, as a nation, will fail.

So no. That is not a good idea. It may sound good now, when you have debt, but in 10 years, when you are working 2 jobs to pay off the debt of the American government, you won't be so thrilled. Short-sightedness is not a good trait.
 

bandman232

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Karoshi said:
Living in Germany, where students get a lot of support from the state. If the income of your parents isn't too high, the state will pay you after finishing university 50-75% of the money you spent on education.

So yeah, it's pretty much worth it. In USA though? I have got not the foggiest clue.
Not really. College is incredibly expensive. about 5or 6 thousand dollars at the LEAST. Student loans can help, but after you're out, the will be almost unplayable, because finding a job at first to were you can pay it off will be difficult. Also, colleges like to crew you over on room and board, as well as books. Books this semester costed me about 500 bucks. So yea, American college is pretty much people trying to rip you off. The worst part? You have to go to college to get a decent job.
 

Wayneguard

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For me, yes. In order to learn and do exactly what I want to, higher education is the only possible route. Economics and Law are complex subjects that take years of devoted study to master. That being said, there are many reasons why one would not care to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree in anything. If you are happy with the employment you have found straight out of high school, more power to you.
 

elvor0

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Depends really. Pick something like physics, biology, maths, or IT etc etc, and yeah you'll likely be able to find somewhere to work as long as you put the effort in. It's about picking something that's actually going to serve you later on in life, if you pick Art, Philosophy(wat?) or surf science(again, WAT?) then its not worth it beyond the social side. Ie you picked a course that has no bearing on anything. Not that I'm saying Art of Philosophy (surf science can fuck off) don't have their place, but they're both subjects that you really shouldn't be going to University to study for three years and then expect to get a job out of them.

Similarly there are a lot of "fad" courses, like psychology is at the moment, A LOT of people are doing it, which is a shame because there are some people that really are into it, but they have to compete with a ton of other people who just sort of vaguely picked it.

Furthermore, don't pick a course you don't really know much about for FUCK sake. During my first year at Uni doing Video Games Development half of my class had never touched a computer before, I swear, and because of that, we had to waste a load of lessons to make up for these people. WHY ARE YOU HERE? You don't see me going; ooh I think I'll do Brain Surgery! I've not done biology since GCSE but I'll give it a go, it can't be too hard right?
 

HerbertTheHamster

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I assume you are from the land of the free, home of the brave. In that case, no.

In socialist Europe, yes.

As long as the degree isn't liberal arts or sociology or such. You'd be more beneficial at McDonald's.
 

Goofguy

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Apart of the education that serves to keep your mind sharp, if not educated (take it from a guy who is 4 years out of college, I am not as mentally adept as I used to be), it's worth it for the experience. I had a blast meeting new and interesting people that have turned out to be better friends than any I ever had growing up.

I might be oversimplifying it though. I did not have to pay a cent as I attended a military college which requires several years of service on my part. Well worth it to not have to worry about paying off student loans and having a job through these economically tough times.