I really really wish people didn’t just view degrees as simply a means to a job.
Like I completely get given the cost of them in some countries, that you need to do the cost/benefit analysis. But a degree should be a way of expanding your knowledge on a subject primarily because you’re interested in it.
Sure I’d be a bit miffed if my degree never resulted in a job, but I don’t think I’d ever think of it as worthless or a waste of time.
I got a software degree and graduated right before chatgpt was made public. It changed everything.
I’ve done a few side projects and stuff since then, but everybody only wants AI work now and my education, while really fun and useful to me, was apparently not useful to anybody else the second AI was an option to investors.
I mean I agree with you until you factor in the debt load. If it was just the loss of time but both time and being weighed down by debt as you try to support yourself. The system is screwed up.
I personally think I would greatly enjoy college, gaining knowledge for the purpose of just gaining knowledge (after probably a couple years of remedial… everything.) In the unlikely event that i get to enjoy a retirement, that’s likely what i would want to do with my time.
Unfortunately, it is financially untenable for me to even consider higher education.
The problem is that most colleges, at least in the US, aren’t really about expanding knowledge, they’re about checking items off a list. The vast majority of your required coursework isn’t supposed to be teaching anything, it’s to pad out your hours and inflate your tuition. And for that privilege you’ll be paying enough money every year to force the average person into multiple decades worth of debt.
Frustratingly, these are required now because a significant number of American high school grads didn’t actually absorb any of that information in high school. College professors have long bemoaned the declining educational attainment of incoming students (not surprisingly, starting around when W signed NCLB into law) and these remedial introductory classes are an attempt to bridge the gap between what freshmen are actually bringing in to college and where they need to be to actually grasp more advanced concepts.
I really really wish people didn’t just view degrees as simply a means to a job.
Like I completely get given the cost of them in some countries, that you need to do the cost/benefit analysis. But a degree should be a way of expanding your knowledge on a subject primarily because you’re interested in it.
Sure I’d be a bit miffed if my degree never resulted in a job, but I don’t think I’d ever think of it as worthless or a waste of time.
I’m guessing you either:
a) Were fortunate enough to go to uni when I did, when it was cheap
b) Have had, or had a family with, lots of disposable income
Times are different now, unfortunately. Uni is now a pathway to a job to pay off uni debt. It’s not what it used to be.
I wish that too, but you’ll have to convince companies to stop making it a hard requirement first.
I got a software degree and graduated right before chatgpt was made public. It changed everything.
I’ve done a few side projects and stuff since then, but everybody only wants AI work now and my education, while really fun and useful to me, was apparently not useful to anybody else the second AI was an option to investors.
I’m a bit bitter. I just want a job.
I mean I agree with you until you factor in the debt load. If it was just the loss of time but both time and being weighed down by debt as you try to support yourself. The system is screwed up.
I personally think I would greatly enjoy college, gaining knowledge for the purpose of just gaining knowledge (after probably a couple years of remedial… everything.) In the unlikely event that i get to enjoy a retirement, that’s likely what i would want to do with my time.
Unfortunately, it is financially untenable for me to even consider higher education.
The problem is that most colleges, at least in the US, aren’t really about expanding knowledge, they’re about checking items off a list. The vast majority of your required coursework isn’t supposed to be teaching anything, it’s to pad out your hours and inflate your tuition. And for that privilege you’ll be paying enough money every year to force the average person into multiple decades worth of debt.
Like entry level bio and English courses that simply repeat knowledge that highschool and hell, middle school already taught already.
Higher education has a ton of value but it’s not created from bs class requirements
Frustratingly, these are required now because a significant number of American high school grads didn’t actually absorb any of that information in high school. College professors have long bemoaned the declining educational attainment of incoming students (not surprisingly, starting around when W signed NCLB into law) and these remedial introductory classes are an attempt to bridge the gap between what freshmen are actually bringing in to college and where they need to be to actually grasp more advanced concepts.
This is it.