Thoughts on education

[Mike7777]

I am currently in college studying psychology full time. Sometimes i like to see what other people think about if college is necessary to succeed. I have many friends who didnt go to college or went to trade school and make good money and seem happy, and not stressing about a college degree or continuing their education like me. What do you guys think?

[Hidden]

People have degrees, phd and masters and in America they study 3 degrees or something like that! Here in every interview I've been on they asked if I had a degree and why not?

[Mike7777 in reply to Hidden]

Why not what?

[Hidden in reply to Mike7777]

Basically, asking why have not degree. I ran out of finance and my parents wanted me to work but now they know how important a degree is - most jobs - including teaching jobs - teaching special needs/disabled asked for a degree

[Mike7777 in reply to Hidden]

Yes, i agree jobs like teaching usually require a degree. But... i have seen jobs that sometimes require experience as well and sometimes that experience can replace education.

[Hidden]

This is my perspective, I don’t believe a college education is always needed, for some jobs yes. I am probably old enough to be your mom so I will share what my husband and I have told our two nineteen year olds who graduated in 2019. Both of them were headed to a two year school but decided they didn’t really know what they wanted to do so they both took this last year off. That was ok with us because we didn’t want them to go and basically waste the money on an education for something they really don’t want to do ( I did that). What we have told them is that we expect them to be hard working productive members of society and be able to support themselves. We are strongly encouraging them to go to school in order to make a livable wage, they can’t live with us forever! My husband is a good example where a two year degree has always earned a great wage and he does something he loves. Not all people are cut out to go to a four year college and some who do are coming out with boat loads of debt and only able to get the same job as someone with a two year college degree. The biggest thing is what do you want to do? Does it require a four year degree? Where I Iive it is very short on trades people, electricians, plumbers, etc. these are jobs that pay very well requiring a two year degree and paid apprenticeships. I hope you find your path doing something you like, it makes a job a lot easier to do. Good luck.

[Mike7777 in reply to Hidden]

I agree and can relate to what you said. Im 28 years old, i had children before i was 25. Ive been on and off going to college since 19. I took my time. Worked and got real world experience. Now i am pursuing my passion.

[Hidden in reply to Mike7777]

That is great, if you can do something you love for a job you are very fortunate. Good luck!

[Lm92]

I think it all depends on what you want to do. My husband started working as a donut fryer in a grocery store before we got married. He moved up the ranks to bakery manager, then took a position in produce, became produce manager after the store sold to a larger corporation and now he's moving into a corporate position.

As I say, I think it all depends on the job and where there is room to grow and move up.

[Mike7777 in reply to Lm92]

I think thats were the debate is. Would an employer prefer people like your husband who have lots of on the job experience, or people who have highly prestigous degrees with little real world work experience.

[JLoInCali12]

Hi Mike! I'm a recruiter/HR with 15 years experience.

I think the answer to your question really depends on what your goal is. What is your career goal? The answer will be different depending on what field you want to get into and what role and level you hope to attain within that field.

I have my degree from a good public university (University of California). After a 7-year science career of sorts, I switched to a corporate business environment. My science degree doesn't have much at all to do with what I do now, but it gives me credibility - partly because I studied science (analytical skills, etc.) and partly because of the university I attended. Also, the jobs I've held have required a degree.

I've benefitted from my degree program, but I know of others who haven't and some where it's taken them a long time to realize the the benefit(s) from their degree program. I also know of several people who have had good corporate careers without any degree at all.

As others have said, if you want to learn a trade, depending on the trade, it can be a really good choice. I have a cousin who's an a plumber and owns his own business. He has plenty of customers and his bill rate is impressive. He's doing very well.

If your goal is to be in a business/corporate environment then you probably need a degree, but it doesn't necessarily have to be from a big-name or expensive university. There are plenty of CEO's that have graduated from state universities.

If you want to be in management you may need or want a degree. I have a cousin who works for a very well-known retail chain. She started as a regular associate and over 15 years worked her way up to store manager. If she had a business degree she probably would have made it to store manager in half that time - her words, not mine.

That brings up the cost of a degree. If you choose a career where a degree is required, then of course, you're going to look at the cost of getting a degree. But I also urge you to look at the cost of not getting a degree. Those with college education typically start jobs at a higher salary than those without one (google it) and sometimes promote faster. With that in mind, let's look at my cousin in retail - I'm making up the numbers and ignoring things like taxes to illustrate a point:

Her income over 20 years:

Scenario A - no degree & "works her way up the ladder":

Sales associate for 7.5 years at $25k per year

Department Manager for 7.5 years at $50k per year

Store Manager for 5 years at $75k per year

--> Gross income over 20 years = $937,500

Scenario B - has a Bachelors degree

Sales associate for 4 years at $25k per year

Department Manager for 4 years at $50k per year

Store Manager for 12 years at $75k per year

--> Gross income over 20 years = $1,200,000

Difference between scenario A & B = $262,500

I'll bet you can find a degree program for less than $262K.

Whatever you want to do, it's likely to take some education and/or training. I recommend getting the best education/training you can get from the best institution you can afford.

[texasbonnet]

As a retired former educator, I would say you will never regret getting your degree but it will not guarantee success; however, I believe it will make it easier. Do you want a college degree? All my life, I heard my dad say many times,"If you are going to college you will need to know ", fill in math, reading, etc. My dad left school as a teenager during the depression. He did become an electrician. To this day I credit him with my desire for a degree. How I found out I wanted a degree was at a time I was taking a few classes. I was putting gas in my car when a friend pulled up to a pump. We got to talking and she shared that she was graduating in a few days. My gut knotted up and that was the moment I knew I needed to get a move on and finish my degree.

A degree will open doors for you. The degree you get today may not be in the field you retire from. That certainly was true for me. I took me 18 years of teaching to finally leave that field. I retired as a legal assistant. I was 50 when I left education. Had I changed careers at a younger age, I would have learned I really wanted to be a lawyer in labor law or human rights. At 50 I was newly divorced and living on a teachers income, so getting another degree was not on the horizon. I liked my career a a legal assistant.

Good luck with decisions.

[Lazy_dog_lover]

It all depends on your goals in life. I don't want to sound philosophical, but it really depends. If you want to go into psychology and have a practice, then you will need the degree and more. You will make that money back. On a similar strain, a licensed social worker that does weekly talk-therapy, needs a degree. School social workers and psychologists need degrees. Not much money in school systems, now.

Studying psychology and then a minor in something else, unrelated, gives more options. Psychology and advertising, business, physical therapy, etc. anything where understanding the human mind will help, gets you 2 for 1.

If you are really set against finishing a degree, I would do more research in your desired career path. Onetonline.org will give lots of info on fields from the US data.

Whatever you decide, do your research and make a pro/con chart including your emotional connection. Getting a job is one thing. Getting a second job without a degree is harder. Best of luck.

[Mike7777 in reply to Lazy_dog_lover]

I agree with what you said, unfortunately psychology majors and even grad students dobt end up making the top tier salaries, which is a downside

[ESP1138]

College is overrated. If you have a good job offer when you are young, take it! I went and dropped out a few times and earned and Associate Degree. No one wants to hire me therefore I ended up scrubbing toilets for nine years. Get a Bachelor's if you are serious about school.

[NertGert]

It depends on what profession you chose when you studied and received a bachelor's degree, now, for example, doctors are in great demand. Choosing a college is one of the most important stages in everyone's life because it is the most turning point between adulthood and childhood. The most important thing is to make the right choice, and each of us has our own. For example, I even used the services of tutors here medicmind.co.uk/ to go to medical college and I can say that this is really just a wonderful thing that led me to people and made me who I am.

[Mike7777 in reply to NertGert]

I think doctors will always be in demand. But also require a lot of schooling and student loans