Even the stereotypically low-earning majors (Education and English) are very (financially) rewarding to those who complete degrees. This is true even though most majors confer almost no useful skills or knowledge. The only caveat is that there is almost no reward for attending college, so you should only go if you are reasonably certain that you will complete the degree.
I see no merit to this argument, since you can always go to college later. When you're 25, the actuarially acdepted age when you are considered an adult, perhaps you can re-evaluate then?
1. If you delay college for 7 years, your post-college earnings timespan shrinks from 43 years to 36.
2. The average 18 year old does not have the money, the connections, the skills, the experience, the family connections, or the grit to start a successful business. If you have been blessed in a number of these factors, sure, go ahead and do it. If you're average, just go to college. Most people are average.
Businesses are very financially rewarding to those who "complete" them, much more so than degrees can be. Your upside for completing a 4-year bachelors degree is maybe $150k/year, best case, if you study CS from an Ivy League and end up at a FAANG. Your upside for building a successful business can potentially reach hundreds of billions of dollars.
There's an issue of probabilities: you're probably a lot likely to complete a 4-year degree than found a billion-dollar company. But that's a risk/reward tradeoff, and it's worth remembering that there are a number of "off ramps" from the startup path that may not be billion-dollars but still lead to a job just as good as a college grad would get. Being able to run a profitable, self-sustaining business is viewed very highly by many employers.
"There's an issue of probabilities" undersells it. Lifetime average ROI on a college degree over the population has historically outperformed those entering the workforce - either employed or as an entrepreneur - over the past 50 years. And while the ROI difference has shrunk (mostly due to exorbitant tuition increases), it is still more profitable over a person's lifetime - on average - to go to college instead of starting a business.
Georgetown actually did a fantastic site that shows ROI for a variety of institutions:
> Even the stereotypically low-earning majors (Education and English) are very (financially) rewarding to those who complete degrees.
I always wonder about that. You always hear "getting a degree adds £1m to your lifetime earnings" or whatever, but suuuurely there's a pretty strong correlation between people that would have gone to uni anyway and people who are smart enough to earn more money. I mean, there's definitely a significant amount of correlation over causation but it's always stated as if it is 100% causation.
I get the sentiment, but it would also be good for a lot of people to goto junior college and knock out some pre-reqs at the same time.
Also, I think you should make it the whole school year, not just a semester (if we have issues this fall, we're likely to also have them in January and February of next year).
This gives you several advantages:
1 - you don't fall a year behind in schooling
2 - you can still start a business, as junior colleges aren't trying to weed out students
3 - your cost will be lower (no room & board, lower tuition)
I fully agree with the author that now is a time to try something new, even if you fail completely, you'll learn a lot more than you ever thought you would.
What’s annoying is the article has no intention of delivering on its more modestly stated title — don’t go to college this <fall>. I was expecting a narrative that gathers together facts about how schools were intending to reopen on time.
In general, this advice can make sense in some cases. However, I want to share some advice that I've found while both investing in hundreds of businesses and running a few myself:
1. Don't start something you're not actually passionate about. The easiest way to work your a off and never procrastinate is to love what you do.
2. If you build it, they will /not/ come. It's all about marketing, marketing, and, did I say, marketing.
That said, I agree with many of these comments here. Having a degree really will help you get a job unless you're the top in your field already.
> The smartest people I know are mostly self-educated. They already know the secret: With an Internet connection and strong work ethic, you can teach yourself.
> To sum up, don’t pay $30,000 for Zoom classes. Start a business instead.
Author seems to be trying to be provocative, but at the risk of stating the obvious - there are lots of other in-between options too, including a formal education that doesn't cost $30k/yr (zoom or no zoom).
For example, an undergraduate degree from Harvard's Extension School costs less than many Big State U degrees.[1] $60k for a Harvard degree seems like a bargain (yeah, it's the extension schoo, but by most accounts, it's still a rigorous, high-quality program).
> In the best-case scenario, you’ll end the year with a path towards a profitable business and the money-making skills you thought you needed student loans to build.
Author should include a pie chart (or something) of the odds of this happening. When you're unable to see the "profitable business on first try after 4 months" slice for how vanishingly small it is, that will put this advice into context. Basically, if someone wants to do this, they should definitely do it _for the experience_, not because this is a viable means of starting a profitable business.
I say this as someone who is not a fan of "college for all" and think that taking a year after high school to work & experience life without grades (and without someone else paying the bills) before heading to college is very good idea.
Honestly, it sounds like the author lives in his own bubble. There are a ton of people who give zero shits about online businesses. I'm sure all of us heard of those people, you know, they call them doctors, architects, teachers, actors, police officers, etc.
You should go to community college if you're in your first two years. You'll cut tuition by 2/3s at least and you'll receive the same level of not great education.
This is self-promotion. He urges readers to "Learn by watching YouTube tutorials and taking online courses" instead of going to college and talks about his YouTube videos and then links to his online courses.
"Use your time to start an online business" instead of going to college? Does that strike you as a good idea? A better strategy is comm. college for a year especially if you live in i.e. CA that has very good ones.
25 comments
[ 2.1 ms ] story [ 83.4 ms ] threadWhich direction do you think the causality arrow points in this sentence?
Even the stereotypically low-earning majors (Education and English) are very (financially) rewarding to those who complete degrees. This is true even though most majors confer almost no useful skills or knowledge. The only caveat is that there is almost no reward for attending college, so you should only go if you are reasonably certain that you will complete the degree.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Case_Against_Education
2. The average 18 year old does not have the money, the connections, the skills, the experience, the family connections, or the grit to start a successful business. If you have been blessed in a number of these factors, sure, go ahead and do it. If you're average, just go to college. Most people are average.
Don't put yourself more than $50k in debt for avg school and a low earning major.
There's an issue of probabilities: you're probably a lot likely to complete a 4-year degree than found a billion-dollar company. But that's a risk/reward tradeoff, and it's worth remembering that there are a number of "off ramps" from the startup path that may not be billion-dollars but still lead to a job just as good as a college grad would get. Being able to run a profitable, self-sustaining business is viewed very highly by many employers.
Georgetown actually did a fantastic site that shows ROI for a variety of institutions:
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/collegeroi/
I always wonder about that. You always hear "getting a degree adds £1m to your lifetime earnings" or whatever, but suuuurely there's a pretty strong correlation between people that would have gone to uni anyway and people who are smart enough to earn more money. I mean, there's definitely a significant amount of correlation over causation but it's always stated as if it is 100% causation.
Also, I think you should make it the whole school year, not just a semester (if we have issues this fall, we're likely to also have them in January and February of next year).
This gives you several advantages:
1 - you don't fall a year behind in schooling
2 - you can still start a business, as junior colleges aren't trying to weed out students
3 - your cost will be lower (no room & board, lower tuition)
I fully agree with the author that now is a time to try something new, even if you fail completely, you'll learn a lot more than you ever thought you would.
What if you don't care how many amenities they have, or that the cafeteria is something special? You just want some classes?
It seems to me college has gotten more and more expensive as teens are treating it as some sort of adult theme park/experience.
1. Pontificates a bit on the “Don’t go to college, start an online business instead” meme, arguing it as good advice.
2. Claims writing is an important skill for starting an online business.
3. Provides call-to-action selling online course about writing: https://writeofpassage.school/
We were all just making fun of the dropshipping cargo cult a few days ago and here we are upvoting this.
1. Don't start something you're not actually passionate about. The easiest way to work your a off and never procrastinate is to love what you do.
2. If you build it, they will /not/ come. It's all about marketing, marketing, and, did I say, marketing.
That said, I agree with many of these comments here. Having a degree really will help you get a job unless you're the top in your field already.
I feel like some people have been in the startup world too long and forget not everyone is trying to be an entrepreneur.
> But what if my college goes out of business from a lack of tuition dollars?
Students aren't concerned about this. No one goes to college with the goal of funding their college.
Degrees still matter in many industries, and this article seems to be targeting too broad of an audience.
> To sum up, don’t pay $30,000 for Zoom classes. Start a business instead.
Author seems to be trying to be provocative, but at the risk of stating the obvious - there are lots of other in-between options too, including a formal education that doesn't cost $30k/yr (zoom or no zoom).
1 - "At the 2019–20 rate, the total tuition cost of earning the full undergraduate degree is $58,880." https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/bachelor-liberal...
Author should include a pie chart (or something) of the odds of this happening. When you're unable to see the "profitable business on first try after 4 months" slice for how vanishingly small it is, that will put this advice into context. Basically, if someone wants to do this, they should definitely do it _for the experience_, not because this is a viable means of starting a profitable business.
I say this as someone who is not a fan of "college for all" and think that taking a year after high school to work & experience life without grades (and without someone else paying the bills) before heading to college is very good idea.