Help, My Degree Is Underwater
April 11th, 2009This is another story about people who spent a lot of time and money getting graduate/professional degrees and are now screwed.
Lawyers! Woops:
I also heard from law school graduates with $200,000 in debt who wonder what they were thinking as firms downsize and implode. “It is a nightmare,” writes Benjamin, who got laid off a few weeks ago without a day’s notice. He has moved back in with his parents—until he leaves to go teach English in Korea.
But my favorite sentence is below.
Via: Slate:
A guy with a master’s in international relations is working at a supermarket and just went on Medicaid.
I’m reminded of Smedley Butler’s quote: War is a Racket to which I might add, “So is higher education.”
The trick is to nab a full tuition scholarship, live in cheap student-style housing with a bunch of roomies, work part-time during school and full-time during breaks, and one can end up with a grad degree and no debt. My son’s doing that now. With the way the world is going, though, he may never actually use his degree, and he’s always welcome to join his mummy in her (comical) attempts at subsistence farming — far, far away from Amerika. But at least he’s doing what he wants to do — the life of the mind. Great work if you can get it …
When I was right out of high school, I went to college. I went to Embry Riddle University at Daytona in the Aeronautical Science program. I would have received a Bachelors of Science degree. For a number of personal reasons, I ended up skipping the “higher education” route, and started working. I was good with computers. When a person or a small business needed help, I worked for them. I also explored a few other career fields. A year of HVAC school. Two years of Law Enforcement school. Most importantly, a lot of time working on computers. I worked my own way up regardless of my lack of a piece of paper that said I “university smart”
One of the things that stuck in my head the most was, what happens when you graduate? Oh, now that you’ve spent 4 years getting “higher education” and working crappy part time jobs, you’re guaranteed to get a great job. That’s what you’re fed in high school.
I needed a bicycle, so my dad took me to a local bike shop. I was talking to their tech, who was adjusting my new bike for me. He too went to the same school, and received the same degree. He broke the news to me. Just because you have a degree, you aren’t guaranteed a job. “This town is full of rated commercial pilots with their BS degree. They’ll be waiting tables, or cooking at McDonalds, or other “entry level, no advancement” jobs, to try to pay off their student loans. A lucky few will actually fly.
Because of the personal issues, I left school and went into the working world instead. I did what did pretty well. That became doing what I do amazingly well through years of practical experience.
Now, who cares if I have a degree? I have 18 years of good experience doing “computer work”. My HVAC training hasn’t helped me with work, but it has let me diagnose problems and fix quite a few on my own. My law enforcement certification has long since expired, but I look at the training as good education in first aid, hand to hand combat, and weapons use. My time doing computer work brings home a paycheck, and I can use that anywhere. It’s funny, being a kid playing with a BBS has in the end made me some really great money, and given me a very comfortable standard of living over the years.
A several years ago, an ex-girlfriend wanted a degree. She went with University of Phoenix. I spoke with them too. When I decided not to do it, the poorly spoken (but somewhat brutally scripted) sales person told me “If you don’t have a degree, you’ll never make nuthin’ of yourself” I was making $100k/yr. I decided not to go with them because they wouldn’t allow me to test out of the classes that I already had a solid understanding of the materials. Why should I spend years and a lot of money with them, for knowledge I already have. Oh, because higher education isn’t about educating anyone. It’s about the school making money. If I had been allowed to test out of areas that I knew, I could have received a degree in probably a single semester. That’s not enough profit for them.
I have advanced degrees, in Linguistics, and Finance. I earned them while in the military.
Net cost to me: 0.
The problem for me is that I do not now, nor ever have I used them in my work: I am a daytrader.
I agree with all of the commenters:
1)for the overwhelming majority of people who go to college with the express intent of “getting a better job, ” higher education is a racket.
2)for those who wish to live the contemplative life, or who wish to be professionals, college is essential.
3)the combination of ambition and drive is always a predicate for success, in any endeavor, be it farming in NZ, fixing computers, or building solar panels in NC.
cybele