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Started By
Message
re: Is a Four-Year Degree Worth It?
Posted on 2/4/26 at 10:35 am to Jugbow
Posted on 2/4/26 at 10:35 am to Jugbow
quote:
and most of it was just a money maker for the institution with classes that I truly didn’t need.
Nah man. Truly “educated” people take these classes seriously and remember everything about them. Just ask SFP!
1
Posted on 2/4/26 at 10:37 am to Flats
quote:
We could make people get an undergrad degree before they go to plumbing school and they'd probably have an easier time in plumbing school and they'd probably make better plumbers.
I advised my kids growing up that going to trade school right out of high school, working for 3-5 years, and THEN choosing a college major and going to college was advantageous for a few reasons.
Yeah, studying anything when you are younger is harder. But those programs are generally shorter—and they ARE focused on the actual trade—so there's less you have to get through.
It's relatively affordable.
It gives you the opportunity to experience the world before going to college. You have a trade with which you can support yourself as a young adult and you experience what it's like to try to make it on $40,000 a year (I have two girls, neither of which was going to choose welding or HVAC or be an electrician, so that's probably an accurate estimate of what they would have been making their first few years out).
When you've had that experience a theatre degree or a degree in sociology or early childhood education might look different than it would to an 18 year old who has never paid her own bills (or, it might not...either way they are choosing with full information).
It gives you the opportunity to mature.
You could work part time while in college and earn way more than working on campus or at the local coffee shop. And, you always have the trade to fall back on if you ever needed to use it again.
And finally, you might decide you didn't need college after all. If you were willing to start your own business in the field of the trade, you would likely make as much money (or more) as you could with just about any four year degree.
It didn't work out that way because they both got scholarships and obviously they didn't turn them down just to go to trade school. But that was always my pitch for them to consider.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 10:40 am to texag7
Posted on 2/4/26 at 10:42 am to Putty
quote:
Depends on quite a few considerations.
Absolutely. And one consideration not mentioned yet...
If you're a beautiful young girl, go an elite college and major in elementary education so you can spend your time finding a dorky guy majoring in pre-med. Nature will take it's course and you'll be fine.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 10:50 am to Jugbow
quote:
Most degrees should be cut in half. I have a bachelor’s and most of it was just a money maker for the institution with classes that I truly didn’t need. The price of education these days is not worth it.
I agree, although the truth is that the problem is driven ultimately by employers and graduate schools (and government requirements).
They are the ones who require degrees for admittance.
Imagine if your prospective employer, instead of just mindlessly mentally checking off the box that you have a degree (which means very little these days), just looked at a one page summary of your transcript with your classes and grades.
You just took the classes you thought would be helpful and presented yourself as a prospective employee. And they evaluated what you actually took and asked you questions about what you know. Maybe even developed a test that you took to be considered as a prospect.
How many employers would be concerned if you didn't have a class listed in comparative literature? Or Psych 101? Or college level algebra?
Obviously depending on the job, they might be concerned about any of those or they might be concerned about none of them. That's the point.
But since they are so lazy about evaluating prospects the degree mills can make you jump through just about any hoops they want to because they are the ones who certify your degree.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 10:55 am to wackatimesthree
Can’t disagree with anything you said. 
Posted on 2/4/26 at 10:55 am to Swamp Angel
quote:
The value of a college degree is highly dependent upon what course of study that degree entails. A degree in architecture, engineering, pre-med/med, veterinary sciences, computer science, etc. are all very much worth the effort and financial investment.
I agree with this but will add that the cost/benefit/risk doesn't make sense for even the majority of these. Most kids would benefit from living at home and knocking out a few semesters at a community college these days first.
I realize everyone wants the college experience, but the truth is, that is now reserved for people with their own money, or tuition reduction via grants and scholarships. Loads of graduates and their parents are in debt up to their eyeballs and they will be saddled with overwhelming debt for decades.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:06 am to NC_Tigah
Depends of the degree. Graduates have to put up with a lot of brainwashing woke type nonsense by liberal professors. This is gradually changing but there are a lot of jobs that require a degree, any degree. That’s one way HR types can simply trim down the number of applicants applying for a position. So many may get hired simply by having degree over a more qualified person that lacks a degree.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:08 am to HouseMom
quote:and it happens at a time when they are least equipped in education and experience to understand the ramifications. Colleges absolutely take advantage of that.
I realize everyone wants the college experience, but ... Loads of graduates ... are in debt up to their eyeballs and they will be saddled with overwhelming debt for decades.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:21 am to NC_Tigah
Agreed. Depends on the person and their character, their goals, their ambitions and aptitude to push themselves.
Anecdotal: daughter graduated near the top of her class with a finance degree and a six-figures job in commercial real-estate, which she had interned for previously. Her three roommates at OU stayed an extra two years to get their degrees. She's performing deep financial analysis on commercial high-rise type rental properties that are under consideration for purchase or development. Her work determines if the project moves forward or not. Tens and hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake for these housing properties.
The three roommates she had? One lives at home and is a barista. One works as a bartender. One works as a retail sales associate at Sephora.
Their parents likely wasted time and money sending them to college, although for one of the three girls, she went to get a degree in matrimony. She just married, and is now pregnant. That's the Sephora girl.
My daughter also met her fiance', who was on the OU men's gymnastics team, but they both moved to Austin (separately) and took on well-paying roles in their field. He's got two degrees, an MIS degree and and Sports Business Management degree and about a dozen certifications in AI systems engineering.
Those two, there is significant value in going through college. I have a granddaughter that should go to trade school. She does not have what it takes. She had a TOPS scholly, decided not to go, then after several years, she met a college guy. He took her to campus and parties and suddenly she wanted to go have fun in college. Her dad (my son) told her he wasn't paying for it because she's not wanting to go because of ambition, but because she's in love with a college senior and is afraid of losing him because of her lack of education. So she contacted her "rich" grandfather (me) and asked me to fund it. I told her, initially, no. I told her to tell me why she wanted to go to college, what classes and degree she would be chasing and what her goals were once she graduated. She replied, "I don't know. I just know that I want to go to college." Wrong answer. I told her if she convinced her dad to pay for it, or if she went and took out student loans, once she graduated, then I would help her to pay the loan off with annual monetary gifts of payments made directly to the loan, not to her.
That was about five months ago. She still hasn't come back to me with a plan.
Like I said in the beginning of my post; depends on the person and their character, their goals, their ambitions and aptitude to push themselves.
Some people have it. Most don't. Trade school, I'm afraid, is really the right choice for my granddaughter.
Anecdotal: daughter graduated near the top of her class with a finance degree and a six-figures job in commercial real-estate, which she had interned for previously. Her three roommates at OU stayed an extra two years to get their degrees. She's performing deep financial analysis on commercial high-rise type rental properties that are under consideration for purchase or development. Her work determines if the project moves forward or not. Tens and hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake for these housing properties.
The three roommates she had? One lives at home and is a barista. One works as a bartender. One works as a retail sales associate at Sephora.
Their parents likely wasted time and money sending them to college, although for one of the three girls, she went to get a degree in matrimony. She just married, and is now pregnant. That's the Sephora girl.
My daughter also met her fiance', who was on the OU men's gymnastics team, but they both moved to Austin (separately) and took on well-paying roles in their field. He's got two degrees, an MIS degree and and Sports Business Management degree and about a dozen certifications in AI systems engineering.
Those two, there is significant value in going through college. I have a granddaughter that should go to trade school. She does not have what it takes. She had a TOPS scholly, decided not to go, then after several years, she met a college guy. He took her to campus and parties and suddenly she wanted to go have fun in college. Her dad (my son) told her he wasn't paying for it because she's not wanting to go because of ambition, but because she's in love with a college senior and is afraid of losing him because of her lack of education. So she contacted her "rich" grandfather (me) and asked me to fund it. I told her, initially, no. I told her to tell me why she wanted to go to college, what classes and degree she would be chasing and what her goals were once she graduated. She replied, "I don't know. I just know that I want to go to college." Wrong answer. I told her if she convinced her dad to pay for it, or if she went and took out student loans, once she graduated, then I would help her to pay the loan off with annual monetary gifts of payments made directly to the loan, not to her.
That was about five months ago. She still hasn't come back to me with a plan.
Like I said in the beginning of my post; depends on the person and their character, their goals, their ambitions and aptitude to push themselves.
Some people have it. Most don't. Trade school, I'm afraid, is really the right choice for my granddaughter.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:22 am to NC_Tigah
Get a degree. Just don't get a loan. Not hard to do. The school I'm going to get my 2nd masters is easy as hell to cash-flow as I go.
Education is still worth it if you do this.
Education is still worth it if you do this.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:26 am to onmymedicalgrind
“Nurse practitioners”
I know some very good N.P.’s,,they all had a good many years as an R.N.prior to staring the N.P. program.
To let an R.N.,in the N.P. program with 1 year experience is ludicrous.It pretty much takes an R.N at least 1 year to become a competent nurse.Then let them become independent practitioners,hell no.
Then I worked with some R.N’s with a few years experience that weren’t good nurses but they went on to become N.P.’s.Some were dumb,some were lazy.
If I was in charge,I would require minimum 5 years experience as an R.N. before applying N.P. program.
I know some very good N.P.’s,,they all had a good many years as an R.N.prior to staring the N.P. program.
To let an R.N.,in the N.P. program with 1 year experience is ludicrous.It pretty much takes an R.N at least 1 year to become a competent nurse.Then let them become independent practitioners,hell no.
Then I worked with some R.N’s with a few years experience that weren’t good nurses but they went on to become N.P.’s.Some were dumb,some were lazy.
If I was in charge,I would require minimum 5 years experience as an R.N. before applying N.P. program.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:27 am to A10Rebel
I believe the degree plans should be streamlined to 2 or 2 1/2 years. Forcing to to take useless electives is just another way to get more money.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:33 am to texag7
quote:
No they don’t
I’m one of them. Nobody in those classes remembers anything or cares. It’s fulfilling a requirement
I was in classes of 75-100 kids, all of whom would smoke you on the SAT/ACT and none of us gave a shite about electives
Some of the most successful and intelligent people I know either didn't go to college or dropped out after a few semesters, a couple were proud members of Mensa.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:37 am to NC_Tigah
quote:
and it happens at a time when they are least equipped in education and experience to understand the ramifications. Colleges absolutely take advantage of that.
I could write a novel on this topic lol. Our high school curriculum is abysmal, and I say this as a person who leans towards the arts and humanities. We mandate Algebra II for every American graduating high school but require zero courses in financial literacy. It is MIND BOGGLING.
Not to mention core curriculum requirement in college is just a repeat of what they've already taken in high school. Oh, we know you've taken world history in 7th and 12th grades, but we're going to need you to do that again. I can watch Drunk History or listen to myriad free podcasts available, but thanks lol. And add in some more algebra, because...reasons...but we definitely won't require any financial literacy classes. SMH
We are #blessed that we are able to pay for our kids' college outright, but we are laying out every other possible financial scenario for them, to include the trades. Say we could spend $100k on a 4 year degree plus housing. The better route is for a student to live at home for 2 years, knock out 60 dirt cheap hours (no kidding it's $10k) at community college, then we'll pay for tuition and lodging for the final 2 years at a 4 year university.
That leaves them with $40k. We could give that to them as a down payment on a house...or buy them a car outright...or fund their Roth IRA for the next 5 years...give a chunk of money to a person with a real need. Blowing that kind of money on the current iteration of college pains me. Everything you could ever want to know is available on your phone. You can take a thermodynamics class on YouTube. The internet is going to change education quickly, and colleges better learn to adapt.
Generational poverty is passing on a "poverty mindset" and ignoring sound financial principles. We want to pass on better choices for our kids and be responsible stewards of our money.
TLDR: No, going into massive debt to obtain a 4 year degree is not a sound financial decision for most.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:37 am to NC_Tigah
In STEM, yes. Otherwise, maybe not.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:43 am to LSUA 75
quote:
“Nurse practitioners”
Should not exist. Or at the very least, should not be allowed to practice independently. You don't know what you don't know...until you realize you don't know it. Thats an important part of training that can't be replicated with online classes and 90 hour clinical minimums.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:44 am to NC_Tigah
Not really needed for IT unless you want to be management
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:46 am to Harry Boutte
“ Is it worth it to learn how to think critically “?
“. “. “”. “. “. “ how governments work?
“ “. “. “. “. “. the basics of how the mind works?”
I think these things are valuable,I agree with the rest of the things you listed.
I had a child psychology professor that complained about our educational system quite a bit.
She said it was based on rote memory and conformity , stifeled creativity and critical thinking skills.
She used the example of coloring exercises in lower grades,pass printed pages for the kids to color.
The children that stayed exactly within the lines got the highest praise
She said it would be better to give the kids a blank sheet of paper and have them draw whatever came to their minds.
In my life experience I think she was mostly right.
“. “. “”. “. “. “ how governments work?
“ “. “. “. “. “. the basics of how the mind works?”
I think these things are valuable,I agree with the rest of the things you listed.
I had a child psychology professor that complained about our educational system quite a bit.
She said it was based on rote memory and conformity , stifeled creativity and critical thinking skills.
She used the example of coloring exercises in lower grades,pass printed pages for the kids to color.
The children that stayed exactly within the lines got the highest praise
She said it would be better to give the kids a blank sheet of paper and have them draw whatever came to their minds.
In my life experience I think she was mostly right.
Posted on 2/4/26 at 11:52 am to LSUA 75
quote:
She said it would be better to give the kids a blank sheet of paper and have them draw whatever came to their minds.
Not always. Sometimes it's best to stay in the lines, other times it's best to have no boundaries. "Anything goes" doesn't exactly build civilizations, but it can often stimulate imagination.
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