Did you know that 1.5 million, or 53.6% of USA college grads under age 25 were out of work or underemployed in 2011 and 4 out of 10 grads from the top 100 colleges couldn’t find jobs in their chosen field?*
I am not saying you should quit school or abandon the idea of starting your college degree – but you shouldn’t rely on it. Even if you do get a diploma with very high grades – there is still a chance you won’t get your dream job. There is a chance you will not be paid as much as you hoped for. Many companies have been downsizing or completely shutting their doors since 2008 – “secure job” is a notion of the past and simply doesn’t exist.
But let’s be positive and say you do get a good job with a salary you like – there is a chance you will hate this job with all your guts and you will be bad at it. Are you willing to spend the rest of your life, 40+ hours a week, doing something you completely hate just so you could collect a paycheck?
There is also a chance that you will get a job you were aiming for, with a salary you expected and you would completely love that job – this does happen from time to time. This is why you should pursue the higher education however you must start building a back-up plan as soon as possible, just in case things go sour.
In 2010 I have met a very inspiring young man who started a business from his dorm room. Initially it was an idea of earning a side income to help him pay for college but it turned into a very profitable business long before he had a chance to finish his school, which he did. The difference between most college kids and him was that he finished school completely debt-free and without any worries of getting a job – he was already making more money than any job in his field would ever pay.
In the past 7 years I have met many successful entrepreneurs, most of them didn’t have a higher education and the ones who did were working in fields that were completely irrelevant to their diploma.
The great thing about the age we live in is that you do not need a start-up capital in order to build a successful business. Virtually anyone with a desire to succeed and a connection to internet can make extra cash (legally and ethically) or even create a successful full-time business if they decide to do so.
How do you start a business online? Well that’s the easy part. You can simply join Wealthy Affiliate University training program (basic membership is completely free), you can buy books on Amazon or your local thrift shop and start learning! There are thousands if not millions of FREE resources that will teach you to start your own business without spending any money, all you have to do is get this knowledge and apply it. Most millionaires did exactly that – they took a proven model to success and simply copied it. They took massive action and simply did what other successful people did.
Do Not Quit School.
If you were planning on going to school or if you are already attending a college, don’t give up. However, you should look into starting a part time business while at school, it could help you pay for your tuition and it could become your full time business which would be very helpful in case your diploma won’t offer you such great life as you expected.
Have you thought of starting your own business while in college? Feel free to comment below!
– Alex
Hi Ian,
Great read – I really enjoyed your post! I would never recommend anyone to skip getting a uni degree – but if you’re looking to learn affiliate marketing online – then Wealthy Affiliate is my #1 recommendation
Have a lovely day!
cheers
Karina
Thanks for reading, Karina.
Although it’s Alex, not Ian 😉
I’m one of the fortunate ones that got employed straight out of college and am actually a Sales Director at the age of 25 now. My brother, however, has not been so fortunate. He went into a great deal to get a degree in kinesiology and it hasn’t done him any good that a non-college level degree would have done him. I think the right degrees are a necessary stair step, but others aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, let alone the tens of thousands of dollars they cost to acquire.
Ian, the price of a University degree (especially in the USA) is simply unbelievable… and it’s also the reason Doctors and Lawyers charge so much, they need to pay of their school debt somehow 😉
I hate this continual debate as to whether students should just skip the entire process because the end result is less than desirable. Places of higher education are sacred places that shape and develop the way we will think about problems and issues that will influence the world in 10, 20 and even 40 years from now.
Rather, the discussion should be how to incorporate this developmental process in a way which is economically feasible. Personally, I am a firm believer in online education as you can continually apply what you learn to the workplace giving you then experience and education to make you more competitive, but that is just me.
Great post none the less!
Flex, I also strongly believe in education however the traditional education just doesn’t cut it in most cases. This is the reason I highly suggests programs like Wealthy Affiliate University – all the information you would ever need at a ridiculously low price.
The “inspiring young man” sounds like Ryan Moran.
That “go to college so you can get a good job” thing was all I heard when I was growing up in the 90’s. We’re living in different times now where information is so much easier to access. Maybe it was great advice back then but today I think you can do great without a formal college education unless you really need the piece of paper they give you at the end and the debt that comes with it.
Wealthy Affiliate is a great example of how you really don’t need college and I’m seeing lots of websites springing up (like Udemy) that can teach you money-making skills.
We still need doctors and lawyers though so if people really want to do those things then I say go for it. A lot of people go to college just because they’re pushed by their parents or they think it’s going to help them but they don’t really have a plan.
Great point, Jay.
The formal education should be required in certain fields (medicine, law, etc.) but in most other fields it’s all it is in the end: a piece of paper that comes with a big debt.
I also believe that the biggest failure of our education system is not teaching kids what money is, how to make it and how to manage it. This should be taught from the 1st grade.
– Alex
I graduated in 2013 and I have to agree with everything you said. College is truly overpriced and overrated. I believe no one should rely only on this as a means to succeed in life because if that’s taught us anything, it’s that college does not always = success or happiness. I believe people should pursue their own route in life and not rely on book smarts all the time. Good post!
Exactly, Vitaliy.
This is why I say it is a good idea to look into trying different things while in school, you might stumble across something a lot more interesting than a possible future 9-to-5 😉