How important is a college education?

[irvinehomeowner]

College education had been a widely discussed topic on TI with one of the most famous being what are the chances of an IUSD kid getting into an Ivy.

Then of course we have @panda posting about how good GA schools are compared to the universe.

On the news last week I heard that the importance of college education was waning and dealing with one of my own kids taking a gap year (or two) and my own opinions of the necessity of college I found the Gallup poll interesting:

Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low

The percentage of Americans who consider a college education "very important" has slipped below the majority level.

news.gallup.com

I should have known there is a political difference (never really thought about that) but I did find it interesting that Rebublicans value college less as I assumed being more business oriented they would find it important. At least that's how I'm reading the article.

Is that true? And this is not a knock on any party, just something I never really thought about because college seems more like a ubiquitous desire no matter who you vote for.

I felt like it was more cultural or economical drivers that influenced college education value and while that can be connected to party affiliation, I never really considered it.

Does the Gallup poll reflect the general truth? Maybe I should ask GPT. Let's see what the TI poll reveals.

 

[CalBears96]

College education had been a widely discussed topic on TI with one of the most famous being what are the chances of an IUSD kid getting into an Ivy.

Then of course we have @panda posting about how good GA schools are compared to the universe.

On the news last week I heard that the importance of college education was waning and dealing with one of my own kids taking a gap year (or two) and my own opinions of the necessity of college I found the Gallup poll interesting:

Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low

The percentage of Americans who consider a college education "very important" has slipped below the majority level.

news.gallup.com

I should have known there is a political difference (never really thought about that) but I did find it interesting that Rebublicans value college less as I assumed being more business oriented they would find it important. At least that's how I'm reading the article.

Is that true? And this is not a knock on any party, just something I never really thought about because college seems more like a ubiquitous desire no matter who you vote for.

I felt like it was more cultural or economical drivers that influenced college education value and while that can be connected to party affiliation, I never really considered it.

Does the Gallup poll reflect the general truth? Maybe I should ask GPT. Let's see what the TI poll reveals.

It's really simple. The Republicans that value college less are the ignorant Trumpers. Do you really think that the Ivies Republicans would value college less?

 

[Liar Loan]

Trump is an Ivy League Republican.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Sorry. I wasn't trying to add yet another red v blue thread. We can talk about lack of actual education somewhere else.

The importance of college education is trending downward across all lines. Is this due to social media influences? More money in blue collar / trade school jobs?

I actually see this in my college friends but maybe half have careers that are not related to their degree.

 

[someguy]

It depends on what your view of the role of college is.

If it's a tool to launch a professional career and increase one's value as a contributing member of society, then completing studies highly focused on the theories and practical applications related to the intended profession is quite important.

If it's a place to kill 4+ years while having fun pursuing personal enrichment, then college is one option to do that, although there are less costly alternatives.

 

[morekaos]

College was a four year party even though I did study a lot. Really should have stayed in CS back then…would probably be a billionaire by now…But my degree was worth opening doors and getting interviews …for the first part of my career the degree was mostly to impress, I had to eat what I killed and by the third or fourth year of my career my degree became less important than demonstrated skills. By the fifth year It just indicated loyalties as a football fan…

 

[zovall]

Back in the day, not everyone went to college. For many who did (including legal immigrants), they were able to get better paying jobs and climb the socioeconomic ladder. Parents pushed their kids to go to college, become a medical professional, engineer, or lawyer and continue climbing up. Having a college education opened doors that were otherwise closed (it is still a requirement for many companies).

At some point in the past few decades, the demand for college ballooned even further. Any and all college degrees were marketed as useful. This demand enlarged the higher education industrial complex (higher tuition when costs should have gone down due to tech, endless administration increase, creation of useless majors, student loan predation, for-profit schools, admitting unprepared students, etc.)

So now college is extremely expensive and you don’t know if you’ll come out with a job at the end. It makes sense to have some skepticism about the hustle. I’m all for education, but I don’t believe that is what we are paying for when we send our kids to college today.