Is College A Rip Off

Note: The following are two previous posts of mine, from elsewhere, in relation to this topic.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I would submit learning a trade immediately following High School is perhaps the wisest course of action given the structure of the current system. Consider, acquiring a Trade skill is able to set a Young Adult up with a very solid income in a couple years time, the price of attendance (to a Trade School program or apprenticeship) is minute in comparison to typical College prices, the Trade Professions are (overwhelmingly) of absolute necessity to the healthy functioning of society (i.e. they become highly productive members of society), and (last but not least) a Young Adults brain does not develop fully for another half-decade or so after High School meaning they aren't ready to make the kind of decisions asked of them (e.g. chose a Major, invest $40,000-$100,000+ in debt) nor are they as mentally fit/capable of performing higher-order intellectual work that they will be in 5 years time (when their Frontal Lobes develop into maturity). Also, having a solid income to fall back on (as a personal "Safety Net") if they do decide to continue with Higher Education after learning a Trade by then in their low to mid twenties while having a much better idea of their interests and path they desire to pursue. Thus, they would properly be in such a position to think through and make such a huge life decision rather than rushing into it as society/cultural norms demand.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think my generation (Millennials) are really being misled in quite an unethical way by the general Adult population's "advice". I have touched upon this elsewhere; A lot of my peers immediately enter into the biggest College programs they can immediately following High School with some major in mind (as they are instructed that this is the way to "succeed" in America). Now, people naturally change a lot in their late teens & twenties as they learn more information about the world and gain further life experience--which ultimately leads them to differing interests than the first (however many) years they were in College. Since the Major requirements are specific/tight, they end up having to do-over much of the requirements toward a new Major to account for this shift. Before you know it, they have been paying Full-tuition prices for 6+ years, are in tremendous debt, & (unless they happened to Major in one of the relatively few "practical" Disciplines) once they graduate they realize the entire idea of going to College means you'll get a job in the Middle Class is (in many cases) not true--unless it was Business, STEM, Education (only if you can land a job, which may prove difficult). Thus, they become Indentured Servants with highly restricted options rather than the many solid options they would have had if the whole endeavor had never occurred.

It shows that the Parents, Adults, Public Schools, "Academic Advisors", "Journalists", ect. also overwhelmingly have very little wisdom to pass on to the Young. In fact, in most cases, the Adults lead the Young down the wrong path (unintentionally, of course)--which can have life-long consequences.

Yes a liberal arts degree is worthless, many worthless degrees exist. But going into a technical field is much more worth while, a degree pertaining to science and/or engineering is much more of a "no bullshit" type of apparatus and will offer more applicable skills and a better chance of making a career out of it.