Is College Worth It For What We Do?
Lots of kids who are between high school and college ask me if I think college is worth it. I can understand their concern is a large commitment and a huge price tag.
My college experience
I never did well in any school. School was always very painful to me. I barely graduated high school and while I lived on 3 different college campus’s over 8 years I probably have less then 60 credit hours of college… I have a massive problem with reading comprehension and focusing attention. That and I was a weee bit lazy too…
Classes I did benefit from
If I look at the classes I took in college and what ones I feel benefited me in what I do for a living I would say the business and marketing classes were of by far the biggest benefit to me. Business and marketing tactics are time tested and not much has changed. Everything I learned can be applied to my internet business. It honestly amazes me how basic marketing techniques from the early 1900’s companies I can draw a direct correlation to in what I do for a living. Also most of the professors who taught these business and marketing classes were former CEO’s of companies who have been there and done that. When teaching they often talk about their own businesses and how the topic related to something they did.
I also think there is a lot of value in the fundamental classes (math, history, science, english) but not so sure about at the college level. Obviously I could use more English classes. Its amazing how bad my grammar is when you think about the fact that I grew up in a house with a mother who was a English teacher with masters degree in English. My wife has a minor in English. I dunno it just did not take.
Classes that were a complete waste of time
Every computer related class I took in college was a complete waste of time. But you have to remember I went to college in the mid 90’s to early 2000’s. I am sure a lot has changed. I never took a computer class where I thought the professor knew more then I did. That is a bad start.
All of my computer programing knowledge, which is not that great, but I can understand and hack away at about anything, comes from my own trial an error. I have been scripting for 15+ years.
Personal computers (mainstream wise) have only been around since the early 80’s. Computers and programing languages change so fast its just not possible to keep up in a college. If you want to learn programing in college you should join some club or local user group and be active in that. The education you get there will be cutting edge. Most professors who are teaching programing have no real world experience.
So to answer the question of if college is worth it I would say absolutely. College can teach you a ton. For most people its their first real experience of how the world really works away from their parents. First crazy experiences with money, girls, booze… ahhhh…
Lots of successful online entrepreneurs have MBA’s. Actually if I sit and name off a list of the most successful online people I am friends with I think about 65% have MBA’s. Guess how many have computer programing or MIS related degrees? None… In fact pretty much everyone I know with a programing degree is working for the man. Not that there is anything wrong with that (visions of Seinfeld).
When we interview people we are much more interested in their real world experience then their education. Nobody with a computer science degree has ever worked out with us. Still waiting for someone to prove me wrong. 
(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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I’m not for school at all. Experience. Experience. Experience. Then again, it might get hard to get experience without some school at the bottom. Personally I don’t go to collage. I tried, for a year. Now I put all my effort to make a living online, but I do have to take a couple hours in a day job to make ends meet.
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Jacques Snyman Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I agree on the experience thing, especially for internet types. On the other hand however, there is something for having a degree and going the corporate route. My sister has been very successful going that way.
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SMM Guru Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Is experience not what you get from college?
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Stuart Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I’d have to agree with you, college gave me the opportunity to put my foot in the door with experience. They are always pushing you with projects that ‘involve’ the real world. I’ve had numerous large companies I did work for, including Harley-Davidson headquarters, and SC Johmson Wax (as well as smaller companies and non-profit orgs),
Maybe college isn’t useful if your not going for a business degree, but really they teach you so many fundamentals about the business world and legalities that I couldn’t imagine starting a company without knowing what I got from college. Plus business writing, that was my favorite, it has helped me tremendously!
I did graduate with an MIS degree, but with MIS, unlike Computer Science, I was forced upon the business world. Which I am 100% happy that I chose MIS over CS in that aspect.
I do currently work for the ‘man’, but it is once again, giving me great experience for my side hobby of owning/running successful websites. And who knows, it could give me the knowledge of how a worker thinks (instead of ONLY being a boss). Sure, I could have not found a job coming out of college and focused solely on my web career, but I wanted to experience a 9-5 (8-4 in my case) to see how I felt about it. My passion is still to operate my own business, but I just graduated college and decided to double my yearly income by taking a job.
But I don’t know how you can preach experience and downplay school, that isn’t ‘experiencing’ everything out there. You are still limiting yourself in regards to other experiences.
IMO, college is a great way to see if you can keep yourself motivated and finish an objective. 1 out of 4 people aren’t able to finish college, I see that as a flaw of a persons testament in noy being committed and being lazy.
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meethere Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
cool, very well said
like it much.
MouthyGirl Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I think there is a slight flaw in your logic regarding that statistic. I would venture to guess that a lot of people don’t finish school due to financiances. Which was my primary issue. Rather than take out endless student loans and end up in ridiculous debt before I get a degree, I chose to pay my way myself and have stopped here and there for a year or two to save up more and return. Some of us aren’t lucky enough to return.
Maybe you shouldn’t judge so quickly.
But in regards to the question, I think that college can help with Business degrees in general and it’s always a good idea to take a class in something you might consider doing full time, but they have continuing education classes for that type of thing. I have collectively just under 60 hours and have gone part time off and on for the last 10 or so years, since my son was born.
My web design and development classes taught me HTML and I found political science to be interesting, I could take or leave the rest though really. But I am going back to school in the Spring for more business related classes and web development, there is still quite a bit of web knowledge I need to acquire.
Great information here thanks Shoe!
QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Thanks for sharing your experience. You pointed out a lot of great reasons for people to attend college. I’m sure it will inspire others to join college to. If you don’t attend college then it will be hard for you to get a good high-paying job to support your family or yourself.
Stuart Reply:
October 15th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
@MouthyGirl
College really isn’t that expensive. The four-year college by me cost approximately $10k/year. In all reality, that isn’t too expensive if you take out a student loan. Which are low interest and you’re able to pay it off in years.
Think about it this way. After getting my first full-time job after college, I would be able to pay off the loan (approx. $40k) in one year.
That is of course if you save all you money, but that is what is great about a loan, you have years to pay it off with little interest.
But if your going to college for a career where $40k is unrealistic to pay back, maybe you shouldn’t be going to college. Or maybe finding an alternative side job, lol. But in all seriousness, by the time I graduated college, I saved more money than college cost (from my Internet side-job).
But it is my belief, people who drop out of college because it is too expensive either need to switch schools or look at the long term of things, too many of our youth look at the short term here and now aspect of life, which ruins you long term life, imo.
Jacques Snyman Reply:
October 11th, 2008 at 6:37 am
College gives you a slip of paper, but zero real time work/business experience….
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Stuart Reply:
October 15th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Um, when I went to college I actually worked for companies and did projects for them. How is that not work/business experience?
Jaseem Umer Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I don’t know if I should agree, but school and college has something to give you. You get more experiences from them, at least.
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Goran Website Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 3:43 am
The difference between college and just experience is that after college you get a certificate as proof that you have learned and being tested on that career, and with just experience all you have is your references as your proof which aren’t always the most reliable source of proving your competence.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Yes it’s still possible to get a job with the experience you have but it’s getting really competitive these days. A lot of jobs are starting to require you to have a Bachelors degree. At least the Information Technology jobs that I’ve been looking at. They require a Bachelor’s degree at a minimum and they don’t even care about how much experience you have unless you have a Bachelors degree, It’s better to not take a risk and go ahead and pursue your education in college.
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Tom Reply:
October 12th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
I’ve been doing web development for four years and I just received my Associates degree last year. I was able to combine past credit w/ the courses that I was taking in subjects that I actually had an interest in. The community college I went to let me combine Graphic Arts / Design courses with general IT (Unix, SQL etc) into a General Studies AAS.
Every job that I’ve held has stated that a Bachelor’s degree was required for the position that I took. I’m not underpaid by any means either. Look past what’s on paper and make them talk to you if you think you can do the job, there is a good chance you will have a shot at it.
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Moneybites Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Still dude, there is something to be said for the basic fundamentals and the value of education
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John Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I have to agree with you… It’s been over 20 years since I graduated from college, I still think it is an experience that everyone should have whether at the 2 or 4 year level…
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I think if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer or be a teacher then ya college is cool.
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Action Sports Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:39 am
if you want to be either of those, college is required
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Affiliate Famous Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 11:32 am
“if you want to be either of those, college is required”
Exactly.
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Jacques Snyman Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Yeah, some careers require paperwork as a pre-requisite to entry of an exclusive club….
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SMM Guru Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Its also required for those lol
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Zurpit Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
A lot of jobs today require some sort of degree to work for them
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Well it’s not “cool” just for these types of people. College is for EVERYONE. We all need degrees in order to get a good job. It’s proven that dropouts make less than graduates. And even if you make more it’s only temporary, you can’t just rely on online money.
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John Kane Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
tell that to all the millionaire 17 year olds..all money made online
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John Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
There’s not as many millionaires as we think there are…
Tom Reply:
October 12th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
You’re just linkbaiting…or you’re a fool. Either way the majority of the people reading this site (including yourself) don’t agree with you. This is not a blog on how to attend college and succeed in life.
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Moneybites Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 7:40 am
If you want to be a marketer, go to school for a bit at least. The fundamentals they teach you there are tried and tested and its always good to have a solid foundation under you.
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SCHOOL ISNT WORTH IT! Use your time better.
Im 16 (the legal age to leave school here in australia) and i have learnt WAY more since i left.
- The End…
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Action Sports Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:39 am
its worth it for various reasons
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andrew Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
That’s the conclusion I’ve come to as well. Can’t wait to finish high-school so I can focus full time on my web projects.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
That’s a really strong statement to make. Without school you wouldn’t be an educated person and you wouldn’t be able to perform a lot of things at your job. A lot of employers look at your education too so if you’re a dropout then it’s very likely that you will be earning way less than a college gradate makes.
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Goran Website Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 3:46 am
That’s the one main thing about not having a college qualification, is that you get paid way less than you’re supposed even if you’re brilliant at what you do. No college is a gateway to being exploited by employers.
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Moneybites Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Agreed, if you mess up anywhere buddy, you’re going to be working at mcdonalds because you don’t have a GED. Think about it..
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It’s sketchy, I know some college grads working average jobs…
Vice versa, Not even high school grads making 7-figures, WHO EMPLOY College grads….!
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Action Sports Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:43 am
yeah, I was making more money than the average college grad in my first year of being a competitive webmaster…. now I make more than the average lawyer or doctor after about 7 years of doing this… I was getting paid for my education.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Good to see that you’re making that much money. It’s still important to go to college to get your education in whatever career you want to do. Yes you can make money online but there’s still a chance that you will stp earning that much money right? That’s why a degree will serve as a backup.
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Ben Adkins Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Its all about having a plan….or working toward having a plan… if you can get your plan together without college…..then skip it…..
I’ve found that most of the college people who end up in the jobs that didn’t need college are the ones who never developed a plan
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SMM Guru Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I started out online to pay for school and got to the point where I realized I didn’t need College if I could push myself to make more.
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Tushar Dhoot Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
The question is, do the majority of college grads work for high school grads or vice versa.
You can’t just pick a few examples to stereotype a whole group of people.
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I think college is absolutely worth it. If nothing else, the experiences you have and people you meet help prepare you for the real world. Not to say you can’t be successful without going to college, but if you have the opportunity to go, I say do it!
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Seneschall Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:28 am
My opinion as well, I have a law degree and it is only semi-helpful with what I’m doing now, but in genereal college taught me many useful things like structured thinking, how to do research and analysis properly and a few other really handy lessons…although it wasn’t the cheapest way to aquire this knowledge.
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Zurpit Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I agree college is very use ful for learning different things
it gives you the basics to work at any job
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Action Sports Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:44 am
yes, lots of reasons why its worth it. it will no doubt open a lot of doors.
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Tushar Dhoot Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Well said Dina.
I believe the same way.
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Goran Website Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 3:54 am
Yeah, true! If you do get the opportunity to go to college, then do it. But you can still be successful without it if you really don’t have the resources to go to college.
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I’ve been through almost the exact same experiences. I think I have about 30 college credit hours, but none of those classes ever helped me in anyway in regards to what I do now.
I am the senior web developer and graphics designer for a company, and I own my own successful website development business on the side.
You’re right when you say the things you’ll learn in college are old school and the most cutting edge stuff are things you can only learn outside of college.
I took a website design class in college and I ended up teaching the class rather than the professor. I was going over new things that she’d never even heard of. ?!?!
The bottom line is, you don’t have to have college to make it in an internet/programming world. I’ve got over 11 years of experience doing what I do, and I started it all in 7th grade.
If you know what you’re doing and you do it well, you should not have any problems with finding a career doing that.
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Ben Adkins Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Steve, I think you are the perfect example of what I’ve been saying in my other comments in this thread. If you have a good idea of what you want to do, and you don’t have to have a degree, then college isn’t for you.
Congrats on the biz btw. I love hearing success stories!
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Jacques Snyman Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Agreed! The vision is important. You need a target to focus on / aspire to…
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Atlanta wedding photographer Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
However, College gives you an opportunity to get the tools to get what you want done. You’re in college and have access to everyone. If you’re young and not in college. You’re seen as just some thug. So head to college get you a piece of paper and take advantage to state’s taxes.
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Matt Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 11:00 am
All that and you STILL have time to run a JC copycat blog? You’re gifted.
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Ben Adkins Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Negativity Rocks Matt… Common man…. Being Down on
someone else’s work just makes you look bad.
Opinions are great, but not at the expense of others….
(Unless you’re running for president that is)
We all have something to offer…..
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Steven-Sanders Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Exactly how is my blog a JC copycat? Just because John makes alot of money on his blog, and has made a big name for himself, it doesn’t mean I’m copying him. He was the guy that invented teaching others how to make money with your blog.
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Steven-Sanders Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
My bad… I meant wasn’t the guy.
The danger of not getting a college degree is the same for an aspiring basketball player, if things work out - wonderful. if things don’t, you have no backup. Not everyone is going to make bank in this game, for everyone else, a college degree is something the “real world” respects and demands.
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Jeremy Schoemaker Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Great comment Jim. My wife knows many other doctors who are only doing it because they have to to pay off their student loans. They have no choice. Very sad to be in that trap.
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Ben Adkins Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I also know several doctors who got into it because they
thought it would pay well (and not because they loved it).
Those are the people that are miserable now. I did the
whole Dr. thing because I love it. I think the most important
thing to weigh in the college decision process is, “Are you
building toward something that you’ll love for the next 40
years?” If not, don’t waste your money! Hard work can get
you to almost anywhere you want to go without organized
ed…… (well unless you want to be a Dr. or Lawyer)..
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Jacques Snyman Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Doctors and healers, doctors and healers. If you go into medicine with money being your prime motive force you’re already looking for trouble. The calling to be a healer is another thing altogether, and your success will ultimately not be measured in monetary terms only.
A friend of mine, who was an apprentice mechanic at the time, once engaged a young doctor in an argument. After being told off as a lesser being for not being in a “respectable” industry his reply was simply….
“At least I don’t bury my mistakes….”
Please, no offence aimed at you Dr Ben!
QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
That’s sad! A lot of us who are reading this and can afford college should be really thankful that we are able to pay for our education and learn. It’s important to go to college and learn instead of wasting your time. At the end it will really pay you off and you won’t regret it.
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Goran Website Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 5:16 am
Yup Shoe agree, it’s terrible being trapped in something you don’t enjoy. Life shouldn’t be like that, we should all persue what we enjoy to be able to be productive in our jobs.
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Action Sports Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:45 am
not true - in this day in age there are tons of careers you can do without having school. IMO - real world experience and common sense are worth far more than book smarts.
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Ben Adkins Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Didn’t I just say that???
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Jacques Snyman Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
You sure did!
Ben Adkins Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
None take Jacques….. Its the truth….. There is no room
for mistakes when your a doctor. I also don’t think that
its ever a good idea to get it in your head that you’re
“above” your patient base. The only difference is
skill-sets. Thanks for the comments!
Dr. Ben
http://www.drbenadkins.com
QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
People don’t go to college just to get book smart. They go there to get actual experience, learn how to be responsible, and improve their knowledge. Yes there are careers that you can get without going to school but those types of careers pay people a whole lot less than a person who got a degree from college.
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When I was in college, mid 90’s as well, I ended up teaching a few of my classes because the teach knew only what was in the books, not what was going on in the real world. I only took 2 computer classes, after that I no longer trusted the teachers and decided to try something else!
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Moneybites Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I think its a generation thing, the tech classes now are much better I would think..
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A few courses in writing, marketing, and computers (programming and design) can’t hurt. Colleges make you take so much fluff BS though ( wish I could get every hour of finance, psychology, management classes back).
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Sometimes, I feel that school isn’t worth it. But then, there is so much to be learnt from school and college which gives you real life experience. Definitely worth it.
P.S. I’m 14 now. I can’t wait to get into college once I’m 17.
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I also never completed school…and honestly I can’t say I learned anything valuable from the college I took. You must have had some decent teachers in your business classes, because mine were about what Pepsi did in 1985 or something…not really relevant to online small business.
Interestingly enough, I wish I took more computer classes. I know my way around website design etc. but wish I knew more about PHP and java stuff. Unfortunately running multiple online businesses doesn’t leave a lot of time to sit down with a programming book and mess around.
Overall though, I would probably not recommend college unless your specific field requires it.
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Its funny you mention this Shoe I’m actually going through the process of getting a degree in marketing and applying the information towards my own side business. However, with the growing trend of e-marketing schools just don’t know how to adapt their curriculum to match the ever changing social media status….that and the professors don’t know much about it.
If you think about it some successful online entrepreneur could do lectures at schools and get paid big bucks due to no one else having that experience. *cough*hint hint*cough*
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Yeah, I agree 100%. I went to college and got a business degree, worked for the man and then went on to work for myself. While I agree that it’s very tough to look back at school and justify if I recouped the money I spent (and income lost), it’s hard to really know how much you picked up in school. Plus, when you’re 18 you have no clue what you want to do with your life. Sure, if you run a successful business NOW and you didn’t go to school, you’d say it was a good decision. But there are also about 99% of the people that don’t go to college and they are working in a wal-mart. I bet they wished they could’ve gone back.
I always think it’s a good idea to go to school personally. You take business classes and you’ll at least learn basic marketing, finance, and accounting. Trust me, that will aide you even if you run your own business. It’s definitely easier to go to school at 18 then when you get older, bills to pay, etc. I just think do it now. It definitely can’t hurt and you can limit the expense of college.
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As a college graduate I can attest that real world experience in the SEO field outweighs what can be learned at college. I did find that my college degree opened the door for me in the corporate world. It also provided marketing fundementals to succeed in this industry.
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Action Sports Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:48 am
well said - it will definitely open doors and I agree that in the real world, what I was taught as well had no value.
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I believe college is important, but definitely overrated. To prove this even further-unless you have a degree in something specific like being a doctor or lawyer, they don’t care what degree you hold. They just want to know they are hiring an intelligent person that they can teach and mold. It’s kind of stupid when you think about it, but that’s he way it goes in most businesses.
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For me, college is quite difficult and everyday I wonder how many of the classes I’m taking will I really learned something useful for what I want to do. Sometimes I question myself being in college, but it’s just one of those things in life everyone wants to experience.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
It’s still worth it for the degree and knowledge you will obtain through college. Once you get a degree it won’t be hard for employers to accept you.
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I have a somewhat different take on it. I dropped out of a PhD program and would say that not a single class that I took in college, at any level, is providing any help to what I’m currently doing. Someone might gain value from business courses as you state, or they might make connections while at school that will help them in the future. I don’t think having a college degree helps much outside of the corporate world, it’s just a piece of paper after all. A lot of schools, MIT for example, are opening up their course materials to anyone via their website. For a self-motivated person, I think that going to college will be more of a waste of time and money than what little they could learn will help. For someone who has trouble motivating themselves, having a college degree, and the corporate doors that having it might open up to them, is probably a good plan.
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Granted that the academic side of college is not always directly applicable to an internet entrepreneur. But at school or college you do get more than your certificate:
- Networking (with peers and industry speakers)
- Develop social & team skills (learn how to talk & work in a team)
- Research fundamental (learn how to write & research ideas)
Now all of the above you can get from trial and error but would you blunder your way through a course or blow a deal?
Any way I think anyone interested in programming or marketing should focus on business related courses if they feel that they should attend post secondary education.
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I’m an MIS guy from The University of Alabama and would actually highly recommend it because it was such a great mix of computer science and business. I wonder constantly how much more successful I would be had I actually tried to learn instead of just trying to pass. There were so many classes that would be so valuable to me now if I could remember what was taught.
The biggest thing I would change is to put some emphasis on being able to work for yourself. Everything was focused on working for a corporation, but everything we learned could have been applied individually as well.
Still, it’s given me a really good background to do very well for myself.
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Jeremy,
I think you should volunteer to lecture at the University of Nebraska there in Lincoln if any professor is confident enough to admit he or she does not know cutting edge technology. Therein lies the problem. Many college professors have attained a Bachelor’s Degree in some area of study and a Master’s in Arrogance. I have taught graduate classes at our local university and am currently teaching an undergraduate class. I love the students who come from real world jobs and challenge my knowledge of subject. They recount stories in class of professors who use outdated text, materials, and refuse to deliver a class online. Come on! Colleges need to push instructors to stay ahead of students or go sell shoes. It is not a coronation. Keep up!
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A college degree is an asset that you’ll have for life. You may need to use that asset at some point or you may choose an alternative path, but at least you’ve got it if you need it.
If you have a firm idea of your career direction, then why not get a formal qualification in it? Added to which, 3 years at university can be a ball, and that kind of social “education” is completely different from any other you’re likely to experience in life, and one not to be underestimated.
It all adds up to make you who you are; hopefully more skilled and rounded as a person than before your three years of druken debauchery and the occasional lecture.
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Whether or not college is worth it changes from person to person. A lot of it comes back to personality - some people get more out of school than others. That said, I think the chosen college / chosen major has just as much (if not more) to do with it than anything else. Tour the college, talk to the profs and talk to the students (probably the most important one!). Find out the specifics of the courses as possible (how often they are updated, etc). That can save you a lot of frustration and annoyance (and money) down the road. Doing it again, I’d take more business and marketing courses, but oh well.
Just keep in mind that most people (even aspiring affiliate superstars) will end up working a day job for part of their lifetime, and lots of day jobs still require a college degree.
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I dropped out of school and I never regretted it once. I do think there is certain value for people that do want to attend though, it just wasn’t for me. You mentioned some people that have mba’s, how about some that didn’t even finish school; bill gates, mark zuckerberg, list goes on and on
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College is the ultimate long term investment. It may not pay off right out of college but 10-15 years down the road it still opens doors. The problem with your analogy is that you are hiring tradesmen.
You can learn a trade either on the job or in school. But I bet every single accountant you ask advise from has a degree. Do you buy your contracts online or do you get a lawyer to write them?
I value my college education even though I am not working in the field I studied. The history, english, and economics classes alone were worth it. I encourage everyone I mentor to get a degree.
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Action Sports Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:50 am
for certain fields, a degree is absolutely necessary and valuable. but this a competitive webmastering blog, in which a degree is meaningless. affiliate programs don’t care if you have a degree.
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There is alot of great experience you get from College. I don’t know what I would have done with my college experience. I learned how to live on “little to no money”, how to budget my time, and there was that degree thing that I got too….. I think that it would be okay to skip college if you already have a plan….but if you don’t….probably not a good idea. College prepares you for life in a lot of ways.
Ben
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Even if you have a plan I don’t think it’s okay to skip college. Education is one thing that is always staying with you, and you should just go and get that degree rather than regretting it later. There’s always a chance your plan can fail so you should still go to college.
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We got a lot of thick comments here so let me put in my 10cents. College is a place that if you use it correctly can really benefit you more than just the experience and academics. Think about it. Depending on the school you have access to great minds or at least professors that know great minds. YOU have to network with those people.
I never did this and I can see where it would have been extremely valuable if i would have done this. Fine, get you degree and go even farther to your DR. but you have to broaden your horizons with your network. Get to know everyone and anyone. Remember their names and birthday’s. Once you do this on a consistent basis, most people will help you out as much as they can.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I agree with this, college is a great way to network with people. It’s also a great place to learn together with people and ask questions and further your knowledge. I’m taking an online class and the forums allow me to network with others and get help from them.
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College teaches you how to think and even if your degree doesn’t directly translate into you career, the process of college is absolutely worth it.
Plus, as you acknowlege, picking up a decent background in English, Marketing & Business is important…all of which are important for making money online.
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I would have to vote that college is worth it, because that is what I preach to my kids, even though I have no degrees or certifications myself. With that said, I have managed to be successful in my life, even before Internet marketing. For years, (and still to this day) I worked as an IT consultant, basically managing and maintaining computer systems and networks. I have never had a problem finding a job or new clients, because I have personality, charisma, knowledge, and experience. College is less important to the learning aspect of what we do — nothing beats real-world experience, but I preach to my kids the importance of school, because you can’t deny the connection you could make nor do I want my kids to struggle through life because of being non-educated. I know I sound hypocritical since I am preaching to my kids to go to college when I haven’t been, but I see it as just cause it worked out “well” for me doesn’t mean it will work “well” for them. However, I do tell myself I will go to college one day…you’re never too old for knowledge.
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Both sides to a coin, like anything - but generally speaking, you should go to college.
I was in and out, switched majors, took a boatload of classes/units…and am still working on completing my degree.
Like anything in life:
You just need to be focused, and know what you want out of it - or you’ll be spinning your wheels going nowhere.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
You’re right you should be focused. Instead of just going to college because you’re required to go there because you want to. Go there to learn as much as you can and don’t allow yourself to get distracted with all the stuff the others are doing. I think that’s a big one for most college students!
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Growing up, college was never a maybe. I never thought otherwise. As much as I like programming, I will not major toward it. I figure I can learn programming on my own and work with it on my own, what is the sense in paying someone to teach me?
As far as making money online, I don’t think a college degree is necessary. In my case, I’m going to college to become a professional engineer. Doing online work is a hobby, which I happen to make money from. In your case shoe, you happened to hit the right time to be making websites online, and got a really good jumpstart…so good that you could live off of it.
In all honesty, I don’t think you need a college degree for making good money online. However, it is risky if you have no other plans.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
It is indeed risky to just depend on making money online. Although there is no degree required you still stand the chance of loosing your money and it’s not a permanent source of making money. If you loose that money you need to have a backup plan, and that’s where your education and degree comes into play!
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I think school is defiantly worth it for the connections. I have met more like minded people and made a few business deals just from the people I met at school. Although I think the accounting classes I have taken have been useful.
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OMG. This was one of the questions I wanted to ask you and Darren and Chris while I was at BWE08! I tweeted it last week and have a discussion set to auto-post tomorrow. I’m so interested to read this discussion!
I have a BA and MA in Technical Writing and was never a computer-savvy person. The WWW as we know it was just becoming mainstream when I graduated. My first job out of grad school was as a web developer and I was hooked. I have a background in writing technical things so the programming makes sense to me. Blogging is a way to bring all the best parts of what I love about writing and technology together.
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I think that going away to college is definitely worth it! Like Shoemoney said, it allows you to experience life outside of your parents’ house. That alone makes college worth it. I’ve learned a lot about myself simply from being away from my parents and in a quasi-real world environment.
As far as classes go, it all depends. I’ve picked up different things from every class and sometimes I’ve met someone interesting in class.
For the most part, I haven’t learned nearly as much from the college classes as I have being in the college environment.
TheAndySan
http://www.theandysan.com
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I go for the girls…
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I’ll be the exception to your rule…one of my undergrad degrees was in MIS, though maybe my MBA helps to prove the other piece of your argument.
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Without college - I wouldn’t be blogging or making cash online…
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I noticed your debt blog, really creative. I’m sure you’ll be out of debt if you keep working online. No matter what education is really important. Good luck with earning that money and with your education!
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Moneybites Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 7:42 am
I think school opens doors for you that may have otherwise been closed, through jobs and networking in school.
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College is worth it to network and make connections - well unless you are just going to sit in your room all day. it also is a good jumping point for getting kids separated from their parents in a safe environment.
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i went college, learned nothing from my int’l econ degree and ended up as an editor for a fashion startup. but what do you really gain from college aside from experience and personal growth? CREDIBILITY and, often, association with the image of the school. but really, a quick look at the number of world’s billionaires without a college degree should tell you that hard work and experience seems to trump a piece of paper.
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I’m about to finish high-school in less than a year. Believe me, I thought a lot if going to university or college (like you say in usa) it’s really worth it for what I really want to do for the rest of my life. In my case it’s not worth it. Here, it’s more of a trend to go to uni, rather than going for the educational purposes. Even those that barely finish high-school are going to uni. It’s the crowd mentality.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Why is it not worth it in your case? By getting a degree you will be able to get a lot of good jobs out there and employers will look at your applilcation. A lot of employers require you to have a degree. Do you not want to get a good job?
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Full Sail University offers an online degree in …wait for it…BSc Internet Marketing!! Seriously, subjects include things like SEO, viral campaigns, email marketing etc. Now *that* is a degree I can get my teeth into. I spent 2.5 years at university changing my major every six months because I had NO idea what to do. I should have gotten out sooner, worked for some real world experience and then hopefully have found a course like that to stimulate me. Yeah…eh hem that MCSE was a total waste for me, since i’m now the worlds biggest Mac Pundit, and refuse to have anything to do with PC’s if I can help it.
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school was the best time for me..
I can’t forget those days.
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No offense intended, but if you knew more CS than your CS professors, that was simply a problem with the school you went to.
I’ve been programming since I was in elementary school, and had several years of part-time development for local businesses already under my belt before college. So, I knew what I was doing when I got to school, yet learned invaluable amounts of theory from my CS professors at Ga Tech.
Not so much practical experience with a certain language, platform, or framework, but the kind of knowledge that makes you better at solving problems with any language you choose to learn.
I would highly recommend it.
That said, I left school in 98, during my fourth year. The dotcom boom opportunities were just too tempting to resist. So far, that decision not to finish school hasn’t had any negative repercussions that I know of.
I do have a feeling that this economic crash is going to make a lot of people wish they had a degree though. Rightfully or not, education is one of the first factors that many companies use to differentiate between otherwise equally qualified candidates.
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Atlanta wedding photographer Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I think you right on about this. You took advantage of the tools there. This is very different that just going and hanging out with the ladies who are looking for a handout
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Thanks for sharing your experience Dave. Yes I agree if Jeremy knew more than his CS teachers did then it’s simply the problem of the school. The CS professors must not have been educated enough. It’s good to research on your colleges and find ones that have good teachers. These days there are websites out there where they rate the professors and the schools so it shouldn’t be hard. Everything has been made easy for us, but people are just lazy.
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If you went to college you would know how to spell. So it is worth it!
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coderbari Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Isn’t school enough to learn how to spell?
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Well you could do that with a spell checker too and a lot of people know how to spell without going to college.
The reason you would go to college is to learn more and get skills for your future career and also to prove your knowledge to your employers.
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Too many people don’t attend college, or drop out after making some money online. Then they stop making money, for whatever reason and never get to go back. If they can keep making money online, that’s awesome.. but sucks for those who fail.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I know, a lot of these people need to stop taking chances and really think about their future life. Everyone has to work at some point and you will need a degree to get your job. Without it most employers won’t even look at your application. There is a chance your online business can make you loose a lot of money. You could end up making a mistake and someone could end up suing you. This is just an example of something that can happen.
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It depends on the individual not everyone is capable of being successful without college. Some folks need the rearing that college gives them some don’t. so i cant quantify that college is completely useless when i see the many folks who took their higher education and became billionaires. on the other hand you had those who had no college and became billionaires but usually those folks had money to begin with. Sucess is what you make it.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Well it is possible that some people do not need college. I know one person who just reads a lot of books and does a lot of labs/experiments and he’s really smart. He knows a lot and he graduated from school very early. But he still went to college! Why? Because employers require a degree and they look at your education. They don’t care about just your experience they want to see your education. Education is one of the major things that employers look for and if you don’t have college level education then most employers won’t accept you.
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I am a computer engineer and it’s really worth it I think. First, not only I can develop things myself, but it also helped me to develop a rational thinking when facing complex problems/situations. There’s also the fact that I don’t work full time on my internet business so being a computer engineer gives me a very decent job!
While I’m trying to eventually be full time on my internet business, it’s nice to have a good backup.
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QuickPWN Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I agree with this. It’s good to educate yourself and learn as much as you can about whatever you like. Good luck with your goal of starting a full time online business.