[SeaGypsy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roy', '
')My only deductions are health insurance, fed income tax, state income tax, SSI, and medicare, roughtly 28% of my gross pay. And I'm struggling to support a family with a very frugal lifestyle. There is no extra for retirement or kids' college. There's barely enough to keep my house repaired, pay for medical/dental bills, and keep the lights on. That's tragic. And I'm making more than 85% of employed individuals in the US. I use my numbers here to demonstrate the futility of going into a large debt for degree.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '
')
Simple question then, why should they go?

[Subjectivist]

There are pros and cons on both sides, but in my experience at least half the jobs on this planet in high tech countries don't need a college degree. The lower the technology of the culture the lower percentsge need a college degree to get by.

[sparky]

.
The only good result I can see in College is how efficient they are at sterilizing young women
if everyone was going to college , society would become extinct

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roy', 'C')loud9 nailed it.

I majored in Industrial Engineering (I know, big mistake ). My total tuition and room in board at a large state university in 1992 was $5k.

I am employed in a white collar IT job. My salary is in the 85th percentile for all workers in the US.

Currently, tuition and room/board at Duke University costs more than I take home in a year. About 25% more.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Cost of a year at Duke to rise to $56,000
Duke University

By: NBC17 Staff | NBC17.com
Published: February 24, 2012
» Comments | Post a Comment

DURHAM, N.C. – The cost of attending Duke University is going up.

On Friday, the Board of Trustees approved a 3.9 percent increase in the total cost of attendance (undergraduate tuition, room and board) for the 2012-13 academic year, according to the school.

Undergraduate tuition will be $42,308, a 4 percent increase, and the total cost for the next academic year, including tuition, room, board and fees, will be $56,056.

[jedrider]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sparky', '.')
The only good result I can see in College is how efficient they are at sterilizing young women
if everyone was going to college , society would become extinct

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jedrider', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sparky', '.')
The only good result I can see in College is how efficient they are at sterilizing young women
if everyone was going to college , society would become extinct

[DesuMaiden]

I think it is important to be well-educated, but not everyone that goes to university goes there for the sake of becoming enlightened. In fact, most people go to university primarily for the sake increasing their job prospects. The truth is, if anyone needs to become enlightened or well-educated, you don't need to go to university. Just read books and articles from the Internet, library and other sources for that.

Also, depends on what you are majoring in. If it is some dismissal "science", like economics, forget about it. Conventional economics, if they are primarily teaching neoclassical capitalist economics, makes about as much sense as the myth of Santa Claus. I'm not automatically a "Marxist" for saying that libertarian economics is an epic failure, but any form of economics that thinks exponential growth can continue forever on a finite planet is simply insane and ridiculous. Stating such things as absurdities doesn't make anyone a part of any ideological group other than being in touch with the real world.

If you live in country where university is free or relatively inexxpensive and you are majoring in something relatively useful, go ahead go to university because you wouldn't rack up a mountain of student loan debt and regret after graduating. But if you live in a country like the USA (where university can likely rack you up a lot of debt) and you are majoring in something that is unlikely to increase your career prospects very much, then you might think twice before going to university.

That's my two cents.

[onlooker]

Since I am on record for predicting little to no future prospects for Industrial civilization in the relatively near term future, University studies would be a waste of time for anyone. I will go as far as to say high school education also. Only elementary is still worthwhile, so the child can master language skills and learn social skills interacting with others.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DesuMaiden', 'I') think it is important to be well-educated, but not everyone that goes to university goes there for the sake of becoming enlightened. In fact, most people go to university primarily for the sake increasing their job prospects. The truth is, if anyone needs to become enlightened or well-educated, you don't need to go to university. Just read books and articles from the Internet, library and other sources for that.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '
')learn a trade in that case. The best is electrician. Always in demand, especially as indoor marijuana grows become popular. Big money there. BIG MONEY

[SeaGypsy]

I've seen in pot news sites growers whining about low prices. LMFAO what did they think would happen? The chicken business is an excellent similie, the only way to make money out of it is full scale industrial practice- multi million dollar set ups, buying feed by multiple shipping container full, industrial electricity rates, agriculture water rates, full size truckloads in & out. Then, guess what? More people eat chicken & eggs than smoke weed.

[ROCKMAN]

It just occurred to me an alternative question: Should everyone GRADUATE from college? From:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/201 ... harts.html

The stats indicate that about the 40% that don't graduate with a bachelors degree in 6 years probably should not have gone to college. In addition to the expense that's 6 year's of employment income...if they we capable of getting a job.

They also have this to add:

"America's nagging problem with college dropouts managed to get the tiniest bit worse this year. The National Student Clearinghouse reports that 55 percent of first-time undergraduates who matriculated in the fall of 2008 finished a degree within six years, versus 56.1 percent of those who began in fall 2007. Keep in mind, we already had the lowest college completion rate in the developed world, at least among the 18 countries tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Much like American health care, American higher education continues to set a global standard for inefficiency."

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ROCKMAN', 'I')t just occurred to me an alternative question: Should everyone GRADUATE from college? From:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/201 ... harts.html

The stats indicate that about the 40% that don't graduate with a bachelors degree in 6 years probably should not have gone to college. In addition to the expense that's 6 year's of employment income...if they we capable of getting a job.

They also have this to add:

"America's nagging problem with college dropouts managed to get the tiniest bit worse this year. The National Student Clearinghouse reports that 55 percent of first-time undergraduates who matriculated in the fall of 2008 finished a degree within six years, versus 56.1 percent of those who began in fall 2007. Keep in mind, we already had the lowest college completion rate in the developed world, at least among the 18 countries tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Much like American health care, American higher education continues to set a global standard for inefficiency."