Is college still worth the investment?

ReformCollege said:

Plumbing isn't exactly an outsourcable job.

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Is there a reason you've chosen, at every turn in this thread, to narrow the scope of the topic as much as possible in response to differing opinions? First, the thread is about college, in general. Then, it's about how college applies to "some" people. Then, it's about how college applies to below average college grads. Now, it's just about how college applies to future plumbers. Why so dishonest? Are you just playing games? If so, I'd like to know so I can put you on my "don't waste your time" list.

ReformCollege said:

That wasn't his point. His point, was when you compare the economic costs vs. benefits of someone going to a private college (and there are many besides Harvard) vs. becoming a plumber, the plumber wins out.

Your taking his argument to the extreme. The point here is, college isn't always a great investment decision for everyone, and for many they would be far better off obtaining a skilled trade where they would make more money and not have mountains of debt to pay off. My generation was raised on the point that everyone HAS TO GO TO COLLEGE. I think what we are seeing now is that the mindset of everyone HAS TO GO TO COLLEGE is actually doing more harm than it is good. There are some people who would be better served doing other things.

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He shouldn't have used Harvard as an example then. No one in their right mind would turn that down to become a plumber. As I said, the only benefit is no loans, since you could become a plumber/construction/janitor after college. In that sense, is $40k in loans worth it for the average student or has it ever been? Probably not, but I didn't need Bloomberg to tell me that.

ThePlayDrive said:

Is there a reason you've chosen, at every turn in this thread, to narrow the scope of the topic as much as possible in response to differing opinions? First, the thread is about college, in general. Then, it's about how college applies to "some" people. Then, it's about how college applies to below average college grads. Now, it's just about how college applies to future plumbers. Why so dishonest? Are you just playing games? If so, I'd like to know so I can put you on my "don't waste your time" list.

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I'm the one being dishonest? I started with a specific point about how college isn't the best choice for everyone, and you turned it into a general discussion about the average college student. I already stated, if you can make it work, then you can make it work. But this conversation is about a huge number of people who don't make it work, and about how we need to have a serious conversation about whether or not college is the end all be all one size fits solution. My entire point is that it isn't. As college prices continue to rise, there are simply certain degrees that do not make any economical sense. Not to mention, the severe lacking of qualified applicants for skilled labor is staggering when you consider just how much money we spend on college.

In other words, my point stands. College makes sense for some, it doesn't make sense for others. Talking about how much it makes sense on average is irrelevant, because the real question we need to be asking is how can we get those for whom college does not make sense for into a better position to succeed.

chromium said:

He shouldn't have used Harvard as an example then. No one in their right mind would turn that down to become a plumber. As I said, the only benefit is no loans, since you could become a plumber/construction/janitor after college. In that sense, is $40k in loans worth it for the average student or has it ever been? Probably not, but I didn't need Bloomberg to tell me that.

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Well, you're right, no one in their right mind would turn that down. But the fact that he choose Harvard over any other private school that more people would be able to get into in no way changes his argument.