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Feb. 15th, 2016 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sathorPosted this in response to a comment on reddit, and it's received a pretty decent number of upvotes as far as reddit upvoting goes, so I figured I'd post it here as well.
College isn't expensive because it's exclusive knowledge you can't learn elsewhere - it's expensive because everyone thinks they are going to benefit directly from a college degree, and everyone thinks they will personally profit from the acquisition of one. In reality, only a small portion of jobs actually require higher learning, and most people are simply going into debt for little to no reason. Jobs might ask for a degree for positions that don't necessitate it, but if you were the right person, or knew the right person, that requirement would be waived. It's a filter and nothing more, and one method of controlling levels of unemployment and funneling high numbers of applicants.
In the history of university it was something reserved for the elite class, and like you said, only in recent history has this changed to encompass a larger demographic - and not necessarily to their benefit. The person most capable of benefiting from a degree is the person who has an extensive family network and financial resources at their disposal - not someone who will be under crushing debt upon graduation, having zero leverage to aim for the highest potential return, and pressured to start earning even if the work is below their educational level.
College isn't expensive because it's exclusive knowledge you can't learn elsewhere - it's expensive because everyone thinks they are going to benefit directly from a college degree, and everyone thinks they will personally profit from the acquisition of one. In reality, only a small portion of jobs actually require higher learning, and most people are simply going into debt for little to no reason. Jobs might ask for a degree for positions that don't necessitate it, but if you were the right person, or knew the right person, that requirement would be waived. It's a filter and nothing more, and one method of controlling levels of unemployment and funneling high numbers of applicants.
In the history of university it was something reserved for the elite class, and like you said, only in recent history has this changed to encompass a larger demographic - and not necessarily to their benefit. The person most capable of benefiting from a degree is the person who has an extensive family network and financial resources at their disposal - not someone who will be under crushing debt upon graduation, having zero leverage to aim for the highest potential return, and pressured to start earning even if the work is below their educational level.
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Date: 2016-02-15 07:51 pm (UTC)Several of my most interesting and well-paid jobs were way far afield of my formal training. I had a principle about job-hunting - that I would apply for any job I thought I might be able to do, even if I knew nothing about it, and do my best in the interview even if I thought there was zero chance of me getting hired, just as practice. Sometimes I did get hired, and then there I'd be, learning a new skill-set in a new line of work.
It sounds cynical to say, but really, Resume-Writing, Schmoozing and Interviewing are more crucial skills for most jobs than anything taught in college. Fortunately, it costs nothing to learn them.