College: Is it really necessary?

[Plenum]

this is sort of tangential, but relevant, so I hope you can stay with me.

in Australia, students are both subsidized (the courses are charged for less than they cost to provide, the government picking up the difference), and the charges for courses are offered as student loans by default (so you can start studying straight away, without ever paying a dollar).

this 'easy access' to college/university education is both an opportunity and a bit of a life trap.

it is an opportunity is the sense that if you have decent grades from high school, then the finance side of things should not restrict one from pursuing qualifications/education. You still need the marks to get into the relevant institution/course, but there is great equity there. Merit can carry you through (rather than needing a well off family to pay your way).

the downside is that college becomes a bit of a default option for people leaving school. Instead of taking a hard look at what they want to do in life, or getting some real life experience by working in some entry level job, or travelling/working, experiencing the 'reality of life', people just end up going to university. And they are quite often undecided and unpassionate about what they do. They take the degree that seems to fit them best, or which they have *some* interest in ... but it's just coasting really.

I've seen it in many young people, and even made that mistake myself, although I bailed (dropped out) after one year because what I was studying was really not for me.

The biggest error seems to be going through the whole 3/4 years, getting that 'coveted' degree, then getting into the industry and really getting a wake-up call of not liking it. And then these individuals (of which I've met maybe 3-4 just in the last couple of years) go back! to university, and study for another three years! That's cool, it's their life choice, but so often, even that second degree is not something they have a 'life connection' to ... it's just another stopgap measure from really figuring out or finding what they want out of life.

and these people ... sometimes they are working, sometimes they are not ... but they end up either living at home or relying on their parents for some support which really delays the entry into adulthood and taking full responsibility for one's life. I will say though, most of these career students do end up working part-time, so they don't avoid the hard edge of life entirely.

but yeah, study (ie college) can become a way of avoiding making any real decisions about one's life.

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past a certain point, people will hire on the basis of first-hand experience (ie someone who has worked in the industry) regardless of any qualifications or not. In the real word, experience (good experience) and expertise trumps any test scores you may or may not have had.

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and of course, there's a big shake up of the further education sector via MOOC's (massive open online course). Things like Coursera and Udacity and what-not.