Is there even a point to a college degree if there's no work available?

Unfortunately, one point is lack of a BA degree is more a show-stopper. That doesn’t mean you gained much from a BA because, let’s face it, some pretty big morons have them. Many people with BAs should have gone to trade or vocational school. And many college classes are softball. For many, college is an expensive patch making up for all the stuff that should have been taught in high school. And when reduced down to a resume and cover letter, an idiot with a BA and a brilliant thinker with a BA might look pretty similar.

I think you’re on the right track, if you just want to make money and aren’t concerned about your own enrichment. Look at the fields where there is a shortage: the applied sciencies, applied math, statistics, perhaps medical. Don’t do what a lot of people did and get a degree that prepares you for business administration and tinkering with LANs. There are plenty of jobless people who did those relatively easy things already.

Of course, if it’s personal enrichment you want, by all means get whatever degree you fancy – whether astrophysics, literature, or basket weaving.

I hate this notion that the purpose of education is to enable you to find a job. Sure, that’s a part of it, but it’s really to prepare you to have a life. The better you can think, the better a life you will have. A liberal arts education helps you live a better life.

As to the economy—it will change. It will get better at some point. There are a lot of people unemployed, but it’s still 15%, which means 85% are employed. As to the area you study in college—it really doesn’t matter so much. You probably won’t end up in the field you prepared for.

If you’re good and persistent, you will find a job in the field you want to be in. Don’t let the economy freak you out. You have a long life in front of you, and it will be a good one. I guarantee you. You are already doing better than 95% of the rest of the people in the world, just because you live in the US.

I graduated from college in what was, until this one, the worst recession in American outside of the Depression. It took me a long time to find a job, but eventually I did. It wasn’t necessarily at an income I felt proud of, but I was doing work I believed in. I’ve spent most of my doing work I believe in, and it’s cost me some money, but it’s been worth it. Mostly.

I try not to think about the possibility of not finding a job after college. Almost all my friends have found jobs within 10 months after graduating. They either found positions that were directly in their field of study (ie. comp science) or something that their degree slightly tailored to (english major=journalism).

There are so many different kinds of jobs in the world, most people wouldn’t be able to just assume that they would be working those positions while they were still in college. You could be doing something different after you graduate, but what’s wrong with that? Why would you want to stay working as a bank teller for the rest of your life? That’s just boring.

@Carly That’s exactly my point. I don’t WANT to be a bank teller, but I work with someone who has the exact same degree I’m working on and she’s getting paid the same thing I am. It just seems like such a waste.

Oh, and 10 months? Almost a year without work after earning a degree. It took me less than a month to find the job I have now. If I’m going to be serving food for nearly a year after I graduate…I don’t know, that seems like a really long time.

I don’t necessarily believe the only point of a college degree is to get a job. I also am not solely focused on money. I started out in the medical field and found that it wasn’t for me. I’m now working on something else. If I was in it for the money, I would have stuck with nursing. It’s not all about money, but a decent paying career is essential to supporting oneself.

Thousands of people across the U. S. are getting jobs every single day. Those who have a college degree are usually put at the top of the call back list for the good jobs.

When I got out of college in 1980, the unemployment situation was as dire as now, and was coupled with inflation. Check this out When I was in college in the 1970’s, it was the age of people getting out with a business degree and making big money at accounting firms, IBM, and GE, and then it all crashed. Every person I graduated with found a job, bought a house, had children.

It is not true that there are no jobs right now. The employment picture in improving steadily.

The economy sucks now but it will get better (eventually…). Don’t skip on the degree just because it might not be immediately useful. Degrees are supposed to be long-term investments.

@wundayatta Yes, but the question more pertains to a degree, not an education. An education is free but a degree is expensive. Many colleges have allowed me to ghost classes free of charge and there are always free guest lectures and debates (especially if you’re lucky enough to live in NYC) where one can further their education for free. And that’s not even mentioning all of the books at the library and the free educational resources onlin.

The question is about the necessity of a degree and while I would never advise against education it’s worth noting that the gulf between cost and lifetime income add associated with a college degree is shrinking. The percentage of people working in fields that relate to their degree is also falling.

I went to college for 4 years and spent slightly over $70,000 (which I finally paid off less than a year ago). My degree has yet to have the remotest baring on my employment, though it’s nice to know it’s there if I need it. It has been a financial burden that I could have done without.

What I got from college was a long list of obscure vocabulary words. “Avunculocality” cost me $730 to learn and that’s the closest I’ve ever come to using it.

Now, considering all of that, I’d say the college experience was worth every penny and every hangover. I’d certainly regret it now if I’d dropped out or never gone. Keep in mind that a crappy economy is the most important time to have a degree.

@crazyivan Very true. While it’s only these past few months that I’ve been back in school, I’ve never stopped my education – always reading, learning, trying to better myself.

The difference between a human being and other creatures with a brain is that humans have a mind.
Like an athlete’s body, a mind has to be developed. It does not just happen.
If you do not develop your mind, you might as well just be a dog or a dolphin or any other critter with a brain, but no mind.
One way to develop your mind is a college education.
It is not the only way, to be sure, but it is a well established and reliable and accepted way.
It has nothing to do with finding a job.
That is what technical training is for.

@crazyivan When I went to grad school, a professor told me that most people know everything they are going to learn in school. The reason they go is because they need the certificate to prove they are ready to make more money. So, I can agree with you that the degree is important.

If you’re going to get a degree, then why not get an education while you’re at it? And as you point out, it hardly matters what you get a degree in. There’s a good chance you’ll never be employed in that field. I never was. My degree was in Russian Studies. Never used it, except to talk to the students from Odessa who were lifeguards at my pool one summer. Even then, it was pathetic, because I hardly had any Russian left.

The closest I ever came to working in the field of my graduate degree (labor relations) was working for a union for a while—in the policy office. Really, what served me best from college and grad school was research skills. Good old generic research skills. I spent a lot of my life doing research on a wide variety of topics. The topical areas of my degrees had little to do with it. Although I have used the knowledge; it has never been directly related to my job.

I think the degree is worth it. I’m not sure where you get your information, but every bit of data I’ve seen, and @marinelife is often pointing it out, shows that you the more education you get, the higher a life time income you will have. And it’s an exponential increase, I believe. So if it’s money you’re after, get an MBA. They seem to do the best.

Yes on all points, @wundayatta. Before college you are taught a long list of facts (or things your teachers thought were facts). In college you learn to learn. You learn how to continue your own education and get the resources to do it.

On your final point, I suppose I could have phrased that more clearly. There is still a substantial increase in lifetime income that goes along with a degree and it is still substantially higher than the cost of the education. The difference, however, is shrinking and has been for some time. The cost of tuition is rising faster than the average income of the college grad so, as I said, the gulf between the cost and lifetime income-add are diminishing.

I graduated college last May. I’m currently working as a street musician. I definitely don’t need a college degree for this, however, I wouldn’t have thought to learn the accordion if it weren’t for college and the opportunities it presented me (specifically study abroad). Hopefully in a few years when I really need a serious job the economy will be better. Good luck!

Everyone here is saying get a degree, but I don’t think it’s totally necessary. One of my friends dropped out of college, but he has such great computer skills that he got a job as a programmer and leveraged it into a great career. My dad went to trade school and now handles huge accounts for a government contractor. I don’t have a degree but I love my job managing a gourmet store and I make about as much as my friends who are entering the market straight out of college.

@Haleth But wouldn’t you be making more than your friends just now entering the market if you had a degree?

This is the boat I’m in right now except I don’t owe any school loans thank god. I’m working at a job much below my level right now. Most places near me have closed down and many of these people were able to recieve Associate level degrees through TRA and other grants to only be working at jobs paying close to minimum wage or little more.

I know some people who recieved Bachelor degrees in different fields who are working at lower paying jobs and now have serious money problems right now because of this. If you don’t come from a family with money getting a degree can be a risky investment if not planned out well. Don’t get a degree just to have one but instead make sure you’re going for something you’re really interested in and even do some investigating of your own to see which fields are in demand and where.

An education is necessary today to even have a shot but be careful with making that decision and don’t do something that everyone else is doing rather do what interests you. I’ve seen people make that mistake as well and they ended up dropping out of college or never made use of their education.

With a BA degree you will have more options available to you than if you have a high school diploma. I tried to become a veterinarian but I didn’t get the grades so finished college with a BA in Zoology. I looked around for my options and chose do go into the field of clinical medical laboratory science. I just took a few more classes in clinical science and applied for an internship in a hospital lab and took a couple national registry exams and I have never been out of work (33 years).

Hospital labs are really hurting for lab techs and I hear that in the future the demand will increase. If you like biological science and laboratory work then look into it. Check out the ASCP (American Society of Clinical Pathologists) web site for information.

@Haleth: I don’t think everyone getting a degree is a good thing. I do realize the game theory involved here. Everyone does get a dumb-downed BA, and it’s a show-stopper not to have one.

(Yes, I’m exaggerating when I say everyone. But a lot of people get them who probably would have been better off doing something else.)

A college education is as much about edification as it is about employment.
Take a medieval history class. You will be amazed by how much you didn’t know, that you thought that you knew.

I’m in a similar situation. I’m pursuing a degree in accounting, in which I have work experience yet not the direct experience of working in open accounts for AP, AR, Payroll, thus I can barely get an interview much less a job offer as it is currently an employers market. While I do not knock an education (knowledge is wonderful), I do think college has been pushed too hard, and too many employers want/require too many qualifications for many positions that could reasonably be learned through work experience.

Individuals are now paying through the nose for a college education with student loans plus interest for educations that may not be directly related to the jobs offered whereas, years ago, you could show a genuine interest/general understanding and land a quality long-term job without a degree. Today it seems that you are nothing in a professional world without a degree, and I don’t think that’s reasonable. Nor do I think the (potential) higher income outweighs the cost of education today. Simply put, I think many people paying for degrees today will never be anything more than entry-level employees who get their annual percentage increase in pay for inflation. Not everyone is interested or able (especially women with children) to put forth what’s necessary to climb the corporate ladder. To be realistic, we need those people because not everyone can be top performers. So why require a costly education to fill those positions? The company’s bottom line – cheaper to hire those with the knowledge than to train those without. I’ve seen so many middle-aged and older learners in my classes, and I can’t help but think they’re absolutely wasting their money in terms of potential earnings.

I think it’s best to research the career field and consider your own ambitions and overall projected cost/benefit ratio. By all means, an education is invaluable on a personal level. As others have mentioned, you can learn a lot on your own via the internet and free or low cost college classes versus a degree program which requires several gen-ed classes. Yes, the economy is down right now, but it will improve over time and open more opportunities. But if you’re in a very specific field, you should probably be both a top performer and willing to relocate/commit so much to the job to see a considerable financial benefit from the education.

As far as getting a decent job right now, it seems that you need to be a perfect match for the position/company, know someone on the inside, or be able to sell yourself better than the competition. I get discouraged at times, but I remind myself of my knowledge, achievements, and goals. Several of my high school peers are now finishing college with MBA’s and extremely frustrated by the lack of job openings and having to work in retail/restaurant jobs. I have no doubt that these individuals will make use of their education and skills within time. In my opinion, they are all very bright individuals who are simply experiencing a rough time but will push forward towards achieving their potential – as will you.

Having a college education degree is very important. Why I would say that it is important, is that the brain is a muscle that needs excercise and training to keep up to mark. Yes you can learn from the internet and other areas, but through college you learn in such a vital way, by socially interacting, motivation and the assignments that you are given—at least in my field which is education—forces you to be as creative as possible. In other words what I have found is that it pushes you to the limit an thus maximises your potential. Before, I did not think that I was a person who could be a leader…by working in groups to do a presentation or assignment I have discovered that I can be a great leader. I did not think that I was a good analytical thinker, college has proved me wrong again by the performance that I have shown in my assignment tasks. Teaching is one of the carrer areas that I have found that if you are not in it all the way it doesnt make any sence and persuing a college degree gives you that motivation and confidence to excel in teaching. The degree is essential in getting you employment reguardless of the state the economy is in, but furthermore the degree for me is a kind of a medal that you are ready for anything in whatever chosen field that you are into. It shows that you have the skills and the mind for that job you are going into. The economy will get better and you will be one of the first chosen to be called into a job…but most importantly, you will be at a higher standard in your life and that is the most important thing that you can have.

Thanks to everyone for all of your answers!

Oh, and I saw this mentioned at least twice and I feel the need to point out that the brain is NOT a muscle. It’s an organ. :) But I still see your point. The “use it or lose it” theory.

The New York Times kind of touches on this today. http://nyti.ms/gIDBfS

You learn how to learn. And you get a written confirmation for this. There will be work at some point and this confirmation will help you get it.

If you hope to do something more than a basic service position, a degree (or two or three) is pretty much mandatory. And sadly, it has nothing to do with education or ability. Typically, the HR person doing the initial screening of applicants nothings absolutely nothing about the position they’re screening for. So the first cut is on things they can easily discern – and the top of that list is how many letters you have after your name.

Education isn’t all about getting a job. Thinking it is reveals a major flaw in your attitude toward learning.