What does a college degree really mean?

Sometimes, and sometimes it is a right of passage.

A document that says I can trust you (most of the time). Goes a long way.

The school of hard knocks takes a bit longer then a degree. And, it will still not get you membership to the big game. Most of the time.

It means you have spent a lot of money on a piece of paper that says you know your stuff.

What follows is personal opinion.

Back in the day, what you needed to get a job was a high school diploma. Sure, you could find a menial job if you quit school, but a diploma was the key to a good job that could support a family. So many people didn’t finish high school that those who did were the bright stars.

Then, most people got off the farm and more and more people finished high school because that’s what people did. Soon, a diploma was worth much less, because almost everyone had one. How to pick the brightest? Why, you looked for applicants with college degrees! Not so many people had them, so you could pick the brightest out of the bunch that way.

Nowadays, a college degree doesn’t mean as much, but you still need it to even be considered for some jobs. When there are far more job seekers than jobs, employers can pick and choose, and suddenly you need a college degree to do jobs like “night watchman” or “office manager.” It’s not necessary that the degree be in that field sometimes, but a degree shows that you at least can handle college classes, know how to navigate The System, can show up for classes (and thus, your job) regularly enough to not be kicked out, that sort of thing. (Plus, you probably took a bunch of classes that weren’t for your degree, which makes you a supposedly more well-rounded person. College did do that for me.)

Besides, if you have a degree, it still theoretically shows that you’re smarter and better trained than any competitor that doesn’t have one, right? (Deep sarcasm.) That’s why an IT grad with the ink still wet on his degree can get a job in the field and my husband, with no degree (since Reagan changed who can get student loans back in the ‘80s) but with 14 years of experience in the jobs he was interviewing for, can’t.

What @jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities said.

It means you have a better chance at completing a crossword puzzle. Other than that I have yet to see an advantage.

A college degree means you paid the time, effort, and money to better yourself in the particular field of the degree, and they are most assuredly not marketing scams (unless they blatantly are, like those online Russian ones). I suppose the ladder goes something like experience but no degree, degree but no experience, and degree and experience. People with degrees but no experience do have fresh ideas due to their naivety. Think of degrees as a stepping stone to better things, because nowadays the top of the game is doctorate and 20 years experience if you ever want to escape the middle-middle class. I know that since I want to be a baker and don’t mind starting my journey with a degree in culinary arts and baking and taking an apprenticeship at a big chain store. They are still very useful in middle and lower class jobs.

I wil give you this actual event and you can decide for yourself. i use to work at a radio station. i was a disc jockey and did not have my engineers license. the FM transmitter, one night, just shut down. this put me off the air. we had two engineers for the station, at that time. one engineer was young and had just graduated. i called him first. he came to the station and could not remedy the problem with the transmitter. i then called the second engineer that was much older in age. the second engineer came to the station and located the problem right a way and i was back on the air. the bottom line here is this: the younger engineer had his degree, but no experience. the older engineer did not go to college, but received his degree from a mail order college. no matter how many degrees you might have, there is nothing like experience. i discovered later that the older engineer had designed and built this FM transmitter from the ground. in actuality, the older engineer did not even need a degree. his experience was a degree in itself.

Of course there are exceptions to what I say, but generally a degree gives you something to show an employer that they can measure you by reliably . In other words employers know what it takes to complete college and get a degree, and by having a degree they know what your basic abilities are. This is why a degree from certain universities are more “valuable” than others because Havard has a different reputation than Phoenix University Online has, and MIT has a different reputation than Devry has. So when an employer looks at this on your resume they say, well I have a general idea of what this person is capable of based off of the reputation of this university/degree etc. Certainly there is no substitute for experience, but if you put on a resume you have 10 years experience in such and such field, but no degree. The safer bet is still the guy with the degree but no experience because a random HR person isn’t going to be able to measure your experience reliably, but he has a pretty good idea what it took to get that degree.

If you graduate in the top 5% of your class from a top 2% college reputable for your chosen major then it means a better chance at landing a job in the field of your major. Other than that you’re in the mix with peops who have no degrees… or so I’ve been told by hundreds of disgruntled degreed job seekers.

A college degree means you are too stupid to get a job without one.

It varies.

But people tend to focus too closely on the degree. They like to reduce all of college to that piece of paper. You can’t do that. The experience is far more than that and is extremely valuable. I’m only half done with college and, despite what the “bio” section of my profile says, it’s changed me in big ways: academically, socially, self-conceptually (...) and so on.

I pay 50k yearly here. Is the degree worth that much? No. Is the sum experience worth that much? Probably not. Is the guarantee of employment worth that much? It might be, if that guarantee existed anymore. But put it all together and I think it almost comes out even. Almost. We all know college can be a scam, but almost.

Sometimes I wonder whether those who undermine the value of the degree wouldn’t take college seriously. For many it’s kind of a big deal and it means more than just a job. I’ll be the first in my family to graduate from college, provided I don’t suddenly die or drop out in the next two years. My dad tried college and never finished, so it’s going to mean so much to both of us when I graduate. And for people who are middle-aged and putting themselves through college, the degree is probably important in a highly personal way.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you don’t appreciate the value of your education, the degree doesn’t constitute much more than formality. There are those, as @jerv noted, who muddle through college without taking it seriously. In their cases I would agree that the degree indicates very little. But for many of us it means a lot. (Sorry if that’s vague.)

An expensive piece of paper. I’m still paying for it.

A degree got my foot in the door at one of the largest corporations in the world. Of course, a friend already working there helped open the door, but the fact is, I would not have been interviewed or even considered, without the degree. I got the job in a field unrelated to my degree and spent twenty very successful years there. The manager who hired me told me he needed bodies that could review processes, think through and understand them, identify areas for improvement and solve problems and that to him, a degree was a pretty good indication that an individual could perform those activities regardless of the processes (unless extremely technical) or the individual’s major. In this case, the degree was a discriminator for employment and an indicator of some basic smarts, and certainly not an indication of being smarter or being more competent to perform the job. But, as @laureth pointed out above, when an employer has so many from which to choose, a degree is a convenient and likely discriminator. See ya….Gary/wtf

It often means you have a chance to interview with companies who screen out people without degrees right off the bat.

I had no college degree or high school diploma for 40 years of my working life. It meant that eventually I needed to go into business for myself which worked out very well for perhaps 25 years, but now I need retraining. No degree, no work. I would caution you aginst trying it my way unless you are in extremis.

@pdworkin so 40 years of experience doesn’t count and now someone decided he’s going to learn you how it’s done?

Not exactly. The job I trained myself for and was successful at for a long time kind of vanished, because I was very specialized, and the rules changed. I saw the change coming and decided to spend my savings on education, because I was afraid of working at a Shoprite when I was 65.

Easier access to a subsidized house in the ‘burbs.

@pdworkin That is why I intentionally avoid anything IT-related, and have done so since I was 12. Skills get outdated quick enough that you may get a job there but it’s a bitch to make a career out of it since you’ll spend so much time, effort, and money keeping current that you’ll likely fall behind before you can retire.

A college degree means that the person who has earned the degree has:

1) Learned how to learn stuff they have no interest in but need to know.

2) Proven that they can work towards a long-term goal.

3) Shown that they have been able to get through all the red tape associated with the process.

4) Done well enough in their previous education that they were selected by a college to get more.

5) Learned a little bit of the basics of their field and are presumably capable of learning more.

6) Used the brain that they were born with, and so is more likely to continue to use that brain.

7) Put enough thought into how they want to live their life that they chose a particular school and a particular major.

Getting a degree means you are capable of learning and will work on long-term goals, so the experience you will get at the prospective employer’s company will improve your ability to do the job, and hence you likely to be a benefit to the company.

Not having a degree doesn’t mean you can’t do any of these things, but it does mean no one has given you a piece of paper that serves as proof that you’ve done them at least once, for at least four years. A degree is a shortcut. It tells prospective employers that you have certain characteristics.

I think I went to school just for the experience of being at a university.

There was nothing stopping me from taking off from home at 18, going to Hollywood or New York City and getting a job on a film set as a PA. If you’re young enough (because, frankly, I’ve never seen a 35-year-old production assistant), the film business still needs grunts and gofers.

@aprilsimnel Heh! Sorry, but I’m pretty much limited to the skills I’ve learned in the last couple of decades and during my time in the military, and even Uncle Sam wanted me for my brain instead of my body.

It’s all what you make of it-your aspirations, resolve, etc. Unfortunately, in our society most jobs or careers require a degree for just about anything, so having one is vital if you want to follow a corporate, technical, scientific or educational route. If the college experience is used as an area to grow as a person socially, intellectually or even spiritually, it is there for you if you so choose. Bottom line is, it is what you make of it as to whether it will be useful or not.
With that said, if I were to guess, more non-degreed individuals probably have contributed the greatest good for humanity, and are probably the wealthiest too.
Now I have to look up and see if Edison, Ford, Getty, Gates III, Buffet, Jobs etc. actually finished, or got a degree

@Garebo I’m just thinking that as tough a time as Nikola Tesla had in his time, he’d have it so much worse today. Don’t bother with Edison, look up Tesla!!!!
(Tesla versus Edison is a sticking point with me. Do a little research and you’ll see why. I’ll give you a hint htough; if Edison had his way, the electricity going to your house would be inefficient DC instead of t 60Hz AC we have here in teh US ;) )

@Darwin Your answer deals with the key point about the value of a good education.

It’s not so much what you were taught and what you learned in your course, as it is that you have demonstrated the skills and determination required to achieve a goal.

To an employer, your ability to apply yourself, to learn and work independently is what makes you an attractive candidate to fill a position when persistence, self-motivation and adaptability will be an asset to the company.

Years of real-world experience and excellent references may get your foot in the door but younger employees are easier to train in skills require knowledge and versatility with the latest technologies and they are less costly to include in corporate health insurance benefits.

It’s not fair to experienced older workers but it is so often true.

For young people without degrees, how will you convince employers you have a demonstrated ability to apply yourself and learn new skills on the job? Glib talk won’t cut it!

@Dr_Lawrence That is why I specifically mentioned the marketing aspect. In other words, do they want good workers, or “good” workers”? In other words, is landing a job about talent or about your ability to pimp yourself out?
And what of us “older” workers who are still easily trainable, especially those of us with a wide range of experience despite the lack of certification?

How much it does pain me to speak with some kids that are in college now’a’days (geez typing that made me feel old, lol) about anything intellectual Jellies aside ;), I can’t help but regret not going to college. I was kicked out of school at the age 16 and was told I’d have to do an extra year to receive a Diploma. I didn’t like the sound of that since I hated school as it was (though I do wish I did) long story short a month later at the age of 16 I got my GED.

There’s nothing that really interests me about college other than musical courses, but most colleges that have good courses in such Berklee are ridiculous expensive. If I had the chance to do it all over, I would’ve done things a lot differently. I see myself as an intellectual competent person, but alas, I don’t have the piece of paper to prove it.

@Axemusica – If you are interested in music courses, check out the nearest junior college. Generally the teachers are there to teach, not do research or compose, and the prices are way lower. Sometimes you can even audit the classes for free. Thus, you can get the music classes you find interesting without messing with the system or spending big bucks.

@Darwin you mean I can attend class’s without actually being enrolled? or you mean I can just go check’em out?

@Axemusica – If you don’t want actual credit for the classes, just the information provided in them, many junior colleges have an outreach department or continuing studies department that allows people to audit classes for free or for a reduced rate. You still have to sign up and can’t just wander in to a class, but it can help you get the info you want without beggaring you.

…or buggering…

@jerv – Uncalled for.

@Darwin Sorry, couldn’t resist. The tuitions where I used to live were ridiculously high and it felt like rape.

@Darwin in that case I might see about this, because for music I don’t really think I need a degree, but knowing a lot of it could help me be more successful doing so as a career.

In certain fields like engineering and medicine a degree is an absolute requirement; no paper no profession. In other fields it’s more of a marketing tool to get you higher on the list for hiring, bigger starting salary, etc. In yet other fields, unless you intend to teach, it might as well be printed on toilet paper.

@Axemusica – My brother has been a professional musician for some 38 years and he has no degree in music. Of course, that means he can’t get a job teaching music in a public school or playing for the Philharmonic, but OTOH he doesn’t actually need a day job.

Of course, he does have degrees in International Studies (Princeton) and Law (University of Texas), but the only ways in which he has used them was to study music in Brazil, know how to threaten dishonest agents, club owners, and recording companies, and to be able to set up his own music publishing company.

In other words, knowing more about music can be very useful to a musician (not to mention fun), but knowing something about law and business can be even more useful. In any case, learning new things all the time is an excellent way to live a long and active life.

At this point in my life, I’m glad that I went the dual-major route. Engineering for career and history for the love of it. Now I can concentrate on the history,without the financial need to teach. Something to do other than drinking myself to death.

College degree not always makes a person well educated.It’s the personal interest that makes them able to sneak out of their comfort zone and make their hands dirty on things they are not trained in.As you have already mentioned, many take it as a stepping stone to get a good job as, most of the white collar jobs need a degree as a pre-requisite.I’ve seen guys and girls studing with me, cramming up things during the slog hours and making those go down the sink after the exam dates.
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That doesn’t mean everyone follow the same trend.There are people who proceed with a gradual pace.Though they not always fare well in exams,but they have the ability to give any entrepreneur a good mind churn during the interviews.
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Accourding to me,a degree is never complete without proper knowledge level and ability to express and put the knowledge into practice when time demands.

@engineeristerminatorisWOLV Verry wel sed!

@engineeristerminatorisWOLV Many people (especially Americans, it seems) treat the degree as a goal in and of itself, just as many study martial arts solely to get a black belt; understanding of what those things signify is less important than the trophy. Their goal isn’t knowledge, it’s bragging rights.

Personally, I am of the opinion that I’ll stop learning when I’m dead. Besides, Nikola Tesla wasn’t offficially highly educated. If he were alive today, he’d probably be flipping burgers somewhere and never would’ve had a chance to give us things like AC power, radio control, or many of the other things that he made possible.

There is also an issue of “inflation” in educational credentials. A BA/BS today is worth about what a high school diploma was worth 80 years ago. Today a high school diploma is almost meaningless, a BA/BS and good GPA and GRE scores is a ticket to grad school, with not-so-good scores means teaching, junior lab technician, flipping burgers or a chance at OCS if you enlist in the military. In almost all professions (maybe engineering as an exception) at least a Masters degree is prerequisite to “official” credentials.

@pdworkin :Thank you.

@jerv :“Their goal isn’t knowledge, it’s bragging rights.” Those are exartly my thoughts nicely worded.I love your analogy of education with Martial Arts and your example about Nikola Tesla.A lot of talent is getting wasted because, people don’t have an approval on piece of paper called degree to make it to where they are supposed to.On the other hand, those who are lost in the wild goose chase of getting a degree without acquiring real knowledge make it to the zenith.Aweful it is.
Someone has truly said ,“While the wisest confront cruelest of treatments,fools empty glasses of scotch”
Congrats for your 6th AB anniversary,Jerv