Is a College Degree Really Worth it?

[CelticD]

I'm a 19 year old sophomore currently enrolled in St. Francis College NY, and I wanted to know if staying all four years, amassing large amounts of debt, and getting a college degree is truly worth it. For one, I'm majoring in "Communications" which I'm beginning to see is a useless major (no offense to anyone that has that major too). I'm also minoring in sports management but have yet to even take a class in that subject because I'm registering late due to financial issues. There are a plethora of "core classes", and "electives" that I must pay for and take in order to graduate, but if I continue to take these classes, I would've takn more classes outside my major and minor than inside.

Don't even get me started on textbooks. Not only are the prices outrageous, but teachers make it mandatory to purchase it, and even penalize you for not bringing the textbook to class. If the textbook is created by a teacher in the school, once you purchase it, you're not allowed to return it because a new edition would have been made before the semester even ends. And the difference between the editions are so miniscule it should be a crime to call it "new".

I'm not against school, or education, just "college". I'd rather go to a trade school, or be a non-matriculated student.

I work at Family Dollar, as an Assistant Store Manager and have a part-time job as IT Mover (all I do is move office equipment such as phones and computers.) I'd very much like to ditch Communcations and focus on IT but the people that I work with often tell me that you don't necessarily need an IT degree. Taking specific classes and earning IT licenses, are good enough to get a career going.

I was wondering if I should try to continue going through college, or try a different approach by learning a trade, and attending schools that specialize in the things I'm interested in. I'd really appreciate the feedback because this has been bouncing around my head for weeks now.

[Monkhouse]

I'm a 19 year old sophomore currently enrolled in St. Francis College NY, and I wanted to know if staying all four years, amassing large amounts of debt, and getting a college degree is truly worth it. For one, I'm majoring in "Communications" which I'm beginning to see is a useless major (no offense to anyone that has that major too). I'm also minoring in sports management but have yet to even take a class in that subject because I'm registering late due to financial issues. There are a plethora of "core classes", and "electives" that I must pay for and take in order to graduate, but if I continue to take these classes, I would've takn more classes outside my major and minor than inside.

Don't even get me started on textbooks. Not only are the prices outrageous, but teachers make it mandatory to purchase it, and even penalize you for not bringing the textbook to class. If the textbook is created by a teacher in the school, once you purchase it, you're not allowed to return it because a new edition would have been made before the semester even ends. And the difference between the editions are so miniscule it should be a crime to call it "new".

I'm not against school, or education, just "college". I'd rather go to a trade school, or be a non-matriculated student.

I work at Family Dollar, as an Assistant Store Manager and have a part-time job as IT Mover (all I do is move office equipment such as phones and computers.) I'd very much like to ditch Communcations and focus on IT but the people that I work with often tell me that you don't necessarily need an IT degree. Taking specific classes and earning IT licenses, are good enough to get a career going.

I was wondering if I should try to continue going through college, or try a different approach by learning a trade, and attending schools that specialize in the things I'm interested in. I'd really appreciate the feedback because this has been bouncing around my head for weeks now.

From my experience of friends who study IT, that majoring and getting a degree in IT is extremely important. That particular field they expect you have to be qualified, and have certain knowledge of it.

Now I could be wrong, you could develop experience, get a few certificates, and be able to find a job that doesn't require a diploma/degree. But it is highly recommended.

I feel your struggle man. I'm working two jobs, paying rent, and still struggling to finish school, because I'm paying all of it out of my pocket. Hopefully FAFSA helps me out, otherwise its gonna take me another 2-3 years to finish school.

[D.o.s.]

It depends on why you want to go to school.  If you're looking for a career, then there's a lot to be said by circumventing the debt that higher education inevitably brings on, particularly if you can get a gig you enjoy without it. There's a lot to be said for not having student loan debt piled on top of you.

On the other hand, college is a great place to learn things (gasp), and if you're seriously interested in any kind of academia or postgraduate studies, it's a necessity.

[Moranis]

Ultimately it depends on what you want to do on whether or not you should go to college.  Only you can answer that question.  Also, why go to St. Francis?  Can't you go to a public university which will likely be significantly cheaper and probably won't have much difference in quality of education (in fact often times the public schools give you a better quality because they usually get a lot more grant and research money and have a lot more graduate programs). 

EDIT: If you really want to do IT, then go get an associates at a community college, get a job in the IT field, and then gauge whether you need to get a bachelor's or further.

[apc]

It is worth it.
Try to avoid technical schools who cost tone of money, you can do fine with more affordable colleges as long as you get the right degree (computer science or engineering).
also, take advantage of community college for general education classes.

[freshinthehouse]

APC brings up a good point with community college.  If you are not certain what you want to do yet still want to go to school, a community college is a lot cheaper option where you can get most of your common intro classes taken care of.

Also, if you can find a trade you are interested in, tech school is a very good option as well.

[acieEarl]

I say no. Your better off using that 4 years to get real experience. It helps to know what you want to do. You going to have to start at the bottom, but can work your way up, with out the financial burden. Might be tough to get your foot in the door but once you do, figure out what you need to know and just learn that.

I can say this as I work in IT for the Ivy school in Cambridge, MA. Half of the guys I work with don't have any degrees, some certifications. I have a Masters degree in CIS from BU and it hasn't exactly helped me, though I'm happy to have it as it won't expire like certifications do.

[SCeltic34]

I'd agree with dropping the Communications major.  A good buddy of mine has a double bachelors in Communications and Journalism.  Out of college, he worked at a newspaper company and was making less than 30k a year.  His new job pays him only about 40k per year, which isn't really enough to be financially stable based on where he lives (Hawaii).

I don't know much about IT, so can't help you there.  But I definitely agree with the community college route if you do choose to continue pursuing a degree.  I took this route and it saved me a ton of money.  Avoid those over-priced private schools.  Having a degree from an expensive school really just is not worth it.

[Roy H.]

APC brings up a good point with community college.  If you are not certain what you want to do yet still want to go to school, a community college is a lot cheaper option where you can get most of your common intro classes taken care of.

Also, if you can find a trade you are interested in, tech school is a very good option as well.

I agree.  The classic college / university isn't for everyone.  Some of my happiest friends have gone to community college and/or have taken certification courses. 

If you don't know what you want to do, college is a massive waste of time and money.

[KeepRondo]

You are correct that there are certifications that can land you an intro IT job. If you get your a+, net+ and some Microsoft certifications with it, you should be able to land an IT help desk or desktop support job. You probably would be looking at around 50 to 65 for these jobs at a decent employer. And that is probably after you have been there a few years. If you want something more then this, such as network administrator or higher, then you will need more then the Microsoft certifications or Cisco certifications or whatever area you are looking into. They typically want someone with a degree.

I have seen plenty of people at my company move up in the IT area without degrees so if you can get an intro job and then get additional certificates, it will help you. But I wouldn't set any expectations of getting a non intro IT job without a degree and no work experience yet within the company.

Another thing is, most guys that get intro IT jobs without degrees are usually very into computers because they either game a lot or have been building and fixing them(spyware/virus) for sometime. Obviously this only applies to you if you are looking for an intro job. But if you haven't really worked on computers, I'm not sure how well you will do when trying to get the certifications.

[TheTruthFot18]

I say no. Your better off using that 4 years to get real experience. It helps to know what you want to do. You going to have to start at the bottom, but can work your way up, with out the financial burden. Might be tough to get your foot in the door but once you do, figure out what you need to know and just learn that.

I can say this as I work in IT for the Ivy school in Cambridge, MA. Half of the guys I work with don't have any degrees, some certifications. I have a Masters degree in CIS from BU and it hasn't exactly helped me, though I'm happy to have it as it won't expire like certifications do.

As someone who has a sizable amount of debt and works with people who don't have a degree, the short term gains are minimal unless you either went to Harvard/Yale or got a 4.0 at an above average school. I went to a good business school but my GPA was average.

That being said, when I look around me the people without degrees who are my age have been here for YEARS already and their outlook is bleak IMO. The older people have worked in this department their whole lives (50-60 y/os). Even a degree from UMASS probably could have helped these people out.

Do you really want to be doing a job when your 60 that a 22 year old graduate could do while your boss is 20 years younger than you and your retirement doesn't exist so you'll likely have to work until 70-75.

My parents didn't have the same opportunities or scholarships I had and only went to average schools but they completed Undergraduate, Graduate, and PhD (teaching/education) and they flew past their co-workers not just in promotions but pay and respect.

Unless you think you're the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs you might need a degree. You don't have to go to Harvard or be in debt for life if you make the right choices, network, and stick to your plan.

[TheTruthFot18]

I realized after my post not all fields require a degree to move up. I just read the posts about IT.

However I work in business (accounting and finance) and my wife is a medical researcher with a undergrad and grad degree. I'm working on my masters but its a bonus not a requirement unless I want to be a high up manager. My wife is considered below others in her field simply because she doesn't have a PhD despite her flawless school records and job history. It just depends on the field so I can only really speak for those too.

Best bang for your buck:

[CelticD]

I like all the feedback I'm getting. To answer some of the questions, the reason why I chose St. Francis was because I was under the assumption that a smaller, more expensive college would be much more beneficial to me. I figured I would get more personal help, and be able to make connections and build relationships with my professors easier than if I went to a public college. It turns out, that so far the only personal help I need from teachers are for tutoring in classes that I have no interest in and only attend because I have to.

Transferring to a cheaper community college sounds like sounds reasonable, although acieEarl echoes a lot of things I've heard from my own co-workers. I have a little less than a month less in the semester. Man this summer is going to be busy.

[CapnDunks]

I'm a huge advocate of taking a year off to work. How can you possibly know what it is you need to get from a college education if you haven't experienced life out of an academic environment? I think that having the right knowledge and motivation makes a much larger difference than which school you choose. Also, it's the way to be the most certain that you're going the right route by enrolling. A degree is definitely worth it for some people, and is an expensive waste of time for others.

[manl_lui]

I'm a 19 year old sophomore currently enrolled in St. Francis College NY, and I wanted to know if staying all four years, amassing large amounts of debt, and getting a college degree is truly worth it. For one, I'm majoring in "Communications" which I'm beginning to see is a useless major (no offense to anyone that has that major too). I'm also minoring in sports management but have yet to even take a class in that subject because I'm registering late due to financial issues. There are a plethora of "core classes", and "electives" that I must pay for and take in order to graduate, but if I continue to take these classes, I would've takn more classes outside my major and minor than inside.

Don't even get me started on textbooks. Not only are the prices outrageous, but teachers make it mandatory to purchase it, and even penalize you for not bringing the textbook to class. If the textbook is created by a teacher in the school, once you purchase it, you're not allowed to return it because a new edition would have been made before the semester even ends. And the difference between the editions are so miniscule it should be a crime to call it "new".

I'm not against school, or education, just "college". I'd rather go to a trade school, or be a non-matriculated student.

I work at Family Dollar, as an Assistant Store Manager and have a part-time job as IT Mover (all I do is move office equipment such as phones and computers.) I'd very much like to ditch Communcations and focus on IT but the people that I work with often tell me that you don't necessarily need an IT degree. Taking specific classes and earning IT licenses, are good enough to get a career going.

I was wondering if I should try to continue going through college, or try a different approach by learning a trade, and attending schools that specialize in the things I'm interested in. I'd really appreciate the feedback because this has been bouncing around my head for weeks now.

From my experience of friends who study IT, that majoring and getting a degree in IT is extremely important. That particular field they expect you have to be qualified, and have certain knowledge of it.

Now I could be wrong, you could develop experience, get a few certificates, and be able to find a job that doesn't require a diploma/degree. But it is highly recommended.

I feel your struggle man. I'm working two jobs, paying rent, and still struggling to finish school, because I'm paying all of it out of my pocket. Hopefully FAFSA helps me out, otherwise its gonna take me another 2-3 years to finish school.

I agree, for me, I went from Computer Engineering to IT Management. It was hard finding jobs after college, bounced around a bit from contract job to contract job before I landed my current job. I was told that in our field, our degree is not as important as you may think because most of our day to day are not taught in school. However, having a degree will help you more than not, as it tells people that you are capable of learning. I think my certificates post-college are more beneficial to me. Some companies may want it, some may not. I know for sure that I don't need a masters (I was debating on whether or not to go back for a masters).

I personally went to a cheap university so I had little debt coming out. In my honest opinion, if the college is expensive, it better have the resources to make you successful, like helping you find internships during summers or during the school year, great connections for referrals, and of course great academics. Otherwise, paying 30+ grand a year is pointless.