How others think of college degrees...

It shouldn't be "if you can afford it." It should be "if you need it" - and if you do, work on the affordability. The primary consideration should be "how much do you really NEED one?" That depends on what you want to do. For some occupations (and many employers - by NO means all) it's indispensable. Others - yeah - the Trifecta, or its sister race, the Daily Double - just the certs and experience. Those two will net you up to $100K plus, if your desired career is, say, welding. (and it's possible to go as high as a Doctorate, in welding -- if you really want to.

A degree is required for a lot of jobs. But having one is not a magic passport. You and your skills are the basic passport. Not magic - developed and earned. The degree is another stamp on the passport. Needed for entry to some places - and others, not. It depends on your planned itinerary.

And there are degrees you should consider earning that may not reflect on your occupation -at all.. If your passion is for classical Greek or Roman Literature, or the culture of 18th century France - maybe you would derive personal fulfilment from a degree in your favourite field. And keep your day gig, if it's OK. A job is necessary, for most folks. But life is NOT all about work. Neither should personal education always be. There's more to it.

It's not "one size fits all." A lot of people have believed in that platitude for too long.

 

Community colleges have this figured out, having both technical and academic tracks. And doctoral education has this figured out, with both professional and scholarly doctorates, often in the same fields.

 

My bachelor's degree cost me well under $500. My Union PhD cost well over $50k. I consider both to be bargains.

My Leicester doctorate was less than $US20K. My ROI on it has been 0%, yet it too was a bargain.

Depends on how ya look at it.

 

I believe that a four-year college degree is necessary to get a well-paid professional job. I have worked with many people; people with at least a Bachelor's degree tend to have more due diligence and integrity in the working environment than those without. If you do not get into huge debt to earn a college degree, go for it. I have never taken out any public or private loans for college. There many employers provide a free college education for employees, like Starbucks offers free tuition in partnership with Arizona State University's online programs just like Rich said, as long as a degree brings you a good ROI.

 

As long as they don't offer it in lieu of wages, fine. IF you can stand working for Starbucks, that is. They have a history... But yeah - employer assistance is too good to be ignored.

 

I have no argument. But I will say this: a college degree is no guarantee that you will get a well-paid professional job. But neither is anything else a guarantee - with the possible exception of a successful, family-owned business. (Your family.)

 

I wasn't kidding, but this Ohio State program was the only US one I could find, in a quick search.
https://gpadmissions.osu.edu/programs/program.aspx?prog=0198

 

The father-son research dynasty of Yevhen and Borys Paton of Ukraine specialized in electric welding. The younger Paton was the head of National Academy of Sciences since early 90ies to his death in 2020. My Alma Mater has the Department of Welding, and the huge Paton Institute of Welding has PhD and DSc-granting councils.

 

At a less-stratospheric academic level, my son teaches welding at high school. He also owns an arc welding machine, something he'd wanted for a long time.

He enjoys using it. No mishaps or injuries, but I think he may have fainted once or twice, when the monthly electric bill came.