Posted on 02/19/2009 9:08:08 AM PST by Notoriously Conservative
Is college a scam? When it comes to careers like engineering, law, medicine, etc., of course an education is paramount. But answer me this: would an intense series of exams to test the knowledge of applicants for certification as say, a lawyer, not be just as effective as requiring 6+ years of college credit and passing the bar? They both would effectively measure knowledge of the field, but the aforementioned series of exams would not require the credit hours, and better yet the money to acquire those hours. Why is college credit required? Why can't self study, and proof of the necessary knowledge suffice?
I spent four years attaining my degree in a field that has nothing to do with my current occupation. Was it necessary? Well, yes, in order to get my job. But should it be? Perhaps not, it is not as if I am using any of the skills or knowledge from my degree, in a field that is totally unrelated. I could certainly do without the tens of thousands of dollars in debt my education blessed me with.
I'm not advocating the abolishment of the current higher educational system. I am simply posing the question for further thought; simply as an excersize in questioning the status quo.
So, back to the question, is college a scam? Kathy Kristof of Forbes seems to suggest it is. In this intriguing article, Kristof argues that with student loans with terms worse than what you can get from the mob, and with the overinflated importance of a college degree, higher education can actually mean a financial disaster.
Mindy Babbitt entered Davenport University in her mid-20s to study accounting..
(Excerpt) Read more at notoriouslyconservative.com ...
Yes.
Even if they could, they’d be an absolutely terrible lawyer who couldn’t function in the occupation.
Maybe. But there are plenty of terrible lawyers who went to law school.
Well, now that any idiot can go to college and get a degree, it prevents the idiot from feeling bad about themselves.
However, with IQ tests, not everyone tests the same and there are people who do better than others.
We can’t have that.
Plus certification speaks for itself on the resume. It states you know what you are doing and there’s no need for the employer to test you to make sure you know.
For example, Medical Terminology. You can take a college course and say you know it, but if you pass a certification course it SHOWS you know it. These days what is on the resume counts for more than what you took to get your degree.
“Colleges are credential mills. “
That’s correct.
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