By the way, before I retired I didn’t practice what I am now preaching.....
Have you every changed your mind on anything in your lifetime?
I recommend Charles Murray's essays. He puts forth some very coherent and powerful ideas about alternatives to higher education. His studies on the matter show that if a person has less than an IQ of 115 their chances of finishing college drop dramatically with each point less than that. For those in the STEM programs the IQ needed for success is even higher.
Maybe, because I am open to new ideas, that professors ( one after the other) have consistently said to me, “You are the best student, I have ever had. I wish all my students were like you!” Yep! As a retired person now attending community college for my own enrichment, this is **consistently** happening again.