Is a college education worth it?
Posted by Zach055 11 years, 7 months ago to The Gulch: General
I'm currently in college and it's being paid for by my parents. I get good grades, and am going for a degree in Business Management. My question is, would a degree be worth the money, or would that money be better spent on investments. I invested some money in Google last month, and it went up a lot. Had my parents invested the money that they were saving for my education in Google, we would be rich. I also invested in a few other stocks which also made me some money, but I only have a little money to invest. If my parents would just give me the money which they are spending on my education, I could make some good investments and make a decent amount of money. So, which is a better investment, the stock market or a college education? (This is all hypothetical, except the part about my investing in Google, and my parents will only pay the money directly to the college so I couldn't get the cash if I wanted to.)
O.A.
It all depends on you. Learn everything you can, take advantage of every opportunity to educate yourself.
That being said, do not go into debt to do it. The knowledge is what is most valuable, the degree is a nice to have.
I have worked in technical field for 11 years and did consulting work. I moved into management 15 years ago and have done well in both fields. I do not have the degree but have spend thousands of hours and thousands of dollars on books, seminar courses and some college courses.
You will start your job at the bottom, but if you focus on educating your mind the education your parents are offering you is priceless. If you focus on getting the degree (do get it) and do not really learn to think critically, creatively and well reasoned logical approach to the world it will have little value.
So in short, keep going to school, learn as much as you can.
Also If you can work part time in a job which is related to your field of study while attending school I recommend that. Not as much for the money as for the experience. The real world experience coupled with classroom learning will do more for you by 10 fold than the classroom experience alone.
It is worth it if you pay for it as you go, its not worth going into debt and making yourself a slave for years to get.