Yes, but as a necessity - not because I expect them to learn much of value. And I have done my due diligence to teach them real economics and critical thinking skills before they ever get there so they can ignore all the ideological nonsense from the left-leaning, ivory tower elitists.

IT is one area in which apprenticeships are WAY more valuable than a university education. Technology changes to quickly for the current university cycle which means that someone has to become an expert (professor), then write a book, have the book approved by peers, publish the book, and then begin teaching from it. That's an entire life cycle in software development: by the time you get all that done things have moved on!

another form of inflation.

I would welcome a system that encouraged more apprenticeships - especially in IT. It used to be up to WW II that college was for a very few specialized professions: doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. Those professions depended on a tremendous amount of aggregated knowledge before one could actually start out in the profession. Everyone else became an apprentice and gained their specialized knowledge while on the job and under the supervision of a Journeyman or Master. Then schools became big business and managed to market their basic Baccalaureate degrees as necessary for even a low-level place in today's business world. Now, if you don't have a four-year degree, it's pretty tough to get a job. The real problem, however, is that these four-year-degrees don't really provide much value. Universities argue that they turn out more "rounded" citizens, etc. all while using that as an excuse for indoctrination.

PS - I learned how to weld in shop class in high school. Haven't had a chance to do it since. :(

If the kid wants to study basket weaving, NO. If the kid wants to study STEM, YES.

I have a high school diploma and a few completed college courses. I have 4 years in the United States Navy with an honorable discharge. I have many years experience in diverse occupations like banking (4), mortgage loan servicing research (5), design and sales of shipping cases (8) with expert customer service underlying each occupation. Yet, I am barred from most related positions that would complement my experiences because I do not have a 4 year degree. I am and have been relegated to accepting wages no more than twice to 2.5 times the minimum, state-mandated wages plus benefits. I am not a liar and I will not apply for any job that states a degree is required. I would say, YES, a degree is MANDATORY if you wish to be able to achieve a position and salary that is above the average.

College at the right school, which means a school where you actually are taught something about the world instead of being indoctrinated by the professor about how the world isn’t, would be good.

BUT, then to go into a profession which requires a license is to put all that education on the line at the whim of the political leaders of the profession. If anyone believes licensing is for the benefit of the consumer, that myth should be explored. Under the rock of “protection” is not only protecting the profession, but of the leaders of the profession protecting themselves from others in the profession. Indeed, it is the old guild writ large.

I would definitely tell them not to go. I graduated 30 years ago with a business degree and feel that I would have been better off putting that money in an investment account. I have a family retail business and practical experience has been more important in my opinion. I also believe in the old adage "those who can do---those who can't teach". I was amazed at the poor quality of my professors then and I am quite certain it has only gotten worse.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sure this will not be the only time or subject that the teacher (assuming public school) is and will be wrong. In my short experience with public school teachers in the last several years, I am yet to find one who is literate, knowledgeable and capable.

Are you planning to upgrade from rubber bracelets to Rearden metal once he succeeds? ;)

You know, In the UK they have tons of apprenticships! And I'm actually surprised I never really saw or known I could have had such an opportunity in the USA. I think I would have jumped at that sort of chance. I love hands on learning. There are quite a few in the UK, especially for kids just finishing school, and not sure if they want to go to University. And I never frowned at my friends that went to VoTec! I thought it was great! :) I still want to learn to weld!

I would say depends on what they wanted to be. Honestly, I don't like the debt I have from my degrees, but I think they've helped in a small way, at least getting my foot more in the door than I would have without. I originally wanted to be a doctor or nurse. I think I've gotten more job interviews because of my degrees, plus experience. And I've been told prior to finishing my bachelors that I wasn't being considered because I didn't have the degree.

Oddly, I decided I'd get a Bachelors in something else, since I got beat out of a spot in Nursing school by someone with a degree already!" (don't ask... that's just what I was told. Basically it was a point system, and that gave them more points than me). So I have a degree in computers instead of Nursing! haha. I do miss nursing and medical stuff. But I do like playing with my routers and switches and servers! :D But I have a friend who is a very successful programmer, with no degree. So, honestly, depends on what they want to be.

I will say my education isn't worth the amount of debt I have with my degrees (I Have a bachelors and masters). Masters I only did out of boredom and unemployment. Hoping that saying I was at least in school would look better than saying I'm sitting on my ass looking for work. And I also think having my degrees made me more appealing when applying for my visa into the UK. Basically saying, I won't be a drain on their society! Only my husband! hahaha.

One of my nephews has a wife with a college degree that has not worked out for her. She has moved to Seattle temporarily to take a 6-month training course in software development so she can get a good-paying job.

Colleges aren't for higher education anymore. They have mostly turned into indoctrination centers and laboratories for sociological experiments (with the students as the guinea pigs). People that have marketable skills working with their hands can make a lot more money at their trades than college grads with sociology degrees can with their diplomas.

Yes.

Just last week I ordered something for my son. He gets lackadaisical with his homework. So, I had several rubber bracelets made for him (since he'll lose them) that say, "Do your homework. Go to college."

One of the issues is that it has gotten very tough for a person to get a good education through 12th grade. That wasn't the case 30 years ago. That's just my opinion, of course. College was key for me and I attended a very good high school.

As a university professor, perhaps I am a bit biased. My older daughter is an acorn who did not fall far from the tree. In her field, university is in her self-interest and the best way to achieve her objectives. My younger daughter, on the other hand, is struggling a bit in a year that is both high school and community college. I wonder whether college is correct for her. As of yet, she hasn't narrowed her focus sufficiently to choose a major. Consequently, I do not think she is ready for university yet, if ever. She is doing quite well as a restaurant hostess and likely will soon manage and later own a restaurant, I think, but she doesn't yet realize it.

I actually wanted to be a technical writer as well (hence the concentration in technical communication). However, when I finished my bachelors everyone wanted a masters.

I think college is fine, but it's not nearly as critical as it's promoted to be. Our 7 y/o's teacher told his class that you have to get good grades to get into a good college so you can get a good job. It was the first time we've had to tell him his teacher is flat wrong about something. We asked him not to challenge his teacher needlessly on this point, but it is not correct.

Yes.

I think the answer is, Yes.
Over and above anything else gained from University, degrees are door openers for future opportunities. The next, and maybe more important, one is at least exposure to 'learning how to learn', some degree of logical thought, and the self discipline needed to make it to class and get a passing grade without the strict regulation of high school.
Some would argue, and rightly so, that the child should have been shown much of that by one's parents; but it doesn't always 'stick' from a parent and often needs someway to be emphasized.
But within all of that is the opportunities offered by community and 2 yr colleges, or regional state university extensions, before moving on to a full blown university setting. Regardless of one's goals-professional, craftsman, salesman, etc., etc., there are certain basics that are necessary to progress that just are no longer taught in high-school.

The degree matters less and less in accordance with the time since you received it. But what you learn, if in a good education, remains the basis of everything else you gain through experience and continued learning. It's best to get that basis early when you can absorb and retain large amounts of information, but only if it is from teachers who can be trusted not to be comprachicos. Even with a good education in how to think, undoing early damage and correcting it can be difficult and time consuming, and even the best education today is riddled with undermining flaws, often only implicit. The basic question is often not whether to go to college, but what kind and which one for your purposes and potential purposes.

First I would make sure they were home schooled including how to see through propaganda dust storm. I wouldn't send any unprepared young person to college to be brainwashed without the ability to recognize and reject the rubbish. I didn't have that, and I would have had a great benefit in college if I had. I think the conditioning young people receive has much to do with how poorly they acknowledge/recognize the costs and benefits of liberty and free markets today.
I agree with your comments on the economic value of college today being very different from the past. My cost for a 4 year degree from Ga Tech (with a local taxpayer discount) was about $1,800 for tuition and about $900 for books (all in ~1975 USD.) According to government inflation (which I think is understated) those costs should be about 4.6 times higher in 2016, or a 4 year degree from Ga Tech would cost about $12,500 including books. Per Ga Tech a 4 year degree without cost of books at 2015 rates is about $45,600. Obviously cost of higher education has inflated much more than government figures.

I didn't work in my specific field of study except for during my college years and the 5 years after graduation although my knowledge from the study in college was invaluable. That said, I had learned in high school virtually everything that I had to "study" in the first 2 years of college. I learned more in my day job which was in my field of study. Today college is a near total waste of time and an extravagant waste of financial resources for at least 90% of those who attend, imo.
I think this Gulch could offer much better education.
(With apologies to Gulchers who teach college and are the exception.)

I think it depends a lot on what your child wants to do when they "grow up" as it were.

Practically speaking, obviously, if they think they even might want to do something like practice law, then yes, I would encourage them, because seven years of school is a long time, and you don't want to be trying to do that in your 40s (take it from me).

Now, that said, as you point out, a LOT of careers require next to no formal higher education in order to get it done. I've had something of a decent career in UNIX system administration / infrastructure design for 20 years now, and other than being kicked out of college at the start of it ("0.0 ... Fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son" was in fact ME), I had no college background.

Along the way, though, as I developed an interest in politics (and more specifically political thought) I decided that I wanted a more formal education specifically in that area, to get a better more thorough "primer" as it were, and so I majored in Political Science at a mid-price liberal-arts college (the one who had kicked me out 20 years earlier, mostly because a part of me wanted to prove to myself that I was better than that earlier version of me). And while I've definitely noticed that the majority of my PoliSci profs have a "left-leaning bent", I will also say that classes tended to be a better blend than one might expect (maybe 60/35/5 left/right/other mix), and my professors at any rate were much better than I expected at welcoming all viewpoints (even when I did a final paper confirming that the Sons of Liberty were terrorists, or that democracy is inherently anti-freedom).

Lastly, one consideration to think about is what a future employer might want. I know a number of folks in my field who don't need degrees, but where the employers they want to work at that are solving the problems they want to solve are requiring them (Google is the textbook case-study in this). Sometimes having the piece of paper is enough to check a box somewhere to get someone an opportunity they might not otherwise have.