How important is college really?

rosehill

Tue, Mar 04 2014, 8:02 am

chaiz wrote:

When a degree is required or useful, often enough public colleges and universities are good enough while being a more affordable option.

I think this is the strategy we will use with our children.
In the old days, it was worth shelling out extra to go to top tier universities. Not so much for the education, but for the connections you make there. In today's economy, this is less the case, and the potential increased wages do not offset the cost.

With several children, in whose education we've already invested over $150k before they ever set foot in college, public universities will have to. One of my friends is paying less for her daughter in Queens College than for her son in preschool! We'll worry about grad school when we get there.

Peanut2

Tue, Mar 04 2014, 9:50 am

My daughter can do whatever she wants once she graduates from medical school.

I don't think college is a must, and I think there are all sorts of colleges and universities out there. The financial investment is often huge and so must be considered carefully. I wouldn't pay money to attend a mediocre private university, but might pay to attend a not so great public university, which costs less.

A top college is certainly worth the money, IMO, and some of the top ones have taken loans out of their financial aid packages, so that students can graduate debt free. Basically, a degree from Princeton is better than a degree from a state school. Not every private school is Princeton, though.

And when it comes to not going to college I really think not going should never be the default, but rather part of a plan. If a kid wants to become a plumber and not go to college that sounds like a real plan, as long as she actually studies plumbing. That's an education, too, and a mighty useful one. Going to college is so much more difficult later in life that I think that even someone who wants to do something else should strongly consider going, graduating, and keeping that diploma on the wall while working in whatever field they want to pursue now.

Ruchel

Tue, Mar 04 2014, 12:29 pm

Short answer; depends on your goal

Longer answer, I'm all for going to free university even just for the culture and a degree (in a Jewish case, depends of the atmosphere there and I'm anti campus and anti the whole culture developing since a few years around uni, like parties etc).
Paying uni... much less for unless it's the only way to reach your goal. The prices I read here? I don't see how someone with more than 1 can.

OOTforlife

Tue, Mar 04 2014, 1:00 pm

Peanut2 wrote:

And when it comes to not going to college I really think not going should never be the default, but rather part of a plan. If a kid wants to become a plumber and not go to college that sounds like a real plan, as long as she actually studies plumbing.

Well put. It's a popular trend story these days to talk about how college is overrated and not worth as much as it used to be. Which is true. But high school is worth a lot less than it used to be too. A secretarial job can easily require a bachelors these days. And many of the widely talked-up high paying jobs that don't require college are heavily male dominated (like 95+%) and/or impractical for most frum women. OP's friend is probably not realistically going to man a fishing boat in Alaska, mine coal, work on an oil rig, pilot an airplane, or become a long-haul trucker.

chaiz

Tue, Mar 04 2014, 1:07 pm

rosehill wrote:

The data has shown that the connections is only so good at the first entry level job. After that pedigree does not really matter. Also, the name might be worth it, but I wonder if it is all worth it if one is not learning properly. My thoughts are that if an adult is going to a learning institution then the institution is offering something he cannot get on his own, and that is learning. Just because it is an Ivy League does not make the professors better teachers. They may be very involved in the research and be the big name in industry, but does not meant they know how to teach or that they even care. Quality of learning is more important than the name and in many fields public universities do work on the pedagogy of the teachers and you can get a great educational experience there.

luvtocook

Tue, Mar 04 2014, 1:42 pm

It all depends on what u wanna do. If it's because everyone else in ur class is going or because u have nothing else going on it's not gonna help much. If u are good at decorating cookies for example u don't need to go to skool just build up a business on ur own and u can end up making a lot more money then a degree holder