Do You Feel It's Important to Go to College to Secure a Good, Well-Paying Job?

I went to college and my husband did not. He makes 3x as much as me working in a comfy office in the a/c all day.

Hard to decide, because my oldest son got his GED and then went on to work in the medical device field, making $20/hour without any college at all (this was 7 years ago). He even wrote some computer programs that the company used.
No telling what he would be making now, but he was killed by a drunk driver on his way to work in 2005.

Aww I'm so sorry

Not for flippin burgers.

The question said good, well paying job

Wait and see what the world will look like with guys like Mitt running it, flippin a burger might be a prime choice job in these parts.

Lol!

but be prepared to have to do physical work...or work strange hours...
and there is ...the problem with america......very few want to do Physical work anymore....

But I will say the odds of getting a better paying job...is better ..with a degree....

Sad part is.. many Universities have very liberal professors..who are filling our kids full of progressive crap.....Because the teachers have never done anything except therorize
on how things work in the world.... with no Practical expertise....

yes, if not all, for most. college teaches a lot more than book lernin', it teaches the young adult how to function in the real world.

But it's not necessary to go to an Ivy League school. If you're smart you'll do well even if attending, god forbid!, a state school.

It *shouldn't* be needed.

I believe it is unless you can make decent money in a family business or get the rate $50,000 high school education job.

Yes often degrees are required for jobs that truly don't need them it is just that the employer demands the degree as a status symbol because they think they are hiring a smart person.

A skilled trade. Often pays better

i so agree with you

A college degree is very oversold. And just like any other product, when too many people have one; it starts to lose its value.

I am a college dropout with a good, well-paying job. Question answered.

Too many people feel that everyone needs to go to college. While I served in the military as an enlisted person I saw to many "occifers" that were officers just because they had a piece of paper that gave them a pedigree. Experience will never come from books and liberal professors, it must be earned and learned. You get more knowledge by marrying the two together.

yes if you started one 10-20 years ago, but there is very few and far between good jobs for people without an education anymore. The manual labor market is shrunk to a fraction of it's size and the sales, reps, etc market competition for that job increased so dramatically what may not have required education now does because they can demand it.

Nowadays yes.

once upon a time a HS diploma was good enough but college was better.
now a days, you can't really get anywhere without a college degree... and even then it's a tough market out there.
it's a difficult decision to make when it comes to starting your life... college or not... living w/ the parents or not... living on campus or not... working PT and school PT or working FT and school PT or working PT and school FT.
finding the right path is all about what's right for YOU... but i will say that other than the student loans to pay back at the end... college is the way to go.
even if you haven't declared a major yet... you eventually will find something you're at least interested in or something you're good at while attending college (or trade school).
education is always a good thing!!!

Again, we are given the illusion of choice. But it's good to go to college if you're totally focused on your major and not other petty and void things that will distract you. Plus if you're willing to invest.

I wish there was an "Undecided" choice. I have a college degree, and when I graduated a college education was important. However, the last few years have been rough for me and many of the latest college grads, so with the expense and time spent, I'm not so sure whether a college education is worth it right now.

Not everyone is cut out for college.

Many skilled jobs need new workers and can be quite lucrative... learn a trade.

Unless you are smart with where you go to school and how much money you'll spend, you'll be saddled with debt that I doubt you'll be able to repay. The R.O.I. is dwindling at best.

What's your definition of a well-paying job? Now don't get me wrong, you want to earn better than minimum wage, but I think we also need to learn how to live with less, and definitely live within our means... have a chat with your grandparents or great-grandparents (if they're still around)... you might learn a thing or two.

well said!!!

I didn't go to College barley made it through High School. Enlisted in the Marine Cop for 4 years learned some very good stuff. I am a self employed Sales Rep and have been for over 20 years and make a Very good living in the Hydraulics industry. And to top it all off I have my freedom to do with my time as I please. I also have abrother that never went to College is also self employed as a Sale Rep and knocks out over 125 thou a year. I have another that makes 90 + a year selling cars with no Degree.
NOBAMA 2012

you can thank the tax payers for your way of living, you ungrateful waste-of-space.


and I bet your getting checks from the VA office, arent you?


you're nothing but a waste of tax dollars.




OBAMA 2012

Necessary.

To secure a good job you need to #1) Have work experience. The college degree is nice but most companies are looking for someone proven first and foremost and having a college degree is just icing on top of the cake. #2) Living a good clean life. Many of the good jobs want someone who can pass a drug test and doesn't have a criminal record and that's becoming harder to find. #3) Worth ethic, drive, and willingness to work from the bottom. #4) Who you know. Some jobs are hard to get unless you know someone who works there who can give you a reference. #5) College education. Suprise, suprise this is dead last. If you don't have experience than you're less likely to even have a shot at getting the good jobs. If you have a criminal record and/or are on drugs you've all but ruined your shot at even getting an interview for a good job. If your work ethic sucks and you aren't willing to work you will have a hard time keeping ANY sort of job. If you don't know anyone you or have a college degree than you're screwed.

If one does not attend college they are very likely be working at low paying,dead end jobs for the rest of their lives.Why is it that very many foreign students come to the US to go to college,and then stay to get the best jobs because many americans are not attending college.They seem to know what they are doing and the immense need for college to have an advantage in the job market.

Stats to back that claim up?

(Reuters Life!) - Higher education leads to better paying jobs and by 2018 almost two thirds of all occupations in the United States will require a college degree, according to a new study.In 1973, only 28 percent of jobs required a college degree but by 2018 the number is expected to rise to 63 percent, according to the study.

Wait. That says higher education leads to better paying jobs. That's very different than saying not having a higher education leads to a low-paying, dead-end job. One could have a high school diploma only and be making $150K/year and have plenty of opportunity to advance. A person who graduated college could probably make more than that, but that doesn't mean that the high school graduate is at a low-paying, dead-end job. Just that the opportunities and money are typically better with a college degree.

I was overstating my position,one can have a high paying job without a college degree but would think that jobs that require a college education would not be possible for people with only a high school certificate.

I understand now. Thanks. :)

It helps, but you can go straight to the job market save some money and use that to start a company or whatever as an alternative. If you don't count technical colleges or community colleges as colleges, you can also get some secure health jobs from just that education. It kind of depends on your definition of well-paying. Unless you have some family in high places, it could prove hard getting a secure job that pays enough to send your kids to say, U of Illinois instate, without loans, depending on the financial aid without a college education. And exception would be if you are particullarly skilled, such as with computer programming, or have Special Forces training or something like that.

It's not the only or the best way to secure a lucrative job, but it's better than flipping burgers. The most financial bang for the buck, however, is a trad school diploma. That's not to say that college isn't desirable for a host of other reasons, but if you wanna keep food on the table it's not the best of all forms of education. I have both a college degree and a trade school diploma, and the return on my investment in each is .83:1 (dollars earned to dollars spent on education) for college and about 14:1 for the trade school diploma.

the problem is which job

THERE ARE SOME THAT SHOULD, AND SOME THAT SHOULD NOT GO TO COLLEGE... WE NEED SKILLED WORKERS, AND PLUMBER, SHEET METAL WORKERS... COLLEGE IS NOT FOR EVERY ONE...