Without College Everyone Would Be an Idiot, Right?

I’d like to quote this whole article from Yahoo News, and so I highly recommend you read it, but I especially like this passage, which considers how people might acquire knowledge in a world without the presumption that everyone should go to college. Why, wouldn’t we all be ignorant? (Quite unlike the situation that prevails today, of course.)

In young adulthood, you’d make friends, acquaintances and misspent-youth memories in the workplace, online and in service to community, cause and country. That’s where you’d also acquire polish, a work ethic and a conscience.

You’d bring glory or ignominy to your family the old-fashioned way: through your contributions to society and your interactions with your fellows. The glory/ignominy die would not be cast when you were 17, by a letter of admission or rejection. Imagine.

You’d read, do problem sets and hear lectures as needed or desired—in reading groups, at workshops, on the road, at community programs, at corporate programs, at museums and libraries and above all on the Internet. You’d study not to get a credential; you’d study to improve your mind or acquire a skill, the same reason you go to karate, yoga or mandolin class.

If you happened to be the rare type who loves nothing more than to study liberal arts—if you were scholarly and somewhat monastic by nature—you might raise the money and enroll in an affordable college with some like-minded students and a good library.

Read “How to Burst the College Bubble.”

http://twitter.com/ptero9 Ptero

Except for the last paragraph, you just wrote my bio Tom. But, being somewhat monastic by nature, it just so happens that I am happily employed at a Monastery. No regrets here for dismissing the need for a college education and especially the bill that comes with it.
Anonymous

Do you think we’ll bail out the administrations and endowments when the college bubble pops? I’m not even sure if I’m being sarcastic or not.
Anonymous

She mentions the “tulip bubble”?
Busted!! Must be a closet Austrian!
Ray Holloway

Thanks for linking to this, Tom. What a great article. Unfortunately, the comments are full of boobs who think college is a rite of passage and all that jazz.

Here’s an interesting debate from last year over whether too many kids go to college.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VTQ-dBYSlQ
The former CEO of Paypal, Peter Thiel and Charles Murray, the author of _The Bell Curve_ , agree that college isn’t necessary for most kids. Their opponents huff and puff, but make nary a single good point in defense of the current state of higher education.
Chris Barcelo

Thanks Tom, this was great!
Shayne

It is almost exciting to have something like this on Yahoo news with almost 2000 comments. However I read some of the comments and I don’t think they understand the article at all as if it was written in a foreign language to them.
Anonymous

Uh, My earlier comment disappeared. Are you mad at me, Tom? It was a totally innocuous comment…
http://www.TomWoods.com Tom Woods

What comment? I haven’t deleted anything.
Anonymous

Yow!!
Sorry. I seem to stick my foot in my (virtual) mouth all the time.
I DID post a comment on the article to the effect that since the reporter even MENTIONED the tulip bubble, she must be a closet Austrian.
I SWEAR it confirmed as posted, but then disappeared.
Regards to Doug French!
Anonymous

Who’s going to dig willie’s ditch……………………the leprechaun bill o’reilly……?
http://twitter.com/ptero9 Ptero

My comment disappeared too. Must be glitch Just wanted to say that I certainly have benefited from choosing not to go to college. Saved a bunch of money, had 30 year career in printing. Work is for money, life is for learning. Honoring my monastic tendencies, got a job in the Development side of a Monastery managing their donor database. I feel bad for anyone who thinks they need college, unless the goal is a specifically technical field requiring creds. Maybe the days are gone in which you could advance yourself by simply showing up, paying attention and being a good learner with an understanding of your obligation to an employer to do a good job.
Pastor Ko-Rect

Thanks for the great article!

Generally, college is a bad investment for most people.

I started college in the 1960′s and accumulated about two hundred college credits after about ten years. I can say, most of this education could have been accomplished at a much lower cost and I would have done better financially if I had NOT made the investment in time and money.

Based on my experience, I would recommend a technical school for most people, as long as there is a good reason to believe that it would result in a job. After starting the job, I would suggest attending a community college part time with electives that you believe will help you with your current or desired career, as long as there is a good reason to believe that the community college would have value.

So far, you would have spent a small fraction of the cost of a dorm based, high priced college. And you may have already paid it off from the proceeds of a part time or full time job.

At that point, you would have some education experience and job experience. You would have a better chance of making the right choice in how to invest future education money. And it might be possible to continue your education online, which is much less expensive than traveling back and forth to a brick and mortar classroom. Of course, it is not always possible to replace some lab based classes online or with self education. But it is possible acquire most of your learning away from over priced college courses.

Although I’ve spent a ton of time and money in brick and mortar locations, I’ve gotten the highest return on investment from online courses, blogs, and research. And I never had to borrow money to pay it off.
Anonymous

I’ve seen it happen here a couple of times recently too, so you aren’t losing your mind. It’s probably a software or isp glitch. It’s always a good idea to compose a post offline, so you don’t lose it when this sort of thing happens.
Anonymous

Thanks, Martin! I feel better.