4 Reasons Why College Is (Still) A Lie
When I first wrote this in a column in
the Financial Times in 2005 I got a lot
of hate mail.
People thought I was trying to ruin the
younger generation.
Zero people agreed with me.
There was no discussion.
People simply thought I was stupid (and
maybe I am).
Now I think itís a ìdiscussionî.
Student loan debt is higher than $1.5
trillion.
That means the head start that college
was supposed to give is now a detriment.
But what if itís free or cheap? many
people ask me.
Doesnít matter.
Spend the four years really learning
skills that are useful.
If you want to learn the great liberal
arts alongside those skills there are
MANY online courses you can take for
cheap or free.
The landscape has changed since a
generation ago.
The landscape has changed even since
five years ago.
But stillÖ.most parents want to send
their kids to college.
Have them waste the four years,
and even the money.
Get into debt.
It will pay off, they think,
even though the data is that incomes
for people ages 18-35 have been going
straight down for 25 years.
And kids want to go.
Their friends are going.
So they will go.
Itís hard to get in the middle between
an 18 year old and their 50 best
friends (believe me, Iím trying).
ButÖten years from now it wonít be just
a discussion, it will finally be a
valid choice.
I am sure of this.
The direction of everything points to
this.
Higher debt, declining salaries,
the decreasing importance of
certification, the increased importance
of skills, the alternatives in online
education, and finally,
less corporations requiring the degree.
They all point to one direction:
less college, more skills,
more real learning.
Today I talk about this with my close
friends and one of the best online
internet marketers on the planet.
Ryan Deiss can land in a desert with no
computer and no Internet and still
somehow build a hundred million dollar
online business.
Heís one of the smartest and nicest
guys I know.
We both have kids.
Weíre both worried about education and
weíve done our ìhomeworkî.
The old promise is no longer true.
But thereís a new promiseÖ.
MYTH #1: Youíll figure out what to do
with your life.
Do you know what you want to do with
the rest of your life?
Could you?
I donít.
Not at 49.
Not at 19.
The subject follows me.
I think of it everyday.
I feel like thereís some sort of force
inside me thatís always telling me I
can do more.
It believes in me.
And has zero confidence in meÖall at
the same time.
Thereís only one way to figure out what
to do with your life.
Itís simple.
Just look at today.
Or do less than that.
Just look at this moment.
What sets your heart on fire.
What section of the bookstore would you
be willing to read every book.
What did you LOVE at age 14 and how has
that love aged?
College wonít teach you what you love.
Only experience and trying will teach
you.
ìIf you can afford to send your kids to
college, and they want to go so they
donít have to be encumbered by all this
debt, and they want to be a doctor,
a lawyer, an engineer, an astronaut,
one of these things where you do need a
degree, then great,î Ryan said.
ìBut to go to college because youíre
still trying to figure out who you want
to beÖthatís a terrible place to figure
that out and insanely expensive.î
I offered my daughter ìThe Altucher
Fellowship:î There are just two rules.
1. skip college (or a do a gap year).
Iíll pay her to do whatever she wants
for just a year. 2.
She has to publish a book of essays
(because I think sheís a good writer
with potential).
She said ìno.î
I told Ryan.
He said Iím screwed.
ìThe reality is you were screwed from
the beginning because itís your
daughter, so sheís going to be smart.
All kids are going to rebel at 18.
They canít help but take the opposing
position to their parentsÖJust accept
the fact that youíre screwed.î
MYTH #2: Itís an investment in your
future.
Ryan said, ìI think, as a parent,
youíve got to help your children not
just make good education decisionsÖbut
also help them make good financial
decisions.î
ìItís not a great financial decision
for an 18-year-old,
who really doesnít know what they want
to do when they grow up,
to enter into six-figures worth of debt
on something that may or may not ROI.î
There are other options.
Every job requires skills training.
Even if you have a college degree,
you still need training.
I went to college for computer science.
Then my masters.
And when I got a job,
they didnít know what to do with me.
I wasnít up to date.
I had to go to remedial school.
And itís the same for today.
Look at Facebook.
If you take social media marketing 101
today, by the time you graduate,
everything you learned is outdated.
They just changed the algorithm a few
weeks ago.
And theyíll probably change it again.
If you work at marketing firm with
ongoing projects and real goals to make
real money, youíll have the skill and
knowledge.
Youíll be able to pivot.
And youíll collect a paycheck.
Thatís a viable investment.
MYTH #3: College Degree = Success
ìA college degree is not a prerequisite
to success or happiness in life,î Ryan
said.
And heís right.
Many of the most successful people I
know didnít go to college.
Itís hard to stop believing something
that was told you to all your life.
Thatís why people got upset when Pluto
wasnít a planet anymore.
Beliefs are ideas.
And ideas are the currency of the
future.
So if youíre ideas are based around an
old way of thinking,
your ideas will be that tooÖold.
ìThe promise that was made to
millennialsóthe same one that was made
to me, and probably the same one that
was made to youóìGo to college.
Youíll get a good job,î simply isnít
true anymore.î
If you want to be successful you need
to spend at least 1% of your day doing
what you love.
And then combine that with something
else you love.
And soon youíll be the best and most
successful person at that intersection.
I thought this was going to be a ìthree
mythî post.
But thereís a fourth.
MYTH #4: College teaches the liberal
arts.
Nobody is going to read a book they
donít want to read.
I started reading after I was thrown
out of graduate school.
And I havenít stopped.
I started writing then as well.
And I havenít stopped.
Everything I do now.
Everything Iíve ever succeeded at,
every network Iíve built,
every friend I have,
Iíve gained through the things I
learned after my formal education
stopped.
These are all myths.
But they are the truths that are
pointing us to the future.
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