‘Go to school, get good grades, get a good job and live happily ever’, is what they said.
4 years & $40,000 later, Summa Cum Laude bachelor’s degree in hand, I land a job in a call center earning $11.09 an hour.
Fast forward 15 years and my college loan is the very LAST loan, after house, cars & credit cards that we pay off.. (Just last year).
Not one of my customers has ever asked to see my fancy degree.
Not one of my business partners has ever asked whether or not I graduated from college.
The only one who seemed to care was my first employer, who did ask, and then rewarded me with $11.09 an hour for my answer.
So here’s what I tell my kids.
College is great IF it’s necessary for what you want to do in life.
If you’re just going to find yourself, or try new things or figure out what you like and you don’t like – it sure is an expensive way to do that.
I don’t regret getting a degree because it was part of my journey and there were benefits along the way BUT – Just telling kids to go to college because that’s the path to a successful life, in the information age, I think – can be very bad advice.
Should you go to college?
It depends.
Think it through for you.
Is it really necessary for where you want to go and what you want to do in life?
Will, it really increase your earning power enough to work your way out of the massive debt it usually requires?
Robert Kiyosaki taught me that ‘Intelligence is the ability to make finer distinctions.’
Maybe it’s time to apply that advice to what we’re telling our kids about college.