Question: I’m pretty sure you do not have kids, but I thought maybe your readers could help me. My teenager daughter is dreading going to college. She was not the best student in high school (like me) and does not want a professional, “cubicle” job. She wants to open her own fashion boutique or join the Peace Corps or something like that. She does NOT want to go to college. But I am still of that school of thought that a college degree is worth something, even if you don’t work in that field, you can use it to “fall back on” later. Am I just being old-fashioned?
Answer: Well, I can answer at least one of your inquiries: No, I don’t have kids. But — you’re in luck — I do teach at a community college, so I know a little something about the college atmosphere and what students go through, to a certain extent.
Honestly, I think if you ask college students — and I just might today! — even they don’t know why they’re there. Some of them know they need a degree in a particular field to get the job they think they want. But a lot of students — at least the ones who sit in my journalism classes — aren’t really sure what they want to do with the rest of their life — and they don’t really want to think about it.
College isn’t what is used to be — a place where people study hard to earn degrees to get jobs. Nowadays, campuses are places where students interact, network, date, meet and, when they feel like it, attend classes and graduate.
A recent report by two economists at the University of California found that over the past four decades the time college students spend in class and studying has decreased substantially, from 40 hours a week in 1961 to 27 hours a week in 2003. And another study found that colleges are spending less on instruction and more on recreation and student services.
Why?
Well, it’s partially our fault.
The best-paying jobs aren’t often the ones that require college degrees. And master’s degrees — let’s face it — are as commonplace as folks with realtor licenses in the ’90s. I don’t get paid more because I have a master’s degree. But I’m paying off a hefty student loan for it. So why bother?
On the other hand, I’ve never subscribed to the belief that everyone needs or should go to college. Some people just aren’t cut out for it. And some just don’t need it. I don’t want my mechanic to have a master’s degree in American studies; I’d like him to be bad-ass at fixing my car.
What students these days care more about is finding a job they actually like — and that’s our fault, too. They’ve heard us — parents, older siblings, bosses — complain about everything from 10-hour workdays to annoying workers — and hating every minute of it. So now they want what we should have wanted, too: a job they don’t mind going to, a career that’s fueled by passion than paycheck.
So if your daughter is really serious about opening her own boutique — I mean, really serious, not just living out some “The Hills” fantasy — then let her do it. A college degree might be worthwhile — but frame it like this: she could learn a lot of finance, accounting, marketing and social media, not to mention make connections that could help her later in life.
What say the rest of you?
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15 Comments
Dr. Dish: Sound advice and good commentary. You are correct about college being a place to live out your idealism. I did not declare my major until my senior year…I was having too much fun, then really had to crack down on the studies when the fun caught up with the grades. My college experience shaped my life although I do not hang out with any of my college mates. I wouldn’t mind going back because I now know how valuable the experience and knowledge is…even though it is too late for me to use it in a job sense.
Aren’t there two types of undergraduate degrees? There’s an Associates which is normally a two year degree and then a Bachelor’s which is normally a four year degree.
As for your reader’s daughter, possibly a Community College environment might suit her instead of the bigger 4 year college campus. In order to run a business you’ll definitely need an Accounting, Finance, and maybe an Entreprenurial background.
College is proably someplace that will shape you, meaning that if you wanted to be trade or field but when you start taking classes in your major and you find out it’s either boring or you’re not cut out for it then it’s easy to look at something else.
As for study time decreasing, REALLY?! 40 hours a week studying is probably a requirement in the technical majors along with allocating time in the lab(s) and working on your Senior Project(s).
@harrycovair i agree. a CC is a good way to go. coupled with a job in the area of interest it is a valuable way to approach both higher education and finding your vocation.
Cat’s right: “college isn’t what it use to be.” as more people went to four year schools the value of a four year degree decreased. it’s inflation, just like currency. and to be real. over the years colleges have become more oriented to seeing the student as a ‘customer’. and academic standards have been lowered to increase market share as schools compete.
i have long advocated an educational system for the US that combines classroom and real world work requirements from high school on.
it’s no secret that we have a serious educational crisis in this country. high schools now use prison language routinely; locker checks are like tossing a cell, looking for contraband. schools are ‘on lockdown’ weapons, bullying, assults on teachers, who often feel like outnumbered prison guards.
and one other thing while i’m up here on my soapbox: from middle school to highschool, the sexes should be separated. the classroom cannot compete for attention against raging, newly minted hormones. there’s plenty of time for socialization and sexual activity outside school. our entire culture is built around it.
if she doesn’t want to go to college, honor that. let her make her own decisions. chances are, she’ll make the right ones for her.
I agree that not everyone should go to college. Some people just don’t fare well because they are not suited to a college environment. I am a student advisor at a university on the mainland so I speak from experience. However, the daughter should know that a bachelor’s degree is required for the Peace Corps.
the girl should know the reality of “owning a fashion boutique” or “joining the Peace Corps” (as Taina26 pointed out). Does she think owning a store is only sitting in there, looking at new clothes and chit-chatting with customers? maybe have her talk to small business owners to see what the reality is. have her get a part time job in a similar store to see, first hand, the ups and downs of running a business.
while traditional english, math and chemistry might be what this girl is dreading, I’m not sure that she realizes the wide range of classes and programs available in colleges. maybe suggest an AA in Fashion/design with business classes added in.
@matti2d This should be the first thing she does, and it should happen before she graduates from high school. Besides getting good experience, it’ll let her see the reality of being a business owner. It’s not all flowers and butterflies!
Hind sight is 20/20. That’s what parents are for… kids should be smart enough to use “their” hind sight.
I’ve known more than a few people who go to college in their late-20s/30s etc. because they put it off earlier. Boy, do they wish they had made different life decisions out of high school.
The only thing I would support for a child of mine would be if they want to travel for the first year out of high school to broaden their perspective. Sitting around playing video games, or working a menial job in lieu of college is a poor choice.
40 hours a week was a light week in college. We SLEPT and LIVED in our studios. By the fourth and fifth year in architecture school, we were placed in a converted dorm where there were two to a room. These were our classrooms. In addition to our drafting tables, we all had futons or pullout couches for sleeping. There were also community showers too… we had a system for guys not walking in on girls in the showers that worked too. Only the girls had keys to the shower room. They could lock the door while in there, but the boys just had to flip a sign outside that said “Boy showering” and take our chances, LOL!
Anyway, the hard curriculum was preparing us for the Hell of the first ten years or so in the real world!
Hello Cat,
I can relate to this, I too didn’t like going school and looking back I’m glad that I did.
I’m fortunate that my daughter looked forward to going to collage and graduated and my son, a senior in HS, is looking forward to going to collage as well.
I didn’t want to go to UH after I graduated from Pearl City.
But I’m so glad I did
I had so much fun
And got 4.00 my last 2 years with my business major
I had so much fun, I didn’t want to graduate
UH was the best time of my life so far
So you never know……………
@CodyZamboni I can totally relate. I didn’t care for high school, but I wound up LOVING college. And look at me now, I’m WORKING at one!
I wouldn’t force it, but I would highly recommend that my child continue to seek educational opportunity. It just seems like a basic requirement for most of us these days, even if your goal is non-traditional or self-employed work.
Today, many students enter colleges, especially community colleges and state schools, needing remedial course work in reading, writing and math — which means that many people now go to college just to finish learning the basics! With that said, I fully support pursuing your passions, but I think youngsters need to be extra vigilant to ensure that they possess the basic skills needed to succeed in life — whatever your goals may be. If schools continue to fail students early on, the more we will need to rely on higher education to fill the gaps, even if it no longer earns us the same bang for our buck. Sad, but true, in my opinion.
And even if you’re not in that boat, I’d still encourage it — college can be a great life experience, in addition to a great opportunity to learn and prepare for a career.
i’d say give the boutique/peace corps thing a time limit if she really wants to try. not going to college may seem viable now, but many ppl will change careers several times in the course of their working lives, and options when she’s 40 and w/o a college degree will be very different from if she has a degree. even if it’s not the specific degree she’ll need, it will be easier to go back to school for a master’s than to start at the v beginning for a 4-yr degree at that point. college is a long-term investment, not a short-term decision.
Most kids don’t know what they want to do or become. Yes, college is a great place to figure that out but it can be expensive and it’s a LOT of work. I think too many kids see college as just another four years of school, so if high school sucks, so will college. We know this isn’t necessarily true.
I’m not a parent either, but if I had children I’d strongly encourage them to go to college, reminding them statistics show college graduates (as a whole) earn more money over their lifetimes and that having a college degree can provide more options and opportunites. But if I had a child adamant against college, I wouldn’t force the issue but help look into other vocation choices instead.
Yes, definitely go. You can always drop out when you feel you’ve learned enough, met the right people–like Bill Gates did at Harvard (when he was just a sophomore) to startup Microsoft.