College Degree Saturation: An A to Z Challenge Shenanigan

By - April 3, 2013

I hear all the time how the most important thing a young person can do for his or her future is to get a college degree, and I’d be lying if I said the conversation hasn’t come up a time or two at my house with a new baby and all.  And yet, it’s time for me to come out of the college closet regarding my feelings about degrees.  It’s time to let my controversial opinion rip, and deal with the repercussions/angry mobs/bitch slaps that might ensue:  I don’t believe college is that important.

*GASP* “What do you mean, Colby?  College is vital in today’s job market to obtain and retain a good, well-paying job!  It gives job candidates a leg up!  How could you think otherwise?”

And I answer: it’s because everyone and his dog’s aunt’s second cousin twice removed has a college degree.  The thinking that college was more important than practical training, apprenticeships, or any other type of study in the field of one’s choice has lead the country to place college education in higher esteem than any other training or intelligence in a subject or field.  The priority placed on college degrees has lead so many programs to exist to both publicly and privately fund scholarships so that students can attend college that college enrollment saw a thirty seven percent increase between the years 2000 and 2010.

While I think it is wonderful that so many have opportunity for higher education where before they may not have, I can’t help but think the extra opportunities combined with the emphasis society came to place on a degree has made having a degree more common than people who use Honey Boo Boo anytime referencing something annoying.  Suddenly, college graduates were no longer “guaranteed” a job upon graduation (even though many a parent, teacher, and mentor still lead kids to believe this will be the case).  Kids are graduating college only to find there’s no place for them in the work force, because now, not only do they need a degree, but they also need experience or some other type of training.  It’s not enough to study four extra years now that everyone has.  You need more.

So if college degrees are saturating the resumes flooding the market, what’s the answer to how to get a job in this tough economy?  Well, I don’t know an answer to the problem as things are, but I can tell you my hope and my wish: it is that the world would start putting less emphasis on test scores and school names.  I wish that instead of giving someone more credit for having sat in on hours of lecture on a subject and showing up to take a test, credit could be given for knowledge of a field, no matter how said knowledge was obtained.  Some of the best computer technicians I’ve met were self-taught, and some of the best dance teachers I’ve studied under and dance with learned in a small dance school rather than a college.  Heck, some were just born with the gift of rhythm and a talent for teaching it to others.  I don’t think a person who has a degree in math that was obtained with a C should get a job as an accountant over someone with an IQ of 120 who can solve any math problem thrown at them simply because they learned to do math problems at home using home-schooling materials and not in a college auditorium. 

Sure, lots of other things are taken into account in job interviews, like personality, but limiting who can apply for a job based on schooling in cases that don’t involve a specialized schooling--such as medicine and law—is preposterous.  It’s not only preposterous, but I truly believe it means the hiring businessmen and women of our country miss out on many qualified, well-fit applicants.

If we were able to step away from placing so much importance on college degrees, not only would college education regain some of its stature and importance, but the youth of American might be encouraged to learn jobs they wanted to do rather than those they thought they had a chance at doing in school.  People could be encouraged to not give up their dream job because they didn’t have the means to get a higher education or had a learning disability that prevented them from learning the trade in a traditional classroom setting. 

Can you imagine a world where more people loved the job they did?  Would the world be a less stressful place?  I like to think it would be.

Did you go to college?  If so, did you end up getting a job in your field of study?  Do you have your dream job?  If not, what would it be, and what kept you from pursuing it?