The Most Successful People Explain Why a College Degree is USELESS

[Life Long Learning]

Warren Buffett's comments are spot on!

The Most Successful People Explain Why a College Degree is USELESS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8QY0NDWqzk

[Merlin]

Warren Buffett's comments are spot on!

The Most Successful People Explain Why a College Degree is USELESS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8QY0NDWqzk

I think a lot of us already realize this. I honestly feel that some employers require degrees because they had to pay for theirs so they exclude people who don't have one (or don't have the right kind). It is almost never a guarantee of success no matter where they graduated from. In fact, some of my best employees have been self-taught non-degree holders.

But yes, Warren Buffett is right, the real value of a big name degree is the brand association and the network, not the education.

My interest in higher education degrees is primarily about meeting personal goals. Secondarily, it is about personal presentation in the eyes of people who see a certain education level as the minimum bar to be taken seriously as a professional. I've come to realize that my desire for a bachelor's degree is really just a stepping stone towards my real goal of a graduate degree (or multiple degrees).

[MNomadic]

While I agree with some of the things in that video I think it's important to not generalize a blanket statement like 'college degrees are useless.' (I realize the title is just to be super eye catching). A degree clearly has some uses for doctors, lawyers and other professions that demand several years of intensive studying.

[dfrecore]

There are plenty of professions where a college degree is 100% necessary and required - but SO many where it's not. I think employers just don't know how to figure out what the secret sauce is for a good employee, so they set this arbitrary bar up to try to winnow down the thinking on their end.

[cookderosa]

I think the trouble with generalizing is that it only covers the middle chunk of people. Obviously you need a degree for some professions, and obviously you don't need a degree for some professions - but that's separate and apart (in my opinion) from the question of whether or not you should have a degree. In my opinion, unless you can clearly explain why you need a certain degree from a certain school (which happens in many cases- no problem there) but unless that's you, your focus should be on efficiency and cost. Efficiency and cost can check a box without putting you in debt or disrupting your life. It can't work for everyone, but it probably could work for about 75% of the people (my guesstimate) who are otherwise spending LOTS of money and time in pursuit of a degree that only half will complete (not a guess) and most will borrow money for. The math just doesn't support EVERYONE going to college and borrowing money to do so. The better question is always how to get a degree, not how to go to college.

[sanantone]

When you take statistics and research methods, you learn what outliers are. The men in these videos are outliers, so they shouldn't really be looked at as experts on how to become successful. A couple of these guys are entertainers who grew their money through business ventures. But, if it weren't for the luck of them getting hit songs, they wouldn't have had the capital for these business ventures unless it came from the drug dealing they previously did.

One businessman in that video has had his companies bankrupt four times, and his wealthy daddy saved him. We now know that his daddy gave him millions more than he admitted to, and he possibly committed tax fraud. Most people don't have rich daddies who can help them buy million dollar apartment buildings.

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I do agree with Warren Buffett, though. Everywhere you go, accounting is accounting. You don't need to go to a prestigious school to learn how to be a decent accountant. You can also teach yourself a lot of things if you have the aptitude.

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Best comment under the video.

it's funny because they still take their children to the very same universities to get the degrees that they claim to be useless...so ironic

[Merlin]

[...]
Best comment under the video.

it's funny because they still take their children to the very same universities to get the degrees that they claim to be useless...so ironic

While I don't think an ivy league education is worth the money, if I could get a free ride to attend one, I'd do it in a heartbeat. If I had enough wealth where I wouldn't even blink at dropping a few hundred thousand on a child's education, I'd send them to a top school as well. Even if the education isn't significantly different, the brand and networking benefits have tremendous value.

Then again, sending your kid to a prestigious school doesn't guarantee that they'll actually learn anything, even if they graduate. Then again, part of me wonders how many people in that category of wealth end up paying other people to take their exams, etc. It sure seems like this could be the cases since there are examples where a prestigious education seems wasted on certain people.

[Ideas]

While I agree with some of the things in that video I think it's important to not generalize a blanket statement like 'college degrees are useless.' (I realize the title is just to be super eye catching). A degree clearly has some uses for doctors, lawyers and other professions that demand several years of intensive studying.

I like the trade school approach. If someone already has a profession in mind, do they really need to take a large variety of undergrad classes? I think people should be well-rounded, but the system is so outdated for anyone who doesn't know about testing out.

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It can't work for everyone, but it probably could work for about 75% of the people (my guesstimate) who  are otherwise spending LOTS of money and time in pursuit of a degree that only half will complete (not a guess) and most will borrow money for.  The math just doesn't support EVERYONE going to college and borrowing money to do so.  The better question is always how to get a degree, not how to go to college.

Yeah, exactly, but so many employers decide to add the requirement, when the job really doesn't need a bachelor's. They'll get so many applicants with degrees. Why pick one without? Especially if the applicant does not have an associates.

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Then again, sending your kid to a prestigious school doesn't guarantee that they'll actually learn anything, even if they graduate. Then again, part of me wonders how many people in that category of wealth end up paying other people to take their exams, etc. It sure seems like this could be the cases since there are examples where a prestigious education seems wasted on certain people.

Yeah, I think this happens a lot. They graduate, go straight into a job that pays well, and it doesn't matter if they don't know anything. They just manage other people, get their subordinates to do their work, etc. IMO, they learned people skills in school rather than "book smarts" and it works out for them. They get to golf and go to fancy meals with others who went to those schools.

[jsd]

A bunch of folks with mostly advanced degrees at prestigious institutions (except for a few of them here or there... 50 cent, Jay Z, Zuckerberg (Harvard dropout), etc) telling us that college isn't important.... Hrm...

[sanantone]

A bunch of folks with mostly advanced degrees at prestigious institutions (except for a few of them here or there... 50 cent, Jay Z, Zuckerberg (Harvard dropout), etc) telling us that college isn't important.... Hrm...

I'd be more interested in hearing from people who make $100k-$200k. That's more attainable for the average or slightly above average person and doesn't rely heavily on luck and connections. I'd bet most of the people in this income range are computer scientists/IT professionals, upper management, healthcare professionals, lawyers, professors, and engineers. Some of them might have small but successful businesses.