The Most Successful People Explain Why a College Degree is USELESS

[dfrecore]

I think the best profession to get into if you want to make good money, and don't want a degree - sales. I've known a lot of sales people who make a lot of money yet don't have degrees. I know a couple who've made more than a million dollars in a single good year. If you're willing to risk it, by taking part of your salary as base (anywhere from 0-50%), and the rest in commission, you can be very successful.

I also know successful business owners of all kinds who don't have degrees. The richest person I know has an electrical contracting company. He started as an apprentice and then went out on his own 2-3 years later. He also worked a gazillion hours a week, and didn't take a vacation for 20 years...

The people in both categories are not dumb, and do value education - it's just that they learn as much as they need to know, and continue doing what they're good at. I actually think this is what most people do in life anyway.

[clep3705]

Sanantone is right about people making $100-200k. They're generally educated. It doesn't matter if Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg doesn't have a degree. You're not Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. What are YOU (anyone, not just the OP) going to do? Making $100-200k is probably a realistic goal for you - if you have the required education. Sales? It's great for a few people. Sales has a high washout rate. Make your quota and they raise it. Getting an education for an upper middle class job is a surer bet to a realistically nice standard of living.

[Merlin]

Prior to taking my academic sabbatical, I was making well above $100K annually without a degree of any kind. In fact, the only reason I can afford to take the time off to be able to focus on my education now, despite living in a city with one of the highest costs of living in the world, is because I was able to save up enough to not need to worry about working for a while.

The point being, a degree doesn't always matter. Career success is all about having the right combination of ambition, drive, and skills. It also helps to have a good network, though that is a weakness for me since I always felt it was a waste of time to go to networking events or much effort into building connections.

Of course, there are also hiring managers and business owners who will not even consider hiring people without a degree no matter how good they may be, so that is where having the degree comes in handy; it gets you in the door, you still have to prove yourself once you walk through.

[sanantone]

Prior to taking my academic sabbatical, I was making well above $100K annually without a degree of any kind. In fact, the only reason I can afford to take the time off to be able to focus on my education now, despite living in a city with one of the highest costs of living in the world, is because I was able to save up enough to not need to worry about working for a while.

The point being, a degree doesn't always matter. Career success is all about having the right combination of ambition, drive, and skills. It also helps to have a good network, though that is a weakness for me since I always felt it was a waste of time to go to networking events or much effort into building connections.

Of course, there are also hiring managers and business owners who will not even consider hiring people without a degree no matter how good they may be, so that is where having the degree comes in handy; it gets you in the door, you still have to prove yourself once you walk through.

When you're in IT, it's possible to make six figures without a degree even though that's becoming increasingly difficult. However, there aren't enough jobs for everyone to go into IT. 

I always discount six figure incomes in areas with a high cost of living. $100k in Los Angeles is the equivalent of $68k in Austin, and Austin has one of the higher costs of living in Texas.

[Merlin]

Prior to taking my academic sabbatical, I was making well above $100K annually without a degree of any kind. In fact, the only reason I can afford to take the time off to be able to focus on my education now, despite living in a city with one of the highest costs of living in the world, is because I was able to save up enough to not need to worry about working for a while.

The point being, a degree doesn't always matter. Career success is all about having the right combination of ambition, drive, and skills. It also helps to have a good network, though that is a weakness for me since I always felt it was a waste of time to go to networking events or much effort into building connections.

Of course, there are also hiring managers and business owners who will not even consider hiring people without a degree no matter how good they may be, so that is where having the degree comes in handy; it gets you in the door, you still have to prove yourself once you walk through.

When you're in IT, it's possible to make six figures without a degree even though that's becoming increasingly difficult. However, there aren't enough jobs for everyone to go into IT. 

I always discount six figure incomes in areas with a high cost of living. $100k in Los Angeles is the equivalent of $68k in Austin, and Austin has one of the higher costs of living in Texas.

I don't disagree... location has a huge impact on salary ranges. Dollar for dollar I can make more here in San Francisco than I did when I was on the east coast, but after you compensate for the cost of living, my net income was higher when I lived back east.

Of course, I don't work in IT but the same principles apply. SF is also a bit of an odd duck since the tech job market is hypercompetitive for top candidates.

[learflyer]

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.

I'm one of them. I make $158K as a Captain on a Citation X business jet.  The degree isn't required for the charter level of aviation, but it is for the airlines.  Having said that, my position required multiple licenses and heavy studying.  Hence...why i'm here and finishing my degree should I want to continue applying to the airlines.