Top Reasons Why You ABSOLUTELY Need a College Degree

[ReyMysterioso]

I don't think college is a scam.  I think it is what it is and some people try to turn it into something it is not - a one size fits all solution for your future life.  I think most people could do it cheaper if they tried.  I think that most people could do it faster if they tried.  I think that most people should research their options more thoroughly.  I think High School Guidance Counselors are useless when it comes to giving advice/direction to their students.  I think that under some circumstances it could be worth it to go to an expensive college, but mostly not.  I think that some professions do not absolutely require degrees but many do.  I think that in my (licensed) profession, I wouldn't even get into the lobby without a degree.  I'll never regret the time and money spent in college

Agree on high school guidance counselors being ... Well I'll be kind and just say they have to perform their function at scale and thus aren't very good at thinking outside of the box. Kids need individualized advice in a system incapable of providing it. 
For that matter, based on my experiences with advisors at five different universities, I don't think they're much better at the higher education level. 

Told my foster son, "If you want to be really successful but don't know how you're going to get there, here's the 'easy' plan: go to Yale, get in a frat and join the Skull & Bones society. Your network will be priceless." I only being half-faceitious. 

If money is no object, sure an elite school can fit the bill depending on your life/career goals. The less expensive paths to a degree we help figure out here on this forum ...they're pretty obscure. Almost nobody really knows about "degree hacking" or CLEP or ACE. People aren't really all that familiar with CBE programs. 

To the original poster's point - considering how affordably a properly motivated student can get a degree from TESU, WGU, UMPI, A&M Commerce and the like, the career opportunities it provides make it such a good investment for so many people that it'd be a crying shame not to take advantage of it.

I just wish I could convince my dang brother of this. He's too stubborn and unmotivated to stick with Sophia classes.