The College Scam

[freeloader]

So, what is a person to do?  I will use myself as an example. I have had a number of jobs—archaeologist (shovel bum), museum tour guide/educator/manager, financial advisor, teacher, and now accountant. A bachelor’s degree is required for all of the jobs that I have had. In other countries, that isn’t always the case. In England, one can leave school and go to work as a field archaeologist or an entry-level bookkeeper (not sure about the other jobs) and learn on the job, complete courses and certifications, and progress in your career into a professional role. Degree completion, top-up programs, and direct entry into master’s degree programs for skilled workers all offer real, viable ways to “move up”.

I'm going to push back on this a bit. In the US, one doesn't absolutely need a degree to have a career as an accountant or financial advisor. The minimum entry point for financial advising is the Series 65. Many an FA has started their career with that, and maybe some of the other FINRA exams. I personally know advisors with no degree and just their exams, and a couple have their ChFC. CFP requires a degree, but CFP is not the only path forward in that career.

Same for accounting. Yes, becoming a CPA requires a degree. However, only about 1/3 of accountants in the US have a CPA license, according to BLS and NASBA data. I had a very successful accounting career with no accounting degree, and no formal accounting education. At conferences and seminars, I met hundreds of practicing accountants that had no degree at all, but had successful careers in the space.

Does a degree accelerate one's career track in these fields? Yes. Does a degree open doors that wouldn't otherwise exist? Yes. Can a degree lead to a license/certification that increases lifetime earning potential? Yes, absolutely. But is a degree required for a successful career in accounting or financial planning? Nope, not at all.

I had a really hard time breaking in as a financial advisor because my first BA was in history. I put in 100+ applications, had multiple interviews, and was basically told the same thing by all of them—we have too many applicants who have superior credentials and it isn’t worth the time and effort to train you when we can hire them.  I ended up getting on with one of the major national insurance companies in a field sales position, got my Series 6, and was able to transition to a more conventional advisor position, but that took a couple of years to do. 

You are right, it is not technically a requirement that you have a degree to become a financial advisor.  And there are jobs in accounting that don’t require a degree.  If you have connections or you are applying during the right job market, there will be opportunities. For many people, however, those opportunities don’t exist.  

Having said that, the systems are designed for people with degrees.  Can you start at a very undesirable employer, as a secretary or data entry person, or otherwise take an unconventional path to get started with some of these careers?  Yes, it is possible. It is also possible to become a lawyer without a degree.  My father was a dentist and had a friend who was a licensed physician who technically didn’t have any degrees; that doctor’s wife was a nurse practitioner who didn’t have any degrees. There are exceptions to almost every rule. 

The point of my now year old post was to note that our system has evolved to expect degrees and to make it vastly more difficult for people to succeed in large swaths of our economy without a degree and, in many cases, without a specific degree.  

The fact that the “rule” doesn’t apply in 100% of cases does not make it any less a rule. It just means it isn’t an immutable law of nature.