I think this is a dangerous assertion, and I say this as someone who didn’t finish college and did pretty well financially in the end (alas no successful exits, only market-rate Bay Area startup wages). Only the super motivated, talented, brass-balled or well connected can manage the upstream push against the pervasive social perception - outside of tech centers - you’re second rate if you didn’t finish college.
I think the American education system is broken for a sizeable percentage of kids, from low-quality grade schools all the way through to the outrageous cost of college. For most poor or middle class kids who aren’t in tech, currently they need the exposure to college and they need some additional skills training if they’re to have any hope of getting a decent job after high school. Unfortunately, the esoteric, academic, over-priced world of universities have been turned into the required stepping stone for employment when it is only minimally relevant in many employment sectors. It would be more productive to reinvigorate market-based apprentice programs, revamp junior colleges and redirect some state/federal post secondary education funding to the employee job training credit to truly incentivize employers to take on more entry level employees. Less kids with less debt is a good thing, but they still need skills to be employable. I think it is easy for those of us who are self-directed learners to forget about our peers who really do need training and coaching to succeed.
Like many on this board, learning to code was my meal ticket for years and it is the work world safe haven for those who drop out of/never go to college. I got grilled a lot more about why I didn’t finish college once I moved into code-free jobs. There are millions of university graduates who are unemployed right now. It takes a certain degree of arrogance to pitch your degree-free self as a better candidate than your degreed competitors. I’d never be so smug and delusional about the specificity of my degree-free success to pitch foregoing college in the present economic environment to someone just out of high school. Even when it worked for me.
I think the American education system is broken for a sizeable percentage of kids, from low-quality grade schools all the way through to the outrageous cost of college. For most poor or middle class kids who aren’t in tech, currently they need the exposure to college and they need some additional skills training if they’re to have any hope of getting a decent job after high school. Unfortunately, the esoteric, academic, over-priced world of universities have been turned into the required stepping stone for employment when it is only minimally relevant in many employment sectors. It would be more productive to reinvigorate market-based apprentice programs, revamp junior colleges and redirect some state/federal post secondary education funding to the employee job training credit to truly incentivize employers to take on more entry level employees. Less kids with less debt is a good thing, but they still need skills to be employable. I think it is easy for those of us who are self-directed learners to forget about our peers who really do need training and coaching to succeed.
Like many on this board, learning to code was my meal ticket for years and it is the work world safe haven for those who drop out of/never go to college. I got grilled a lot more about why I didn’t finish college once I moved into code-free jobs. There are millions of university graduates who are unemployed right now. It takes a certain degree of arrogance to pitch your degree-free self as a better candidate than your degreed competitors. I’d never be so smug and delusional about the specificity of my degree-free success to pitch foregoing college in the present economic environment to someone just out of high school. Even when it worked for me.