#1- I agree 100% that college is NOT needed, and should not be forced on, all students. There is value in ALL work, no matter what it is-even digging ditches. Nothing wrong with that. The problem is those jobs in the real world pay minimum wage with no benefits. You can not live on the jobs today do not require advanced training. Mechanics, electricians, plumbers-they ALL got o school, trade schools, and many time trade schools are 5 times the cost of college. The ONLY trades people today that make money was gov employees-or ones who work on gov jobs,which are a minority-few and far between. My dad was a carpenter who made twice what a teacher made int he 1960’s and 1970’s, toady a teach makes 3 times what he would make because his job/s have been 100% taken over by illegal immigrants willing to do it for $5 an hour while teachers have had 5-7% raises the last 30 years.

#2- I waited and bused tables for years going through college. Hard to get in 40 hours a week and n benefits. Pay is OK, not great but good, but it does not make up for a regular job with decent benefits.

“Over 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees (over 8,000 of them have doctoral or professional degrees), along with over 80,000 bartenders, and over 18,000 parking lot attendants. All told, some 17,000,000 Americans with college degrees are doing jobs that the BLS says require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor’s degree”

http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/why-did-17-million-students-go-to-college/27634

Suckers who’ve been duped.

Higher education has been turned into a massive industry just like the health care system. Neither really exist to serve the consumer (patient or student). Both have been transformed into rackets that serve the banks, insurance companies, healthcare corporations and University staffs. If a kid was not intellectually gifted and focused on a certain profession I would steer him toward a trade. After he learned his trade if he wanted to attend college I would support him. You would not believe how many kids I met in college who went there primarily to party. At least half of the students were not really serious about getting an education. It was a place to hang out with their buddies. An extension of HS.

Rex, I agree that people need education to make it in this world. But people don’t necessarily need a college education. Plumbers, hi-tech auto mechanics, electricians, computer techs, home builders, etc… can all make damn good money without a college degree. A BS degree in psych, sociology, art history, minority studies, etc… is pretty much worthless unless you get a job in government.

People don’t have to go to college to be smart. These kids are sucked into the university system and come out with few marketable skills worth more than $12/hr in the job market and $50,000 in debt. IMO that’s a crime.

Gates was accepted into and attended HARVARD, the most elite school in the nation.

These two people were in the right place in the right industry at the right time – nothing else.

You will NEVER make it in this country with a HS diploma in the real world UNLESS you’re connected into (have strings pulled) a private sector job or connected into a gov job-neither of which will be offered to a GEDer or HS grad when there are graduate students unemployed.

One thing you did not mention that needs to get addressed is this: Kids go to college because they can access easy money in form of student loans to do so. The Mr. Bankster is eager to disburse these loans because if the kid cannot pay the money back Mr. Bankster does not have to eat the loss – the TAXPAYER is forced to eat the loss. Also, the former student with an outstanding loan cannot declare bankrupcy and dissolve the student debt like he could for practically any other sort of loan or debt. The government enacted that recent law to protect Mr. Bankster. Another form of CRONY CAPITALISM is that is rampant in American society. If Mr. Bankster would be forced to EAT THE LOSS OF A BAD LOAN then perhaps he would be more careful who he selects to give his money to. That would automatically reduce the student population (much to the chargrin of Mr. Bankster and Mr. University President) which would bring higher education back to where it should be. We have complete idiot attending universities today. A good share of them must take REMEDIAL COURSES in college for what they failed to learn in high school. THE CAUSE IS EASY MONEY!!!!

I follow Altdoucher too. This is one of the few topics where I agree with him. In general, he is a socialist and I can’t stand him. He favors Wall Street privatizing profits and socializing losses. His opinions are largely absurd – especially when it comes to investing money. I view him like a clown. I watch him perform, laugh and walk away.