The Overeducation of America (by Guest Blogger Paul)

My newest guest blogger returns with a fresh take on going (or not going) to college...
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So this is something that's been bugging me for quite some time now, and people seem to just complain about it instead of facing the reality.

America is over-educating the population. Yes. *OVER* educating.

Some people will see the light immediately. Others? Not so much, so here is where I step in.

Back during the WW2 era and the Baby Boomer generation, the big thing was graduating high school. So many kids dropped out to get jobs and help support the family, and obviously entered the work force immediately. College was something that mainly the wealthy did because they could afford it. Obviously, with the wars, and the high percentage of people who served in the military, the GI Bill enabled many vets to go and get a higher education. This translated into the generation before me and my generation. Parents often said " NO! YOU ARE GOING TO COLLEGE!" And now the late part of my generation (and the generation after) is doing college-level work in HS, and basically post-grad stuff in college.

Woah woah woah woah. Let's back it up.

Back in the day, the Diploma was prestigious, and the Degree was something that was like Biblical.

Then, everyone has a diploma, and its just “Ehhhh, whatever. Degrees are still somewhat important.”

Now, nobody gives a flying f*ck about diplomas, everyone has a degree, and now people are pushing for Masters, and Doctorates.

Do you see the trend?

The American population is simply devaluing these achievements by everyone obtaining them. And the worst part? People who obtain a simple 4 year degree is on average looking at a minimum of becoming $30k in debt. Now let’s say you went out of state or something? That immediately goes to $100k... and a private school like let’s say.... Gustavus Adolphus here in St.Peter, Minnesota… yeah you’re looking at $150k in debt after 4 years. I read one article that said students who attend private universities spend the next 15 years of their life paying off the debt.

Oh, yeah; and they can't find all these jobs they were promised coming out of college, even in a good economy. Why? Because EVERYONE IS JUST AS QUALIFIED.

It's ridiculous. What’s the solution?

Well, employers will always take experience over some fancy degree. If there is a guy who has a proven 10-year track record, and some kid who is fresh out of college, I'm sorry but I'm taking the proven guy because he's been on the battlefield before.

I have a friend who got a job at the electric company. They pay him $12.00 an hour to go to school for training, then he does 15 hours a week as an apprentice. When everything is done he will make $20.00 an hour. Oh yeah; and he won't have debt. The best thing in today's world is to find a vocation, train yourself, and get experience.

I've heard stories of people who turn down $35k a year jobs because they feel they are worth more with their 4 year degree. To me, that’s S-T-U-P-I-D-I-T-Y.

So you may ask "Well, Paul, what are you doing with your life that's so great?"

I have not been to college. I simply graduated high school in the top 10% of my class and have been living on my own ever since. I live in Minneapolis and I absolutely love everything about it. I'm single. I'm 21. I have a great living situation, and quite frankly I can't complain. My bills are paid. Oh yeah, and I don't have tens of thousands of dollars of debt because of the Over-Education system.

I think I'm doing quite alright.

More witty input from Steve:

I’ve said before that college wasn’t worth the money I crapped away on it. Half the people I know who went to college right after high school had no clue what they even wanted to study let alone what career path they wanted to take. So, in the Holy Name Of Being a Well Rounded Student, they spend their first couple years at a cost of several thousand dollars, pissing about exploring majors and taking “required core classes” like Sociology 101 and Psych 101, receiving touchy-feely politically-correct left-wing indoctrination until they figure out what they THINK they wanna do with their lives. A vast preponderance of the people I know with degrees don’t work in the field they studied in.

For entirely too many kids, college is just them pissing away their parents’ money whilst partying and screwing, and making connections to get jobs later on; the degree is just superfluous cake icing. They stay in school for degree level after degree level till they’ve put off the real world for as long as they could milk it and leave with a doctorate in Art Appreciation.

Next thing you know, they become a parasitical flea occupying Wall Street.