(Disclaimer: Despite my comments below, I am pro-education. I have gone to school for 20 years, and I believe college education is important for many different reasons, but that's not what this post is about)
This leads me a key question that has haunts me: Does education help you get a job and make you more money in life simply because employers are looking for educated employees? Or do college graduates actually possess more skills?
The next logical question is what would happen if a large group of smart college bound kids just decided not to go?
College is inefficient, but it has to be. One-on-one instruction would be much more effective, but that option cannot be available to every student. I think it's very possible that a bright young student could learn more on their own in four years than they could in the classroom, but it's preposterous to believe they actually would. The university setting provides structure and motivation that most young adults are not capable of generating on their own.
Nevertheless, it's still interesting to think about what a bright young man or woman could accomplish in four years if they weren't busy studying (drinking) and finding themselves (sleeping) in college.
A decent college is probably going to charge something like 40,000 in tuition for a college degree. If the student does not work they are giving up somewhere around 100,000 in income that they could have otherwise made in an entry-level job over the course of 4 years.
So my non-student will start with $140,000 more than your student will have. If he invests all of that money when he is 25 years old and averages a 6% return, he will have $1,534,000 when he reaches 65. (If he averages 8% that retirement pops up to more than 3 million)
Or, if working for money isn't his thing, he could just enter into internships. In four years he could intern with 8 banks or with 8 different types of employers. He could work in different cities and states, or even different countries. He could expand his professional network. He might even know what he wants to do with his life. (assuming the parents/loans would still fund his activities like they do in college)
Or he could work hard for 4 years and save up $140,000 and start a business before he's 25. Imagine the innovation we would see if hundreds of thousands of bright young people had $140,000 to invest in business ideas, especially after these kids had four years of work experience and business relationships.
Or, if college were reserved for those with more experience, he could work for ten years or build a business for ten years, and then go to college after he has learned where he wants to go in life. Those first two years of school could be spent on subjects that will benefit him in his career.
He could join the military, travel, or write a novel. He could play a sport, learn three foreign languages, or work for a charity.
These are all opportunity costs of going to college, and they are real. Now I'm not stupid enough to suggest that all 18 year-olds are prepared to take on this type of responsibility, but are our schools really the best place to put our young adults while they "get it out of their system?" What if there was a bright young person who determined that school wasn't for them. What if he watched all of the free MIT classes on academicearth.org. What if he received advanced specialized training in several different fields, and worked hundreds of hours to amass $100,000+ in savings? Would the lack of degree stop you from hiring him?
Most people would say that this just doesn't happen, but I propose that it would happen much more often if the extremely dedicated young people who excel in schools decided not to go. If those people with motivation and drive to dominate in the classroom decided to instead point their ship toward the workforce and self educate, there's no telling what they could accomplish.
I'm not trying to be nasty to educators. My education has been a brilliant addition to my life, and I am so glad that I have pursued it. But isn't it possible, maybe just a little bit, that some times, for some people, the answer might be less education rather than more?
Even if you agree with my proposition, it does not mean anything unless we live in a world where employers have the capability and insight to see beyond the lack of a college degree. College performance is measurable, college graduates are often quite dependable, and employers need a way to separate applicants. The problem with this blog post is that I pose a lot of questions that simply will not ever be answered because our system won't allow them to be.
So as we move forward to win the future, it is highly likely that our best and brightest minds will be prevented from entering the workforce for four, six, or 8 years as they attack the classroom. Are the benefits worth it? I argue that we can never know for sure.
I'd recommend that you students and graduates look back on your life and wonder what you could have accomplished with those prime years... you might surprise yourself.
