<p>Today it seems like everyone is going to college. Students I went to high school with, ranked in the bottom quarter, are attending the local CC, then going to 4-year colleges. Do most students go to college to obtain good jobs, or to learn? </p>
<p>I believe most students attend college, with the belief it will guarantee them high paying jobs, not to learn. I'm very open to thoughts on this subject and interested in hearing how members on here feel about this dilemma.</p>
<p>I am going to learn AND make.</p>
<p>In defense of the kids in the bottom quarter, if it’s a competitive high school, they are still qualified to attend college. 99% of our high school graduates pursue a college education.</p>
<p>When 70% of the new population will go to college it is a bit silly to think that it would be in any other way, college is not anything special any longer.</p>
<p>A college degree is a way to get a CHANCE at a job. For employers one of the first, simple ways to cut out candidates is to require a 4 year degree for a position. Subject area, GPA, etc. does not matter. If you have a degree you have an opportunity to showcase your skills. Without a degree doors are shut.</p>
<p>both i suppose</p>
<p>The vast majority are going to better their work force opportunities. Many frankly would be better off earnings wise learning a trade.</p>
<p>There is US Census data that indicates that in 7 years from graduating from high school, less than 25% of high school graduates have a degree from a 4 year institution of higher learning.</p>
<p>To those who say college is useless, why not take it a step further?</p>
<p>Drop out from high school. That’s one or two more years of “earnings”.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Both, of course. Look, even if you’re the type to say that you’re only going to get a job, you forget that in college you’re learning skills, both academic and social, that will teach you how to get and maintain that job.</p>
<p>Those seeking a degree are seeking the opportunity to gain better employment and all that it brings. Those that attend classes and are indifferent to a degree are there just for the learning.</p>
<p>And there are those who enroll mostly because their parents expect them to go to college and are willing to pay for it. </p>
<p>A motivated student has his or her own reason to attend college. At some level I think the motivated student desires to learn more even if it is to ultimately be able to make more money.</p>
<p>Son enjoys his courses and knows that he’s building marketable skills with most of them. Some are taken for fun and interest too.</p>
<p>Job security, not pay was my goal. I was able to obtain 9 jobs in a very economically depressed area (not just now, over few decades). Almost all interviewers indicated that they were impressed by my MBA. My job / profession does not reguire ANY college degree, I have known people who are in my field having just HS education. However, at my latest place of employment, the oficial policy is not interview people without a 4 year degree.</p>
<p>If going to college wouldn’t help me get a job/better job, I certinly wouldn’t go. Obviously I will learn, but the main reason is because I want a better job.</p>
<p>There is a “ticket punching” mentality that some use in going to college and that attitude will generally mark the student in several ways, and they’ll often be appropriately rewarded in the job market. The “give me a good grade, give me the piece of paper saying I graduated” approach bespeaks a lack of ambition and an unwillingness to expand horizons and to take joy in processing information and situations. Someone who has the latter but not the formal education actually stands a better chance for success in many situations but will find themselves “under-gunned” compared to those who do have the formal education.</p>
<p>Going to college as a springboard to discovering and being equipped for a fulfilling career is one thing and even that’s a little shaky, given how people now often change careers or have to change careers. Going to college for a job is another.</p>
<p>you forgot “grow more” which is of equal importance.</p>
<p>All of the above. A person who “wants” to go to college goes to learn more, grow more and gain critical thinking skills to go into a field that requires alittle more use of the brain than an many jobs. A batchelor’s degree from a College does not necessarily give a person a “career”.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the ‘who benefits from college’ arguments often get it backwards. First even a little college, especially for Gen 1 kids, is a predictor of better income. Getting kids at least some college and doing what can be done to support them in that effort pays off. That experience will make it more likely that they will want more for their own kids and be more supportive academically. But, according to occupational sociologist Andrew Abbott, for those from more affluent backgrounds who qualify for selective universities, there is little evidence that going to college has much of an effect on future income. Those kids tend to ultimately end up in the upper 5% in income no matter what they do. (This is not true for URMs or first generation students who attend those schools.) His contention is that for these kids, seeking knowledge for its own sake is the best way to spend their time in college, that is, the aim of education should simply be to become better educated.</p>
<p>Kids go to college because it’s what people their age do.</p>
<p>In many U.S. communities, college of some type – either 2-year or 4-year – has become the standard experience for high school graduates. Nobody questions it. The kids who get questioned about their plans are the ones who choose NOT to go to college. </p>
<p>I am not at all sure that this is a good trend.</p>