Amen to This

Read this article before reading what I have to say:
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/james-altucher%27s-8-alternatives-to-college-535903.html?tickers=COCO,APOL,ESI,DV,EDMC,STRA,%5eDJI

I totally agree with this guy. Yep, sure college is good. But speaking as a couple that are $100,000 in debt (and that's only going to a crappy school, not a good one) because of it, we definitely don't think it was worth it. And as noted in the article, tuition is only going to go up. And as Altucher also pointed out, and I have seen first hand to some extent ranging from moderate to severe with every college student I've ever come across or known, the statistics about how much we actually learn are more than likely spot on. And I'm including myself in that as well, so don't get all salty if you were one of the college students I know.

I can say with 100% confidence that I have learned more life/business skills from May 2010 to now than I did in all my schooling at Northern. And I don't believe that's just because it was Northern; I think it would have been the same had I gone to UMD or a community college or any other school. And guess what? I'm actually getting paid for most of that experience with the exception of the $500 I'm spending on my Farm Beginnings class.

I'm not saying that college is something people shouldn't consider, however, like Altucher said, I think that people could get more from it if they have that gap year or a couple years in between high school and college. Kids are way too impressionable and naive just out of high school and that shows with all the sex, drugs, drinking, and partying taking precedence over classes. I think a very small number of students can say they haven't done one of those while in college while their schoolwork should have been more important.

This is a topic that I could write a million more paragraphs about for y'all to read, however I will stop here because I don't want to bore everyone to tears. I'm just glad to see that someone is calling this to attention because it is something that should be thought about. It's not fair for kids that can barely make any adult decisions to feel pressured into something that will probably put them into the biggest debt of their life.