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15+ Reasons Not to Go to College

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REASONS NOT TO GO TO COLLEGE

Table of Contents

Should I Go to College?

Are you certain that college is the best option for you? Or perhaps you assume that you have no choice but to go to college in order to get a good job. In this article we list at least 15 reasons not to go to college.

You’ll also find LOTS of college statistics and alternative ideas toward earning while learning. Earning while learning versus accumulating debt is definitely near the top of all reasons not to go to college.

Find work directly in alignment with your interests, and you’ll be laying the foundation for a solid career and a happier life!

Pro Education

Don’t worry, this article is very much PRO EDUCATION… just maybe not the traditional path. Even then… “traditional” is the rather recent past, for the past 50 or so years ago, college wasn’t the common tradition for most.

Should I go to college? If you’re asking this question, the answer is probably “no”. Please don’t ever go to college to figure out what you want to do. Even if you know what you want to do, the answer is likely still “no”. We elaborate on that extensively, in this article.

NOTE: If the title still ruffles your feathers and you want to skip to pros for college, go to the community comments at the end.

Education is essential for success, and ongoing learning and growth is essential for a vital life. It just may not be college education.
~LeAura Alderson, cofounder iCreateDaily.com®

Should I Go Back to School?

🎵The times, they are a-changing🎶

If you’re over 35, or an empty nester, baby boomer or senior, you may be asking the question of whether you should go back to school. You may long for a career change, or more creative and fulfilling work—or even a creative hobby to start—but unsure of the options and what you want to do.

Don’t go back to school. At least not as your first option, UNLESS your goal is to pay time and money for another piece of paper that tells the world you’re qualified… if they ask. You may get the diploma, but you may not get the job.

Older adults, please don’t go back to school. Not yet at least.

REASONS NOT TO GO TO COLLEGE:
Learn, create and self educate. Your experience is your portfolio.

“As a creator, you don’t have to have a degree. Your body of work speaks for itself.”
~Devani Alderson, cofounder-iCreateDaily®

Table of Contents

The Worst Possible Approach

Reasons Not to Go to College

So many people of all ages say they’re going to college, or going back to school to figure out what they want to do.

PLEASE… DO NOT DO THIS‼️

Do not start out wasting time and money—or worse, acquiring debt—while figuring out what you want to do.

Consider what you enjoy and love to do, or would love to do. What hobbies or interests do you do in your free time and start there. Begin exploring all fields and jobs related to that, and search avidly for a job or business opportunities in that area.

PLEASE… DO NOT GO TO COLLEGE to figure out what you want to do! Instead, earn money by getting a job in your areas of interest, then earn while you learn and explore. You’ll save money, time and debt and end up more qualified.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

New Approaches to Education

Now if you already have a college degree, great! If you’re looking at continuing education and learning, that’s fantastic and highly recommended. It just may not have to be a college or university education program to achieve what you need. In fact, it’s likely not.

Today’s education it’s more than just about blue collar or white collar. There’s a new term coined by Ginny Rometty, CEO of IBM, as “new collar”.  It’s about selective education based on what you need to know when you need it.

To support this concept, in June 2017, Microsoft announced a grant to Skillful, a program which encourages skills-oriented job training. MicroSoft has demonstrated that it’s glad to hire employees without degrees, so long as they’re trained in the skills needed for the job they’re applying to.

“Jobs are being created that demand new skills – which in turn requires new approaches to education, training and recruiting.”
~Ginny Rometty, CEO, IBM, as quoted in USA Today[1]https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2016/12/13/we-need-fill-new-collar-jobs-employers-demand-ibms-rometty/95382248/

We’re ardent about this topic because today, there are more reasons not to go to college than there are to go, especially for creators and entrepreneurs.

“Student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category – behind only mortgage debt – and higher than both credit cards and auto loans.”
~Zack Friedman, senior contributor, Forbes.com

REASONS NOT TO GO TO COLLEGE: We're ardent about this topic because today, there are more reasons not to go to college than there are to go, especially for creators and entrepreneurs. There's another way.

5 Reasons NOT to Go to College

NOTE: You’ll find 10+ more reasons as you continue reading. And yes… DEBT is listed three times on purpose in order to emphasize debt as one of the main reasons not to go to college. Beyond that, the various forms of college debt and statistics are given.

  1. LACK OF CLARITY: You don’t yet know what you want to do.
  2. DEBT: In 2018, 69% of graduating seniors had college debt.
  3. NOT USING DEGREE: A 2017 study revealed that 49.6% of college graduates reported they’re not using their degree.[2]https://www.finder.com/college-degree-value
    • Some haven’t chosen to work in that field.
    • Others haven’t found a job in their field of study.
  4. DEBT: Total student loan debt has more than doubled since 2009, from $675 million to $1.52 trillion in 2019.
    ~Source: Bloomberg.com
  5. DEBT: Average student loan debt – 10 year averages:
    • Increased 4% for public colleges 7% for historically black colleges and universities.
    • Decreased 3% for private colleges and 1% for historically women’s institutions
      ~Source: LendEDU.com (you can find thorough breakdowns by state and college in this article)

We suspect that the decrease in loans in private and women’s colleges is because many of those prospective students are more likely to pursue alternative educational options. As you will see, we’re just getting warmed up in covering the many reasons not to go to college. Depending on your goals, there are likely better ways.

We cover more on student loan statistics further below, but these stats provide proof of the state of debt.

College is a fake environment. There’s nothing about college that has anything to do with your professional career.
~Gary Vaynerchuk, Russian-American magnate, author, b.11/14/1975

Changing of the Old Guard

Time to awaken from that matrix and take control of our own educational choices and outcomes.

This is the Information Age… the age of the Information Superhighway and the World Wide Web where everyone has access to virtually all knowledge for less or sometimes even for free. It is not easy, learning always requires effort. The best and most complete training is rarely free, but alternative education is very accessible and significantly more affordable than traditional institutions that care so much overhead in real estate and tenured salaries..

Artists of all mediums can save lots of money by scouring and studying the multitude of free YouTube tutorials, then follow the creators you most enjoy. Many of those have courses where you can get more when you’re ready to go deeper.

The Abundant Artist, for example, hosts a community for creators where there are many benefits. Or, you can buy a course at a time, with—or without—instruction.

“All it means if you get A’s is that you’re good at school. And you don’t get to do school after you’re done with school. The boss doesn’t say, ‘We’re going to have a test on Friday and I want you to regurgitate everything you learned for the last four weeks’. That’s not what happens.”
~Seth Godin, visionary, author, teacher, speaker, b.7/10/1960

Fast Track Hacks for Business Growth – More Reasons Not to Go to College

  1. You can hire a business coach for creators for one-on-one or group coaching.
  2. Hire a consultant for exactly what you need to know, when you need it.
  3. Outsource some of the tasks to freelancers – or become a freelancer to grow your skills.

While hiring a coach, consultant or freelancer to advise you may sound expensive, it’s usually vastly cheaper than a college education.

No longer is “higher education” or “continuing education” the dominion of colleges and universities. In the Information Age, there are so many more opportunities to quickly learn what you need, when you need it.

College does not guarantee success. College does not guarantee a job. Nearly half of college educated Americans are not using their college degree.
~Study by Pureprofile for Finder.com[3]https://www.finder.com/college-degree-value

SOURCE: July 2017 survey of 2,245 Americans commissioned by finder.com and conducted by global research provider Pureprofile.[4]https://www.finder.com/college-degree-value

10 Reasons Not to Go to College

  1. Spend thousands—to hundreds of thousands—of dollars
  2. Work hard for four or more years
  3. Take courses you’re not interested in and will never use
  4. Get a degree – a piece of paper, (which you may never use)
  5. There’s no guarantee of a job after graduation.
  6. Get a job and work your way into something better
  7. Start your adult life in debt for years
  8. Your success is largely controlled by others
  9. 10 years later… You long to do work that matters to you
  10. 10 years later… you still owe on your student debt.
10 REASONS NOT TO GO TO COLLEGE MEME: College does not guarantee success. College does not guarantee a job. Nearly half of college educated Americans are not using their college degree.

OUTCOME: Success possible. Happiness uncertain.

“From millennials to seniors, student loans are the second largest debt category in the United States.”
Source: Forbes.com

10 More Reasons Not to Go to College

AKA 10 Reasons to Pursue Alternative Education

Comparing the reasons not to go to college scenario above to alternative education:

  1. Get a job in your area of interest.
  2. Work hard for four or more years – pursue your passion part time.
  3. Start a business – grow your own brand, (or work your way up in a job you enjoy).
  4. There’s no guarantee of success.
  5. Four years of learning exactly what you need to do the work you love.
  6. No debt because you’ve been earning while learning.
  7. You have created value in the world and built a business that is your own, (or become a linchpin in a job you love).
  8. You’re fulfilling your purpose doing the work that matters to you.
  9. 10 years later you’re earning a living doing work you love.
  10. 10 years – your skills and success have compounded, and no student or business debt.
10 reasons to pursue alternative education-iCreateDaily

OUTCOME: Success possible. Happiness probable.

REASONS NOT TO GO TO COLLEGE: Today, you can create your future through a self-designed curriculum focused on exactly what you need, when you need it.

Creators… artists… writers… entrepreneurs… you don’t need college to create.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

Creators dont need college to create

Debt Serfdom – #1 Reason Not to Go to College

A Travesty of the Education System

The first job of colleges and universities is to educate students. Yet these institutions of higher learning are not illuminating the shadows of enslavement when it comes to student loans and debt.

The goal of college is higher education. It doesn’t take higher math to calculate the deficits versus benefits. For young adults to exit university at around age 22, places them at an average age of 43 before their loan is paid off. Yikes!!

REASONS NOT TO GO TO COLLEGE:
While the average student loan is set for 10 years, many default to a 20 year payoff.

It’s surprising that so many still follow this path to debt and insecurity today. Baffling, until you realize that the survival of the positions in these institutions is dependent on growing and perpetuating the need for them.

Old Systems Change Slowly

In his book, The Selfish Gene, scientist, Richard Dawkins elaborates on how the natural fight for survival is common amongst all organisms. While we don’t share Dawkins’ atheistic views, it’s certainly a truism that all living organisms, which include bodies of entities such as organizations, institutions and governments, are wired to do whatever is necessary to survive. Not only to survive but to grow larger and thrive.

I mean… which department of any government or university would voluntarily dismantle itself? Few to none. So we must, not by the stance or riots we make but by the actions we take to choose another way. The well worn paths remain the way, for it is the path of least resistance, until enough people branch off and create new ones.

Few Institutions Volunteer to Reduce or Eliminate Themselves

One historical example we’re aware of is Jiddu Krishnamurti, an Indian spiritual teacher groomed as a teen to grow into heading a massive international organization, he ended up choosing to dissolve it instead. Krishnamurthi observed that people were following him rather than leading themselves into their own path, and thus he dissolved his Order of the Star. A man after our hearts to be sure.

But these examples are few and far between whether it’s a religion, a nation or a corporation, most die a slow death before they’ll change and innovate. We took a moment to share this section above because it’s such an important point. It isn’t always “follow the money”. Often, it is about “follow the power”, and “follow the motivation”… follow the instinct to survive — that instinct of self-preservation that infuses all life.

Okay… back on topic.

REASONS NOT TO GO TO COLLEGE:
Don’t go into debt for a degree you may never need. There’s another way.

The education isn’t working, because when you look at the statistics you find that only 27% of the people actually get a job out of college that relates to what they study.
~Tony Robbins, visionary entrepreneur, speaker, transformation coach, author, b.2/29/1960

Student Loan Debt – Reasons Not to Go to College