The Case Against College

     I am a huge fan of The Good Life Project with Jonathan Fields, and his most recent show really made me think. He interviews Noah Bradley, a successful artist who has recently come out as being anti-art school.

Check out Noah's article here and his interview on The Good Life Project here. 

     You should definitely listen to the podcast and read the article, but essentially he is saying that unless you get a fantastic scholarship or your parents are generous and rich, you really ought to explore alternatives to the traditional art school model. You'll find yourself squirming under thousands of dollars in debt with no escape route.

     It's been my experience that it's not just art students that should think twice before going to college. Many majors are failing to pay off in this dreadful economy which, let's face it, is healing but not for us. This doesn't necessarily mean you should shirk college, but that it's an investment that needs to be very carefully considered.

      As a first generation college student, higher education was something I entered into blindly. I was expected to go to college, but only if I received a full-ride through West Virginia's PROMISE scholarship. It was certainly not celebrated when I tacked on an extra year for another major, and I expect to spend the next decade justifying a Master's Degree from a very expensive University to my family.

     I did not pick a thriving major that guaranteed me a job after graduation. My Political Science and Psychology degrees were actually liabilities when I applied to jobs. We are all familiar with the term "overqualified". But the fact of the matter is, I wasn't qualified for anything beyond interesting conversation. In
the podcast, Jonathan shares that even after he finished law school, he didn't know how to be a lawyer. College may serve various purposes, like self-actualization for its students and the growth of knowledge, but its core purpose is manufacturing viable economic actors (granted, high school doesn't do a great job of this, either). Otherwise, what are we going into major debt for?

     Once I realized that my Bachelor's was not getting me anywhere (other than behind the counter of a Dunkin Donuts), I applied to Georgetown for a Masters. I was no longer blind, and I had a new set of expectations for myself and the program. I had failed to network sufficiently in undergrad, so I stepped that up X1000. I am not at Georgetown to find myself, I am purchasing a name, a network, and a degree. We can only wait and see if it was a worthy investment.

     This is a conversation worth having, and I plan to make it a theme in this blog. What are your thoughts? Comment and let me know.